LYCOMING MEN THIRD, WOMEN FIFTH AFTER DAY ONE OF MAC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Lycoming College swimming teams got off to a strong start at the Middle Atlantic Conference championships, Friday afternoon and evening. The Warrior men claimed a conference title in two events while accumulating 131 points – good for third place in the team standings. Lycoming's women claimed one individual champion and scored 97 points to position themselves in fifth place after day one.

The men opened the meet by winning the very first event – the 200-yard free relay. The team of Steve Hawley (So./New Cumberland, Pa.; Trinity), Jeff Swatkins (So./Guilford, Conn.; Xavier), Josh Hogan (Jr./Waverly, N.Y.; Waverly), and Nathan DeCapria (So./Jersey Shore, Pa.; Central Mountain) turned in a time of 1:26.42 – setting a new school record and missing the conference record by just six one-hundredths of a second.

The Warriors set two other school records Friday evening. Swatkins set a new mark in the 200 IM, swimming a time of 2:02.1 to place fifth. And the 400 medley relay team of Hawley, Hogan, DeCapria, and Chris Mungo (So./Boonton, N.J.; Montville Twp.) set a new standard of 3:40.51 while finishing third.

Hawley added a second conference title for the men by winning the 50 free with a time of 21.62 seconds. DeCapria set a new MAC record in the preliminaries of the 50 free with a mark of 21.39 seconds, but was disqualified in the finals.

For the women, Rebecca Fox (Jr./Middletown, N.J.; Middletown South) won an individual championship in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:15.90.

In the team scoring, Albright is the leader on the men’s side with 251 points, followed by Widener with 194 and Lycoming with 131. Scranton leads the women’s standings with 216 points. Albright (175), Juniata (144), Widener (130), and Lycoming (97) round out the top five.

Competition will continue tomorrow with preliminaries at 10 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m.

Complete list of Warrior place-winners from day one:
                Men
                Stuart Olsen (So./Evanston, Ill.; Evanston) – 7^th 500 free (4:59.69)
                Chris Dempsey (Fr./Newtown, Pa.; Notre Dame) – 12^th 500 free (5:03.92)
                Swatkins – 5^th 200 IM (2:02.01)
                Mungo – 11^th 200 IM (2:07.13)
                Dave DeZago (Sr./Sarasota, Fla.; Tappen Zee) – 16^th 200IM (2:10.92)
                Hawley – 1^st 50 free (0:21.62)
                Andrew Shurer (Fr./Clearfield, Pa.; Clearfield) – 16^th 50 free (0:23.57)
                200 free relay – 1^st (1:26.42)
                400 medley relay – 3^rd (3:40.51)

                Women
                Fox – 1^st 200 IM (2:15.90)
                Erin Patrick (Jr./Media, Pa.; Penncrest) – 11^th 200 IM (2:22.34)
                Amy Gatehouse (Fr./Bethel Park, Pa.; Bethel Park) – 13^th 200 IM (2:23.95)
                Kelly Sykes (So./Willimantic, Conn.; Windham) – 9^th 50 free (0:25.95)
                Jess Amadore (Sr./Easton, Pa.; Wilson) – 14^th 50 free (0:26.25)
                Jessica Gough (Fr./Berwick, Pa.; Berwick) – 16^th 50 free (0:26.51)
                200 free relay – 5^th (1:42.81)
                400 medley relay – 6^th (4:14.25)