Women's Swimming Starts SUNYAC Championships in Fifth Place
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Penn State Altoona women's swimming team kicked off this week's four-day State University of New York Athletic Conference Championships on Wednesday evening at the Burt Flickinger Aquatic Center, finishing the day in fifth place with a team score of seventy points.
Penn State Behrend led the way after the first day, after scoring 104 points. SUNY Cortland placed second with a team score of 98, and SUNY Oswego placed third with a team score of 90 points.
Penn State Altoona started its night in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. In the 'A' final of that event, the team of Paige Goray (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek), Victoria Oldford (Bucks County, PA/Palisades), Drew Porter (Centreville, VA/Centreville), and Claire Smith (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley) placed fifth with a time of 1:57.55. In the 'B' final, Julia Daley (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy), Isabella Rhoades (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone), Téah Sponsler (Halifax, PA/Halifax), and Alexis Buchala (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua) placed 14th with a time of 2:08.62.
The next event was the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay. The team of Smith, Anna Heller (Chesapeake, VA/Huntingdon), Buchala, and Goray competed in the 'A' finals, clocking a time of 8:29.58 to place fifth. The team of Ashley Moretz (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte), Sponsler, Sophia Cowher (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone), and Rhoades competed in the 'B' finals, clocking a time of 9:33.44 to place 13th.
Day two of the SUNYAC Championships is tomorrow, Thursday, February 19. Thursday's action starts with preliminaries at 10 a.m., and the day's finals session is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.