Bloomsburg to Swim at PSAC Championships

BLOOMSBURG -The Bloomsburg University men and women's swim team will compete at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship meet on February 22nd through the 25th at Cumberland Valley High School. The Huskies will send 14 swimmers from the women's team, while the men will send eight.

For the women's team, defending 200-free PSAC champion Dianna Smith (West Grove /Avon Grove) will look to recapture her title as she is seeded first in the 200-free (1:53.90) and has already qualified for the NCAA Championships. Smith is also seeded third in the 100-free (52.77) and fifth in the 50-free (24.44).

Other top sprint freestyle swimmers include sophomore Allison Reed (Selinsgrove /Selinsgrove) who is seeded eighth in the PSAC in the 100-free (53.62), 10th in the 200-free (1:57.41) and 17th in the 50-free (24.93). Senior Courtney Dean (Lancaster /Hempfield) will be seeded 12th in the 200-free (1:58.14); 15th in the 50-free (24.90), and 15th in the 100-free (1:58.14). Junior Jackie Gribbin (Richboro /Council Rock North) will also be competing in sprint freestyle events for the Huskies.

In the long distance free events senior Ashley Yelinek(Youngwood /Southmoreland) has the third fastest time going into PSAC championship meet in the 1650-free with a time of 17:50.37. Yelinek is also seeded fifth in the 1000-free (10:50.12) and seventh in the 500-free (5:14.18). Sophomores Barb Caccia (Laurel Springs, NJ /Sterling) and Sara Hippeli (Quakertown /Quakertown) will also swim long distance free events.

Senior Sara Lengler(Harrisburg /Central Dauphin East) will be competing in the 100- and 200- backstroke events at PSAC's. Lengler is seeded sixth in the 100-back (1:00.64) and eighth in the 200-back (2:12.12). Senior Laura Jeffers (Spring/Perkiomen Valley) will also swim backstroke events. Jeffers is seeded eighth in the 100-back (1:00.69) and sixth in the 200-back (2:11.23). Senior Lauren Sterkenberg (Lancaster /Hempfield) and Steph Boccuti (Doylestown /Central Bucks East) will swim butterfly events for the Huskies. Sterkenberg is seeded 11th in the 200-butterfly in a time of 2:16.47 and Boccuti is seeded 17th in a time of 2:17.98.

Freshmen Kellie Ayres (Gilbertsville /Boyertown), Ashley Carroll (Mohnton /Schuylkill Valley), and Amy Usciak (Lancaster /Hempfield) have qualified for PSAC's and will swim individual medley, backstroke and breaststroke events.

In relay action, the relay team of Reed, Gribbin, Dean and Smith are ranked second going into the meet in the 400-free relay. The Huskies are seeded in a time of 3:33.74 and are 0.65 away from qualifying for NCAA Championships.

For the men's team, freshman Joe Bentz (York /York Suburban) is the top seed for the Huskies. Bentz is seeded ninth in the 400-individual medley (4:25.13) and 10th in the 200-butterfly (2:01.60). Sophomore Mike Williams (Huntingdon Valley /Lower Moreland) will also swim the 200-butterfly. Williams is seeded 12th in the 200(2:02.94) and 20th in the 100-butterfly (55.00).

Seniors Mark Freeman (Bethlehem /Freedom) and Bret Palmer (Marysville/Susquenita) will be competing at PSAC's. Freeman will be swimming the 100-back (57.39) and 200-back (2:03.32), while Palmer will be swimming sprint freestyle events.

Sophomore Steve Withers (Doylestown /Central Bucks West) is seeded 16th in the 200-free (1:47.71) and 21st in the 500-free (4:55.68). Freshman Kyle Weisenbach (Avon Grove /Lincoln University) is seeded 14th in the 200-breaststroke (2:21.29) and will also compete in the 100-breaststroke.

Freshman Dereck Fritz (Stevens /Epherata) and Dave Mancinelli (Plymoth Meeting /Westmont Hilltop) have qualified for PSACs and will swim sprint freestyle events.

The women's team ended their regular season with a record of 6-2, while the men's team finished with a record of 1-6.