REBECCA KRENZER
Contributing Writer
rlk5568@psu.edu

On Feb. 17, the women’s swimming and diving team won the Allegheny Empire Championship title in addition to the AMCC conference title.

It was a tight race for first throughout all seven sessions of the meet. With two events left on the final day, the women’s team was in first place, holding on to a half-point lead over Nazareth College and the men’s team was in second, trailing Hartwick College by 28.5 points.

After the final relay, the men’s team trailed Hartwick by 10.5 points, earning a second-place overall finish, but still winning the AMCC Conference title. Earning third-place in the relay, the Lady Lions finished the meet with a forty-point lead over Nazareth and claimed both the AMCC and Allegheny Empire Champion titles. 

“I could not be prouder of these ladies,” said senior captain Julia Sank, “PSB Swim and Dive brought all these amazing people into my life and am so proud of each and every one of them.”

Throughout the meet, Behrend athletes had a total of 79 top-ten finishes, eight first place finishes, and five meet records. Sophomore Lauren Stephens was named AMCC Female Diver of the Year, Junior Tim Compton was named AMCC Male Swimmer, and freshmen Camryn Watters and Alex Kremin were named AMCC Male and Female Newcomers of the Year. Head Coach, Jennifer Wallace, was also named both the AMCC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year.

The Allegheny Empire Championship swim meet was held in Webster, NY. In this invitational-style meet, the five Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference teams and the three Empire 8 teams compete in individual and relay events over three and a half days. 

Coach Wallace is very strategic when entering the swimmers into events. Only 18 swimmers can score in a championship meet, making the scoring more even when taking team size into account. Every three divers count as a single swimmer, so both teams entered 17 scoring swimmers in addition to the three female divers and one male diver. Swimmers can compete in no more than three individual events and four of the five relays. 

The meet started with men’s 3-meter diving and a timed finals session with two relays. Every day following had a preliminary session in the morning and timed finals at night, with diving in between. Throughout these seven sessions, teams competed head-to-head to be the overall meet champions and the individual conference champions. 

“It is a true team effort, and everyone plays so many roles. Everyone really pushed themselves for this one,” said Julia.

This meet was very important to many of the athletes. Like this year, the race for first place came down to the last relay of the meet. However, the results of the relays favored Alfred State College and both of Behrend’s teams finished second in the AMCC and third in the meet overall. The women were barely beaten by Alfred State College, with just one point separating the teams.

The swimming and diving teams have contributed their AMCC Championship titles to the eight  total earned by Behrend’s athletic teams this academic year. Behrend’s AMCC Champion teams have been Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field, and now Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving.

Photo Credit: Colin Sheridan