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Feb. 22, 2009 (Mechanicsburg, Pa.): Clarion's Denise Simens (Sr. Holister, Ca.) won the 200 breaststroke in record fashion and Kaitlyn Johnson (So. Uniontown), and the 400 free relay team swam NCAA Qualifying times as the Golden Eagles finished second at the 34th Annual PSAC Women's Swimming Championships on Sunday. Held at Cumberland Valley High School, West Chester won the team title with 660.5 points, Clarion second with 560, California third with 495, Gannon fourth with 352.5 and IUP fifth with 287.5 points. The 14 team field had Edinboro sixth at 286, Kutztown seventh with 267.5, Shippensburg eighth with 262.5, Lock Haven ninth with 141, Bloomsburg tenth with 124.5, East Stroudsburg eleventh with 99, Millersville twelfth at 64, Slippery Rock thirteenth with 42 and Mansfield fourteenth at 36. Denise Simens won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:16.23, shattering the Clarion record held by Nikki DiLoreto of 2:19.50. Simens won the 100 on Saturday with a time of 1:02.98, breaking her old Clarion record of 1:04.60. Both were NCAA Qualifying times. Megan Burrows (Fr. Canton, Oh.) was seventh in the 200 breaststroke (2:29.27) and teammate Teresa Hillsten (Fr. Denver, Co.) was 11th (2:30.40). Kaitlyn Johnson placed second in the 200 butterfly with an NCAA time of 2:04.66. Paige Quigley (Fr. Highlands Ranch, Co.) was fifth in the 200 (2:12.12) and Margaret Bentley (Jr. York) was 16th (2:19.57). Clarion also scored well in the 200 backstroke as Rebecca Burgess (Jr. Gibsonia) was seventh (2:08.44). and Courtney Bogue (Fr. Glastonbury, Ct.) 8th (2:10.27) . In other individual events Kelly Connolly (So. Cranberry Twp.)was sixth in the 100 free (52.77), and Laura Herron (So. Parma, Oh.), was seventh in the 1650 (17:54.56) with teammate Morgan Berkowitz (Sr. York) finishing 10th (17:58.92). The Golden Eagle 400 free relay team of Johnson, Jamie Maloney (Jr. Jr. York), Hillsten and Connolly finished fourth and qualified for the NCAA's with a time of 3:31.14. The Golden Eagles, led by 9th year head coach Mark VanDyke, will next participate at the D-II Nationals in Houston, Texas March 11-14. |
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