The Shippensburg University women's swimming team had a strong dual meet performance on Tuesday night at IUP, a squad that has finished among the PSAC's Top 3 in each of the last three years, as the Raiders and Crimson Hawks finished within six points of each other.
 
Shippensburg won five of the 11 events contested Tuesday night and tied another, totaling 10 swims that met the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying standards.
 
"We're competing well," head coach Tim Verge said of his squad. "Mentally, staying through fall break was a challenge, but they handled it really well and raced really hard. We asked a lot of them and they responded well."
 
Of the notable winners, several swimmers had strong races and others had to pull off difficult doubles, literally going from one event to another in the span of mere minutes.
 
"Stephanie O'Toole pulled off some really tough doubles," Verge noted. "Erin Fife raced really well and had a great finish for the win in the 100 fly, and Carly Alvarado had a great race and finish in the 100 back."
 
Sophomore Stephanie O'Toole won the 50-yard freestyle in 24.46 seconds and then literally got right back in the pool and crushed the 200-yard individual medley (IM) with a time of 2:10.34. Junior Erin Fife out-raced Jessica Cochran in the 100-yard butterfly, posting a time of 59.97 seconds for a win by just .12 seconds, while sophomore Carly Alvarado also broke 60 seconds in her backstroke event with a victorious time of 59.88 seconds.
 
In the 200-yard medley relay, it was Alvarado, freshman Grace Tothero, Fife and sophomore Sidney Owens who tied for first place in 1:51.35. Tothero placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:09.74, just .21 seconds shy of a win, while Owens took second in the 200-yard IM on a time of 2:15.91.
 
Junior MacKenna Angert notched a PSAC cut in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming second in 5:28.05. Angert, junior Jeanette Welch, freshman Felicia Chopyak and junior Nollaig Noll completed the meet with a second-place effort in the 200-yard freestyle relay of 1:43.31.
 
Shippensburg's next dual meet is on the Friday before Homecoming, hosting California (Pa.) and Fairmont State at 5 p.m. on October 28 from Donald N. Miller Poll.
 
200 Medley Relay
T1. Carly Alvarado, Grace Tothero, Erin Fife, Sidney Owens 1:51.35
3. Rhyan Rodriguez, Sarah Strause, Nollaig Noll, Felicia Chopyak 1:57.64
Sami Sabol, Kadie Weaver, Nicole Smith, Kara Killion 2:08.88
 
1000 Free
3. Jeanette Welch 11:29.02
Lauren Ellis 11:29.12
Kaytee Garcia 11:47.24
 
200 Free
2. MacKenna Angert 2:01.89 (PSAC)
3. Carly Alvarado 2:04.11
Felicia Chopyak 2:07.71
 
50 Free
1. Stephanie O'Toole 24.46 (PSAC)
Erin Fife 25.82
Nollaig Noll 26.50
 
200 IM
1. Stephanie O'Toole 2:10.34 (PSAC)
2. Sidney Owens 2:15.91 (PSAC)
Rhyan Rodriguez 2:23.39
 
100 Fly
1. Erin Fife 59.97 (PSAC)
Lauren Ellis 1:03.66
Nicole Smith 1:07.86
 
100 Free
1. Stephanie O'Toole 53.31 (PSAC)
Sidney Owens 56.39
Grace Tothero 56.60
 
100 Back
1. Carly Alvarado 59.88 (PSAC)
3. Rhyan Rodriguez 1:03.57
Sami Sabol 1:06.90
 
500 Free
2. MacKenna Angert 5:28.05 (PSAC)
Jeanette Welch 5:36.87
Lauren Ellis 5:39.85
 
100 Breast
2. Grace Tothero 1:09.74 (PSAC)
Sarah Strause 1:13.87
Stephanie O'Toole 1:05.92X (PSAC)
 
200 Free Relay
2. MacKenna Angert, Jeanette Welch, Felicia Chopyak, Nollaig Noll 1:43.31
3. Sami Sabol, Sarah Strause, Kadie Weaver, Kaytee Garcia 1:42.24
Nicole Smith, McKenzie Johnson, Courtney Lawson, Alex Kryzan 1:57.74