By: Bill Morgal, Sports Information Director
YORK, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's swimming team delivered a strong outing Thursday night to gain momentum at the midway point of the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships being held at the Graham Aquatic Center.
The Raiders had four women qualify for a championship 'A' final – two each in the 400-yard individual medley (IM) and the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore
Alyssa Tomb (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) delivered a fourth-place time of 4:37.28 – a new personal best and slight improvement upon her previous PR that maintains her ranking of seventh in school history for the event. It is the second straight year that she has posted a fourth-place finish at the conference meet in the 400 IM.
Fellow sophomore
Michaela Hersh finished seventh in the 400 IM with a time of 4:40.00 after qualifying as the No. 4 seed with a strong morning prelims time of 4:35.74. It is also the second straight year that Hersh has scored in the 'A' final after a runner-up finish in 2021.
The 200-yard freestyle final featured a dazzling performance from senior
Madison Breiner, who set a new lifetime best by more than a full second with a fourth-place time of 1:54.30. The performance moves her into eighth place on SU's all-time Top 10 list for the event and makes her a four-time PSAC place-winner in the event. Breiner was fourth last year, 12th in 2020 and 18th in 2019.
Freshman
Allie Keeling reached the 'A' final of the 200 freestyle by virtue of a new lifetime best of 1:55.71 in the morning prelims. Keeling delivered an eighth-place time of 1:57.34 in the evening final. Sophomore
Marissa Bittner narrowly missed her PR in the morning with a time of 1:58.13 that got her into the pre-consolation 'C' final. Bittner finished 22nd with an evening session time of 1:59.52.
The highlight of the day for Bittner came at the end of the evening session, as she posted a 59.08-second split to open the 400-yard medley relay that placed sixth in 4:02.20. Bittner's split, which counts for record purposes due to being a timed start off the blocks, moves her into ninth all-time in SU history for the 100-yard backstroke.
It was also a banner day for senior
Tomomi Nakano, who delivered a new lifetime best of 58.74 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly to qualify for the consolation 'B' final. Nakano came back at night to place 13th, nearly equaling her new PR with an evening finals time of 58.89 seconds. It's the third straight year that Nakano has scored in the 100-yard butterfly, accompanying an 11th-place finish last year and a 14th-place finish in 2020.
A total of four Raiders scored in the 400 IM. Senior
Bri Joll, who qualified for the pre-consolation 'C' final as the No. 23 seed, raced splendidly in the evening session for an 18th-place time of 4:46.60 that marked an eight-second drop from her morning prelim. Joll became a four-time PSAC place-winner in an event for the second straight day – doing so in the 400 IM Thursday after achieving the feat in the 200 IM on Wednesday. Her previous 400 IM finishes were 10th last year, 14th in 2020 and 19th in 2019.
Sophomore
Rachel Johnston scored in the 400 IM for the second straight year, placing 23rd with a time of 4:50.95. Johnston was 13th last season.
Shippensburg sits in sixth place in the team standings through two days of competition. The Raiders are currently 16 points south of fifth-place Gannon and 21.5 points behind fourth-place Clarion.
Friday's sessions will take place at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
200 Free Relay
7.
Lauren Croll,
Madison Breiner,
Allie Keeling,
Sammy Taylor 1:39.72
400 IM
4.
Alyssa Tomb 4:37.28 (4:37.68p) (7th all-time at SU)
7.
Michaela Hersh 4:40.00 (4:35.74p)
18.
Bri Joll 4:46.60 (4:55.43p)
23.
Rachel Johnston 4:50.95 (4:52.07p)
100 Fly
13.
Tomomi Nakano 58.89 (58.74p)
32.
Kristin Gebhard 1:01.91
36.
Kallie Lyle 1:02.88
43.
Gracie Wetzel 1:04.69
200 Free
4.
Madison Breiner 1:54.30 (1:55.96p) (8th all-time at SU)
8.
Allie Keeling 1:57.34 (1:55.71p)
22.
Marissa Bittner 1:59.52 (1:58.13p)
25.
Sammy Taylor 1:58.59
40.
Marina Cote 2:01.49
48.
Gwen Elsey 2:04.48
400 Medley Relay
6.
Marissa Bittner,
Lauren Croll,
Tomomi Nakano,
Sammy Taylor 4:02.20
