Kilgore Wins 50 Free

CLARION MEN & WOMEN SECOND AT PSAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

            (Mechanicsburg, Pa.): Adley Kilgore won the 50 freestyle and helped the 200 free relay team to a first place finish as the Clarion University Men’s Swimming team had a strong second day at the 49^th PSAC Men’s Swimming Championships.

Held at Cumberland Valley High School, the Clarion men moved into second place. West Chester is in the lead with 269 points, while Clarion has moved up into second place with 237 points and Shippensburg is third with 207. Rounding out the seven team field are fourth place Edinboro with 96 points, IUP fifth with 78, Kutztown sixth with 76 and Bloomsburg seventh with 61.

At the 32^nd PSAC Women’s Championship,  West Chester has pulled away to a big lead after Friday’s events. The Golden Rams are first with 279 points, while Clarion is second at 148 and IUP third with 140. Shippensburg is currently fourth with 139, Bloomsburg fifth with 101, Edinboro sixth with 86, Kutztown and Lock Haven seventh with 64, California ninth at 43, East Stroudsburg tenth with 39, Millersville eleventh with 37, Slippery Rock twelfth at 28 and Mansfield thirteenth with 18 points.

Leading the men on Friday night was senior freestyler Adley Kilgore. Kilgore won the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.60, ahead of West Chester’s Brendan Fanslau (20.85) and Clarion’s Ryan Thiel who was third with a time of 20.98. Clarion’s Mike Cohen (21.45) was sixth and A.J. Claypool (21.49) was seventh. Kilgore also won the PSAC 50 title in 2005 and was third in this race at nationals a year ago.

In the 200 free relay the Clarion team of Kilgore, Claypool, Cohen and Thiel swam a first pace time of 1:22.51, an NCAA qualifying time.

In other men’s action Adam Smearman was third in the 200 IM (1:56.79) while Eric Hammill was seventh. In the 500 freestyle Dustin Fedunok was sixth (4:41.01) and Dan Walley seventh (4:44.40). The final event had Clarion second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:29.90. On that team were Mike Kerr, Rich Eckert, Adam Smearman and Adley Kilgore.

The women, who hoped to challenge to defend their PSAC title from 2006, saw their chances dimmed in the Friday prelims when the 400 medley relay team was disqualified.

The Golden Eagle 200 free relay team was second (1:37.83) behind the swims of Brittany Hanzl, Lori Leitzinger, Jamie Maloney and Stacy Ogden.

In individual events Rebecca Burgess was third in the 500 free (5:06.11), while teammate Stevie Coble was sixth (5:12.99) and Kristy Clarke seventh (5:14.59).

In the 50 free Hanzl finished third with a time of 24.34, while in the 200 IM Sari Cattoni was fourth (2:11.02) and Denise Simens ninth (2:12.81).

            The men’s and women’s championships continue on Saturday with seven events and finish on Sunday with 6 events for both the men and women’s swimmers.