GRANVILLE, Ohio -- The Allegheny women finished the 2020 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships in third place Saturday (Feb. 15). The finish marks the best for the Gators since the 2011 Championships, in which they also placed third.
After four days, the Gators tallied a score of 1,138. They trailed only Denison and Kenyon, who rank first and third, respectfully, in Division-III.
On the day, the Gators placed four individuals in A Finals.
The day started with the 1650 freestyle, which saw five Gators score points.
Olivia Maack (Bristol, Ind./Elkhart Central) finished in 10th with a time of 18:07.71.
McClaren Rodriguez (Mason City, Iowa/Mason City),
Hannah Tonsmann (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) and
Alyson Codner (Harvard, Mass./The Bromfield School) took 14th, 15th and 16th with times of 18:20.66, 18:43.13 and 18:56.03, respectively.
Jenna Halenda (Mars, Pa./Mars) placed 20th with a time of 19:20.94.
Aimee Verardi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) was the first A Final swimmer for the Gators on the day. She qualified in the 100 individual medley, finishing ninth with a time of 1:02.37.
Miranda Farley (Cleveland, Ohio/North Royalton),
Savannah Plaskon (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) and
Riley Aul (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) raced in the B Final. Farley placed 12th (1:02.43), Plason placed 16th (1:04.55) and Aul placed 18th (1:06.18)
Anna Verardi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) qualified for the A Final of the 200 backstroke. She finished in eighth with a mark of 2:10.06.
Maddie Janvrin (Woodridge, Ill./Naperville) swam in the B Final, winning the heat with a time of 2:10.31. Halenda swam in the C Final, taking 20th with a time of 2:16.29.
Sadie Brown (Portland, Ore./Pacific Crest Community), Farley and Tonsmann competed in the B Final of the 100 freestyle. Brown won the heat with a time of 52.88. Farley finished 13th (53.72) and Tonsmann 14th (54.05).
Megan Corletti (Monroeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic) swam in the A Final of the 200 breaststroke. Corletti clocked in at 2:31.67 to take ninth.
Kaitlin Franzen (Jamestown, N.Y./Frewsburg Central) qualified for the B Final, placing 12th overall with a time of 2:35.17.
Emily Schaefer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) swam in the championship heat of the 200 butterfly and carded the best individual finish for the Gator swimmers. Clocking in at 2:11.90, Schaefer placed sixth overall.
Ariana Clark (Freeport, Pa./Freeport)
Maggie Baham (Glen Allen, Va./Glen Allen) and
Rachel Tobler (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) made the B Final. Clark placed 11th (2:16.37), Baham placed 12th (2:16.67) and Tobler placed 14th (2:17.87).
The action then moved to the three meter diving board, where
Brionna Litwin (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and
Chelsea Pietrzycki (Parma, Ohio/Parma) competed. Litwin had the top finish, placing fourth with a score of 359.20. Pietrzycki was not far behind, taking fifth with a score of 256.75.
The Championships ended in a historic way for the Gators. The 400 free relay team of Rodriguez, Brown,
Aimee Verardi and Farley earned All-NCAC honors by taking third. Their time of 3:32.11 broke the previous school record of 3:34.26, which was set in 2011.
