Gannon Swimming Teams in Top-Four Positions After Second Day of Wooster's Mid-Season Invitational; Curtis Breaks Another School Record

WOOSTER, Ohio - Luke Curtis (Adelaide, South Australia/Blackfriars Priory) broke a school record for the second consecutive day, Diana Rocco (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) won the one-meter diving event and 20 more Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying times were met during the finals of Friday's events at the Mid-Season Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster.

Both Gannon swimming teams will enter the final day of the Mid-Season Invitational among the event's top four teams. The women's team dropped one spot while the men's team climbed one spot during the second day of action Friday.

Gannon headlined the women's standings after Thursday's first day, but Edinboro leapfrogged the Lady Knights on Friday. Edinboro leads the 10-team field with 897 points. Gannon (821.5), Bridgeport (724.5), the College of Wooster (596) and Ohio Northern (594) completed the top five.

Edinboro also leads the men's team standings with 952 points. Case Western Reserve (889), Ohio Northern (829), Gannon (676) and Westminster (557) rounded out the top five.

One day after breaking the school record in the 500-yard freestyle, Curtis smashed the Gannon record in the 400-yard IM. The freshman won the event with a time of four minutes and 9.78 seconds, beating the second-place swimmer by 22.02 seconds.

Rocco was the other Gannon champion during Friday's events. The junior recorded a score of 374.75 during the one-meter diving event. It was 17.65 more points than the next participant. Teammate Megan Beresford (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) finished third with 351.75 points.

Three relay teams posted top-three finishes. Gannon's 200-yard medley relay team of Sarah Lawton (Franklin, Pa./Franklin), Katie Vincent (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus), Steph Graham (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Jackie Rzymek (Erie, Pa./McDowell) placed second with a time of one minute and 49.99 seconds.

The women's 800-yard freestyle squad of Rzymek, Sarah Anderson (Erie, Pa./McDowell), Christina Ruggiero (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart) and Kaitlyn Bosy (Courtice, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary) also finished second with a time of seven minutes and 55.07 seconds.

Gannon's 800-yard freestyle on the men's side touched the wall third. Mitchel Meighen (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park), Alex Dovale (Cape Town, South Africa/South African Collage), Terrance Coughran (Atwater, Calif./Atwater) and Curtis combined to post a time of seven minutes and 7.95 seconds.

In addition to Curtis' time in the 400-yard IM, 19 other PSAC-qualifying times werre recorded during Friday's action. Three resulted in top-three finishes. Rzymek reached the mark in the 100-yard butterfly for the third time this season with a season-best 57.54 seconds, resulting in a second-place finish. Bosy placed second in the 200-yard freestyle for her second qualifying 200-freestyle time of the season with a time of 1:55.94. Meighen completed the trio of top-three times, finishing third in the 100-yard breaststroke. His season-best time of 59.75 marked the third time this season he met the standard in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Other Gannon female swimmers to produce PSAC-qualifying times during Friday's finals included Graham (100-yard butterfly, 59.63, sixth, season-best), Ellie Hess (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) (200-yard freestyle, 2:00.11, eighth, season-best), Ruggiero (200-yard freestyle, 1:57.84, ninth, B Final, season-best), Anderson (200-yard freestyle, 1:59.07, 10th, B Final, season-best), Vincent (100-yard breaststroke, 1:08.91, fourth, season-best), Rachel King (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) (100-yard backstroke, 1:01.13, sixth, season-best) and Lawton (100-yard backstroke, 1:01.34, seventh).

Other Gannon male swimmers to produce conference qualifying efforts during Friday's finals included Jared Griffard (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene) in the 400-yard IM (4:21.00, sixth, season-best) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.62, 11th, season-best). Among the group were Brandon Bricarell (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods) (400-yard IM, 4:28.37, 12th, season-best), James Lilly (Bowie, Md./Bowie) (400-yard IM, 4:29.66, 18th, season-best), Ethan Chase (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) (100-yard butterfly, 52.50, ninth, season-best), Coughran (200-yard freestyle, 1:46.62, fifth, season-best), Dovale (200-yard freestyle, 1:46.86, 10th, season-best), Mike Kneidinger (Erie, Pa./McDowell) (200-yard freestyle, 1:48.43, 12th, season-best) and Daniel Hodson (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) (100-yard backstroke, 53.63, fifth, season-best).