PSAC Swimmers of the Week - 4

PSAC Women's Swimmer of the Week

Kaitlyn Johnson, Clarion
Senior, Freestyle/Butterfly
Uniontown, Pa./Uniontown

Johnson went 7-for-7 in swimming NCAA 'A' automatic qualifying times as she set three individual school records while swimming the fastest times in the country so far this year in each of those three events, and was also a part of two school record-setting relay teams at the Zippy Invitational hosted by Akron. Her performances helped Clarion finish in fifth place out of 12 teams at the three-day event that featured mostly Division I programs.

Johnson placed second in the 50 freestyle in :23.20 but earlier in the day swam a :23.09 in the preliminaries, a new school record that broke her own old record of :23.15 and the fastest time in Division II this year. She is now only one of four swimmers that have posted an 'A' time this season in the 50 free. She won the 100 free in :50.07, which broke her old school record of :50.79 and also set a new pool and meet record. That is also the fastest time in Division II this season and she is one of just five swimmers to have attained an 'A' cut in that event this year. She rounded out her individual events by finishing second in the 100 butterfly with a record time of :54.89, the second-fastest time in the country this season and breaking the old mark of :55.61.

On the relays, Johnson was part of the 200 and 400 free relays teams that both set new school records with 'A' qualifying times. The 200 team won in a time of 1:34.00, breaking the old mark of 1:34.11, while the 400 team touched the wall in 3:27.81, shattering the old record of 3:28.38. Johnson was also a part of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams that while they fell just short of setting new school records, posted 'A' times, finishing in 1:44.25 and 3:48.54, respectively.



Clarion's Joe Ward posted the top times in the PSAC this year in two events, which also ranked among the best times in the country in their respective events, and he is the PSAC Men's Swimmer of the Week.


PSAC Men's Swimmer of the Week

Joe Ward, Clarion
Sophomore, Freestyle/Backstroke
Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop

Ward had a strong meet as he helped lead the Golden Eagles to a fourth place finish at the Zippy Invitational hosted by Akron, which featured mostly Division I teams. Ward won the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, posting NCAA 'B' provisional qualifying times in both events, and placed eighth in the 100 backstroke.

Ward posted a winning time of :20.58 in the 50 free, just .29 of a second shy of being an NCAA 'A' automatic qualifying time. It is the fastest time in the PSAC this year and the sixth-fastest in the country. He won the 100 free in :45.14 but his time of :45.09 in the preliminaries was the third-fastest in the country and the quickest in the PSAC and also the second-best in school history. He touched the wall in :53.05 in the 100 back, putting up a :52.60 in the prelims, which was just .08 of a second shy of an NCAA 'B' time.