• Friday AM Results
• Friday PM Results

MECHANISBURG, Pa. (Feb. 19) – Behind four top-five finishes, the California University of Pennsylvania swimming team ranks sixth in the team standings on Friday night at the 2010 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships with 106 points.

Freshman Georgia Emert (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) broke the school record with a NCAA Championship “B” qualifying time in the preliminaries of the 200 IM. She posted a time of 2 minutes, 9.97 seconds in the prelims to break the mark set less than five minutes earlier by classmate Caitlyn Sirkoch (Plum, Pa./Plum) in a different heat (2:13.00).

In the finals of the 200 IM, Emert finished fourth overall with a time of 2:10.32, while Sirkoch touched the wall in 2:14.50.

Sophomore Melissa Gates (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) finished second in the finals of the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.27 seconds. She touched the wall only six-hundredths of a second behind West Chester junior and 13-time All-American Jackie Borkowski. In the preliminaries, Gates also posted a second-place finish with a time of 23.37 seconds.

Gates was also a member of both the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays on Friday. The 200 freestyle relay comprised of Gates, senior Rachel Kurta (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), Sirkoch and graduate student Ester Bosch (Barcelona, Spain/Universidad Ramon Illull) shaved three seconds off its preliminary time to finish second in the finals with a time of 1:36.02.

In the 400 medley relay, Emert, Gates, freshman Bruna Carvalho (Para, Brazil/Miltom Campos) and Bosch posted a fourth-place finish to account for 30 points in the team standings after finishing the wall in 3:56.53.

Also in the 200 IM, sophomore Ellie Imhof (Bradford, Pa./Bradford) cut nearly 10 seconds off her seed time by posting a personal-best time of 2:14.97 in the preliminaries. Competing in the same heat, freshman Kasey Travitz (Millersburg, Pa./Millersburg) established a career-best performance with a time of 2:21.29.

Bosch and Kurta joined Gates in the finals of the 50 freestyle. Bosch posted a time of 24.55 seconds in the finals to place 12th overall, while Kurta finished the race in 24.65 seconds.

After 12 events, three-time defending-league champion West Chester holds a sizeable lead with 272 points. Kutztown (139) is second and holds a slim lead for second place over Shippensburg (136), while Clarion (112), Gannon (108) and Cal U round out the top six in the team standings.

The Vulcans continue competition at the PSAC Championships tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 20.