(Posted February 12, 2006)

WILKES-BARRE, PA - With a come-from-behind effort on the last day of competition the Juniata College women's swimming team earned a third-place finish at the 2006 MAC Swimming Championships. It marks the third-straight season the Eagles have placed third at the meet, and the third-place effort continues to be the highest finish in the program's history. Juniata finished the three-day event with 446 points, just 17 points ahead of Lycoming College which placed fourth. The Albright College women's team earned the overall win with 723 points, and they were followed by the University of Scranton which earned 638 points.

Juniata entered the final day 13 points behind Lycoming, but overtook the Warriors by piling up 164 points on the final day.

The highlights of the final day included a pair of outstanding swims from Juniata's two seniors. Kim Dierolf (Boyertown/Boyertown) posted the highest individual finish of the meet and broke the school record as she claimed a second-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle. Her time of 18:26.73 topped the previous record by three seconds, and her 10,000 split in the race also set a new Juniata record in that event. The Eagles piled up a ton of points in the 1,650 as along with Dierolf four other Juniata swimmers claimed points in the event. Kasey Brough (Carlisle/Gardners) was third, Collin Thompson (Altoona/Altoona) placed seventh, Rachel Almy (Foxcroft Academy/Charleston, Maine) was ninth and Samantha Monty (Plattsburgh/Plattsburgh, N.Y.) placed 10th.

Juniata's other senior, Amy Hanson (Lancaster Catholic/Elizabethtown) continued the trend of strong senior performances as she swam to a lifetime best time of 55.59 to earn a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Kristin Musselman (Central Columbia/Bloomsburg) contributed an additional seven points with a 10th-place finish in the event.

Junior Amy Sutherland (Norwich/Norwich, N.Y.) kept Juniata's momentum going with a fifth-place finish in the 200 backstroke. Thompson added another scoring effort in her meet by placing 14th in the event.

There was another pair of top-10 finishes for Juniata in the 200 breaststroke as sophomores Jenny Bair (Huntingdon/Huntingdon) and Carlie Zoubek (Paul IV/Burke, Va.) placed seventh and eighth respectively.

Juniata rounded out its individual scoring in the 200 butterfly as Sutherland touched the wall in 10th place and Brough added a 14th-place effort.

The Eagles then closed the meet with a fourth-place effort in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Musselman, Sutherland, Thompson and Hanson posted a time of 3:47.25 to help the Eagles earn 30 points in the final event.

Juniata will return 11 swimmers to the roster next season as they look to continue to move up the MAC ranks.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.