Feb. 28, 2009

Three Top Six Finishes Help Penguins End League Meet on High Note

    Brown Deer, Wis. -- The Youngstown State swimming and diving team used a strong final day performance to overtake Cleveland State for fifth place at the Horizon League Championships. The Penguins set three school records and had individuals place in the top six of three events to lead the charge.
    The Guins led Cleveland State by six points entering the 400 freestyle relay. In the event, YSU set a new school mark behind the tandem of Kirstin Walker, Ashley Williamson, Nishani Cicilson and Megan Rupe with a time of 3:30.48 to finish fourth.

    YSU finished with 300 points to finish ahead of the Vikings' 290. Green Bay won the championship going away scoring 859 points while Milwaukee was second at 737. The Penguins trailed CSU by 17 points entering the final day of competition. 

    Leading the way was senior Olivia Arnold who finished third in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:11.30 in the first event of the night. Arnold smashed the school record, which she set earlier this year, by more than 14 seconds.
    In the 200-yard backstroke, Williamson placed seventh with a time of 2:06.30.
    Rupe used a strong performance in the 100 yard freestyle to place fifth with personal-best time of 52.21 seconds. Also in the 100, Cicilson placed 13th with a time of 53.49 seconds while Walker was 15th with a 53.59.

    Caitlin Cook placed sixth in the 200-yard butterfly in a school-record time of 2:08.78 to help the Guins overtake the Vikings.