By Grace Ostuni
Staff Writer
The Franciscan University Women’s swim team placed fourth in the annual PAC Championship, competing from Feb. 14-17 and making its best finish in program history.
The Barons swam in two relay events on the first day.
Two teams of Barons participated in the 200-yard medley relay. The A Team that placed sixth was comprised of junior Jessica Stiles, freshman Janie Whatley, junior Bridget Bartosik and sophomore Katarina Antonov.
The B team was composed of junior Emma Grojean, junior Kristen Farabaugh, senior Sarah Kelty and freshman Sophia Gellner.
Sophomore Kate Kinast, Whatley, Bartosik and Antonov swam the 800-yard freestyle relay, placing fourth.
The Barons swam in many individual events on the second day of the Championship.
The preliminaries took place on Thursday morning with the finals following in the evening.
Bartosik placed 13th in the 200-meter IM, securing a place in that evening’s finals. She placed 13th in the finals with a time of 2:28.09.
Antonov and Kinst swam in the 500-yard freestyle, both making it to finals. Antonov placed fifth in the finals, and Kinst placed 12th.
The Barons also had two relays compete in the 200-yard freestyle on Thursday evening.
Kinst, Whatley, Bartosik and Antonov placed sixth, while freshman Sydeney McGee, sophomore Rachel Pergi, senior Anne Konstanty and senior Amelia Doyle placed 12th.
Friday’s structure followed Thursday’s with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the evening.
Stiles placed 12th in the 400-yard IM, qualifying for the finals. In the finals, Stiles dropped nearly 13 seconds and placed 11th.
Stiles also placed 15th in the 100-meter backstroke, later placing 13th in the finals.
Both Kelty and McGee swam in the 100-meter butterfly, getting spots in the finals where they placed 12th and 13th.
Antonov made the finals in the 200-yard freestyle where she placed seventh.
Whatley swam the 100-meter breaststroke, achieving her best time of 1:12.40. She placed seventh in the finals, which was her first individual appearance in a championship final.
The Barons continued to compete well on the final day of the Championship. Kelty placed 15th in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:37.23.
Whatley competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, placing fourth. Junior Kristen Farabaugh placed 12th and Konstanty placed 16th.
Stiles placed 10th in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:33.87.
“There was a lot of hype for finals. It was a lot of fun. We scored really well and I’m really proud of the girls,” said Stiles.