Women's Swimming Wins 800 Free Relay; Lions Remain in Front at AMCC Champs

ROCHESTER, NY – The Penn State Behrend women's swimming and diving finished the day three of the 2020 Allegheny Empire Championships with an 11-point lead over Alfred State on Friday night. The Lions are fourth in the combined scores with a 562.

AMCC Women's Scores: 1. Penn State Behrend (386), 2. Alfred State (375), 3. Franciscan (198) 4. Penn State Altoona (172), 5. SUNY Delhi (116) 6. Pitt-Bradford (14)

Combined Women's Scores: 1. Nazareth (1264) 2. Hartwick (1000) 3. Alfred University (612.5) 4. Penn State Behrend (562) 5. Alfred State (551) 6. Utica (414) 7. Franciscan (319) 8. Penn State Altoona (293) 9. SUNY Delhi (188) 10. Pitt-Bradford (11)

Noteworthy:

* The Lions claimed their only gold of the day in the 800 freestyle relay to conclude day three
* Marcella Puglia (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk), Madi Buckley (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon), Alison McClure (Loveland, OH/Milford) and Lacey Grinnen (Warren, PA/Warren) had a 13-second lead over Alfred State for first place with a time of 8:30.91
* The foursome also took third overall
* Barbie Cessar (Slippery Rock, PA/Slippery Rock) fell short of repeating as the 100 breaststroke champion, taking the silver medal with a time of 1:11.08. She placed seventh overall among Empire 8 swimmers
* Lauren Barmore (Ashville, NY/Panama Central) also competed in the 100 breaststroke, taking fifth
* In the 100 backstroke, McClure led the way with a second-place finish and tallied eighth overall (1:06.41)
* Olivia Webster (Hopewell, PA/Hopewell) was two seconds behind McClure for third and Valerie Grimes (Farmington, PA/Uniontown) was fourth

100 Backstroke

2^nd – McClure – 1:06.41
3^rd – Webster – 1:08.17
4^th – Grimes – 1:09.97

100 Breaststroke  

2^nd – Cessar – 1:11.08
5^th – Barmore – 1:14.59

Next Up:

* The Behrend Lions are back in action tomorrow for final day of the AMCC-Empire 8 Championships. Prelims begin at 10 a.m.