ROCHESTER, NY – The Penn State Behrend women's swimming and diving placed second overall with a team score of 542 at the 2020 Allegheny Empire Championships on Saturday.  

AMCC Women's Scores: 1. Alfred State (547), 2. Penn State Behrend (542), 3. Franciscan (265) 4. Penn State Altoona (229), 5. SUNY Delhi (167) 6. Pitt-Bradford (18)

Combined Women's Scores: 1. Nazareth (1758.5) 2. Hartwick (1399.5) 3. Alfred University (839) 4. Alfred State (801) 5. Penn State Behrend (789) 6. Utica (549) 7. Franciscan (442) 8. Penn State Altoona (384) 9. SUNY Delhi (272) 10. Pitt-Bradford (17)

Noteworthy:

* The Lions led for the first three days and fell short by five points to Alfred State
* Behrend placed fifth out of 10 teams for the combined championship meet with a four-day total of 789 points
* Marcella Puglia (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) won her third gold medal of the meet with a win in the 1650 freestyle in a time of 18:08.07.
* Puglia set a new AMCC Meet and Open Records while repeating as champion in that event
* Puglia had a 33 second lead over second-place Colleen Farabaugh from Franciscan
* Teammate Lacey Grinnen (Warren, PA/Warren) was fourth in the 1650 free with a time of 19:23.77
* Barbie Cessar (Slippery Rock, PA/Slippery Rock) struck gold and was second overall in the 200 breaststroke for the second straight season
* Cessar posted a winning time of 2:31.25, 10-seconds ahead of the pack
* In the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Puglia, Madi Buckley (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon), Lauren Barmore (Ashville, NY/Panama Central) and Trulee Stainbrook (DuBois, PA/DuBois) earned silver with a time of 3:49.81, good enough for fifth overall
* The Lions had three of the top five spots in the 200 backstroke
* Olivia Webster (Hopewell, PA/Hopewell) led with a time of 2:22.96 for second place, followed by Maddie Duncan (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) in third and Alison McClure (Loveland, OH/Milford) in fourth  

1650 Freestyle

1^st – Puglia – 18:08.07
4^th – Grinnen – 19:23.77
5^th – Buckley – 19:55.31
6^th – Duncan – 20:13.65

100 Freestyle

4^th – Stainbrook – 58.74
7^th – Barmore – 58.95

200 Backstroke   

2^nd – Webster – 2:22.96
3^rd – Duncan – 2:26.33
4^th – McClure – 2:27.82

200 Breaststroke   

1^st – Cessar – 2:31.25