Women’s swimming takes two at Chatham Invitational

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Juniata College women's swimming team improved to a 4-1 record Saturday afternoon as they took down the Cougars of Chatham University 68-27, and the Barons of Franciscan University of Steubenville 78-17, at the Chatham University Invitational.

The Eagles finished the night with seven first place finishes in the tri-meet and that same number of second places. 

Sophomore Kelsey Miles (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) was responsible for single-handedly bringing home two firsts for Juniata. In the 200-yard freestyle she swam for a time of 2:07.95, with teammate Mary Kate Meingossner (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) close behind in second with a time of 2:09.72. Later in the in the 500-yard freestyle, Miles coasted to first, finishing in just 5:53.46, followed by Eagle senior Evan Beatty (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) at 6:01.55. 

Sophomore Kathryn Viola (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) also finished first in her two events, the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. In the medley, Viola touched the wall nearly five seconds before her closest Franciscan opponent with a 2:21.83 time. Her time landed her the eighth spot on the Juniata College top-ten 200 IM leaderboard. Viola also appears third on the list with a time of 2:17.63 from the 2010-11 season. Additionally, Viola earned a Juniata 100 breaststroke leaderboard-worthy time at 1:13.68, giving her ninth in addition to her already previously held number two time of 1:10.05 that she earned last season.

Freshman Shayna King (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) made her collegiate swimming debut, and did so in a big way with a first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at 27.21. Sophomore Falon Snyder (Walnutport, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) finished just behind King in the race with a time of 28.55.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay to conclude the tri-meet, Juniata's Miles, Viola, King, and freshman Meghan Swavely (Hummelstown, Pa./Palmyra) clinched first to earn 11 points for the Eagles with a time of 1:42.44, nearly nine seconds faster than any other team.

Juniata competes in its first Landmark meet next Saturday, Nov. 12, against Goucher College and the University of Scranton in Towson, Md. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. 

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