Palmer Wins 100 Backstroke Championship, Eagles in Fifth Place

SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior Hillary Palmer (Fayetteville, Ga./Fayette County) set a pool record at Marywood University during the Landmark Conference Championships.  She claimed the 100 backstroke title with a 1:00.31 time in the finals, a new personal record.  This was the first Championship title in the career.  Juniata still sits in fifth place after day two of the championships.

Palmer also swam leadoff on the Eagles third place 200 medley relay with sophomores Raegyn Taylor (Huntingdon, Pa./Home School) and Meghan Swavely (Hummelstown, Pa./Palmyra), and freshman Emily Nye (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg).  The group swam a 1:53.23, dropping four seconds off their seed time and finished less than a second behind the University of Scranton.

Nye also swam in the 100 backstroke final with Palmer.  She finished in eighth place with a time of 1:04.18.  Two other Eagles made it to the championship finals of their respective individual events.  Swavely earned seventh in the 100 butterfly and freshman Chrissy Whiteman (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional) tied for sixth in the 200 free.

The Eagles continue competition at the championships with three more sessions on Sunday, Feb. 10.  The final day will determine the 2013 Landmark Team Champions.  Juniata finished fifth in last year's championships.

Follow Your Eagles! Stay up-to-date on your Juniata College Eagles by logging onto www.juniatasports.net.  And don't forget to follow us on twitter (@JuniataEagles) and on Facebook (Juniata Eagles).