Eagles Qualify for Five Finals, Hold Eighth at Day Three of Landmark Champs

BALTIMORE, Md.- The Juniata women's swimming team continued its Landmark Conference Swimming and Diving Championships weekend with one A Final appearance, four B Final appearances, sixth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and a maintained eighth place in the points standings. Kara Mette set a pair of times that advanced her up the top ten in program history in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly.

Kara Mette earned a spot in the A Final in the 100-yard backstroke, as she finished in seventh place with a time of 1:00.93. It's a new personal best, as she shattered her time of 1:02.80. She moves from third in program history to second, surpassing Alissa Schnedier's ('03) time of 1:01.73 set in 2001. 

Megan McConnell and Snabu Neupane also raced in the event, and they set PRs in the preliminary heats. McConnell was 23rd with a time of 1:30.34, a 4.50-second improvement from Stevenson in January, while Neupane was 24th with a time of 1:31.13, besting her time of 1:35.77 at the same meet.  

In the 100-yard butterfly, both Mette and Kristen Miller earn B Final spots. Mette was third in that final and 11th overall with a time of 1:01.84. It propels her to the fourth-best time in the event in program history. Her best time of the season up to that point was 1:06.34, set in Elizabethtown last month. Miller set a 1:04.55 that put her seventh in the B Final and 15th overall. Grace Finch also raced in the event, placing 23rd with a time of 1:11.38. It's a new personal record, as she took a significant amount of time from her 1:34.57 set at Juniata's October home meet.  

Emma Mumau's preliminary run earned her a B Final spot in the 100 breaststroke, and she placed fourth in that final to earn 12th place overall with a time of 1:10.78. It's her best time of the year, as she beat her 1:13.56 from Misericordia in November. Manali Misra also raced in the event, finishing in 22nd with a time of 1:21.18. 

Maegan Jordan qualified for the B Final of the 400-yard freestyle, and she finished in eighth place to claim 16th overall with a time of 5:19.31. It's a new PR as she broke her 5:26.58 at Juniata's home meet in October. 

The team of Mette, Mumau, Finch, and Miller raced in the 200-yard freestyle, and they earned sixth place with a time of 1:45.86. 

Juniata maintains eighth place with a points total of 104 through three days. They stand nine points down from seventh place Goucher, while they've built a 32-point gap on ninth-place Wilkes. 

They'll conclude the 2024 Landmark Conference Swimming and Diving Championships tomorrow, and they are slated to compete in the 400-yard freestyle relay, 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard butterfly.