Day One Results
YORK, Pa. – Victor Polyakov set a new conference record in the first event of the night as West Chester University started the journey for a 16th straight PSAC Swimming Championship with a bang at Graham Pool at the York YMCA Thursday night.
West Chester grabbed 223 points and opened up an 84.5-point lead over second place after four events of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Swimming Championships. Bloomsburg is second with 138.5 points while Indiana, Pa., is third with 104.5.
Polyakov touched the wall in 9 minutes, 4.20 seconds, setting a new PSAC mark, while taking first-place honors Thursday in the 1000-yard freestyle. Teammate Bradley Strathmeyer, the defending champion in the 1000 free, placed second in 9:19.52 which was an improvement on his winning time of a year ago. Jared Haley placed third in 9:22.74. Both Strathmeyer and Haley posted NCAA 'B' times while Polyakov's was an automatic qualifying time.
David McCormick placed second in the 200 Individual Medley with a nearly identical time from last February. He touched the wall in 1:50.60. His winning time last winter was 1:50.59. West Chester swimmers claimed five of the top eight spots in the 200 IM. Evan DeaKyne was fourth, Mike Oliver fifth, Phil Letcavage sixth and Michael O'Brien eighth.
Ryan Stahley, who finished runner-up a year ago in the 50 free, took home top honors this time around with a winning time of 20.55, which was good for an NCAA 'B' time. It marked the second time in his four-year career that Stahley is conference champion in the 50 free. He also won this event his sophomore season. Dan Sokman placed third for West Chester with a time of 20.95.
The Golden Rams' 200 medley relay closed out Day One of competition at the PSAC Championships with a first-place ribbon and a new PSAC record. The quartet of O'Brien, Bogdan Grebenyuk, Luke Maguire and Stahley posted a record time of 1:30.92.
Day Two of the 56th PSAC Swimming Championships gets under way with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
