It was a clean sweep for the West Chester Golden Rams last weekend at the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Swimming Championships with both the men’s and women’s teams taking home the conference title. This marks the men’s 24th consecutive championship title and 35th overall, while the women captured their 16th straight title and 20th overall dating back to the early 2000s.
The event took place at the Graham Aquatic Center in York, Pennsylvania and ran Feb. 15–18.
Starting with the men’s side, Paul Demesy, a freshman from Saint-Ulrich, France, kicked off the meet with a first place finish in the 1650 meter freestyle race. Clocking in with a time of 15 minutes and 24 seconds, Demesy finished just ahead of teammate Collin Pettit who took second place with a time of 15 minutes and 37 seconds. Nolan Benner, a junior from Green Lane, and Devin Metzger, a junior from Macungie, finished in the top five in the 100 meter race, taking second and fourth place respectively with times of 44.39 and 44.86.
Kolos Nagy, a freshman from Szazhalombatta, Hungary, took home first place in the 200 meter backstroke with an impressive time of 1:48:93. Three more Golden Rams finished within the top ten for the event with Gabe Laslo taking third, Logan Brockway following in fourth, and Dalton Fink just behind in sixth place. Brockway teamed up with Metzger, Benner and Tyler Hall in the 400 free relay race for the last event of the meet. The quartet took first place in the event with a winning time of 2:59:80.
The Golden Rams men’s team concluded the four day event with a total of 968.5 points, with the runner up, Gannon, finishing with 588.5 points.
Switching over to the women, Ann Carozza took home the honor of Most Outstanding Women’s Swimmer of the Meet. Carozza, a graduate student representing her hometown university, earned four individual conference titles during the event, extending her overall total to 12 through her college career. Carozza and teammate Mikayla Niness took the top two spots in the 100 meter freestyle event, with times of 49:48 and 50:63.
Keeley Durkin, a junior from Brookhaven, delivered a first place performance in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:06:68. Danielle Stewart, a freshman from Dover, took second with a time of 17:16:53, approximately just ten seconds behind her teammate.
Similar to the men, the women concluded the event with a victory in the 400 free relay race. The relay team consisted of Niness, Durkin, McKenzie Hemingway and Samantha Trumble, and the squad posted a time of 3:25:36.
West Chester finished the PSAC Championships with 1670 points, which was a commanding 637 points ahead of second place finisher Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Both teams are led by Steve Mazurek who is entering his fourth year as the head coach of the program and 15th year overall on the team’s staff. Prior to being named head coach of the Golden Rams, he was an interim coach and assistant coach for a combined 11 years. He has an impressive resume thus far with seven Coach of the Year Awards, three from the men’s side and four from the women.
Looking ahead, West Chester will compete in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships which will take place Mar. 15–18 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
For more information on West Chester’s swimming and diving team including schedules, rosters, statistics, ticket sales and more, visit the Golden Rams athletic website.
Erick Klambara is a fourth-year media and culture major with a minor in journalism. EK924666@wcupa.edu