FROSTBURG, Md.—Franciscan University's swimming and diving team clinched two victories in a double dual sweep Saturday afternoon in their first contest of 2012. The Lady Barons earned wins over Frostburg State University and fellow Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference contender University of Pittsburgh at Bradford with scores of 88-77 and 98-61, respectively.

Because it was a short course pool, Lady Baron head coach Rebecca Recznik sent her swimmers into the meet without seed times—a consequence that Recznik knew would push the Lady Barons to swim their hardest.  

"Going into this meet, we weren't able to compare our times with the competition which only left us with the option to swim our all-out best. And we did," Recznik said. "These are two very well-deserved wins."

Distance swimmer Emily Pass contributed to the Lady Baron's momentum when she placed second in the 400-yard freestyle by out-touching a Frostburg swimmer by 0:00.30; the finish put Franciscan ahead of Frostburg by nine points with only the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle relay remaining.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team clocked a first-place time of 2:07.91, securing a victory over Frostburg for the Lady Barons.

"Our relay team dug deep," Recznik said. "Maria Deuchar led the way, followed by Erin Horomanski—who passed a Frostburg swimmer—and then Annie Williams and anchor Grace Anne Beatovich clinched the win."

Several weeks out of the pool over Christmas break and a four-week hiatus from competition didn't shake the Lady Barons; they came together to motivate and push each other. "They rallied after a tough week of practice," Coach Recznik noted.

The Lady Barons are 2-1 on the season in the AMCC and 3-5 overall. Their next contest will take them to the Washington and Jefferson College Meet on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The meet begins at 6 p.m.