BETHANY, W.Va. -- The Franciscan University women's swimming and diving team competed in its second meet of the year and came out with a split, beating the host team Bethany College 70-62, and losing to six-time defending AMCC champion Penn State Behrend, 87-50.
Head coach Becky Recznik was overly pleased with the way her team performed today, giving them lots of hope for future successes.
"Maria Giuliani is an incredible swimmer," Recznik said. "Last year she was a sprinter for us so she is most comfortable swimming the shorter distances, but this year we're really shaking it up for her. She has been working with Coach Kristen [Curran] on timing and pacing, and it was just incredible today. She really trusted us, watched our hand signals and had such incredible results."
Giuliani came in first place in each one of her non-relay races that she swam in, winning the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:44.87, the 200-yard freestyle at 2:07.85, and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:42.74.
Another noteworthy performance came from diver Kellie Rankin, who had practiced on a one-meter board all season. The board used in competition at Bethany was a three-meter board, on which Rankin practiced for the first time all year briefly before competing against last year's AMCC champion diver. Rankin scored just 22 points fewer than her competitor.
"She literally showed up to the meet, practiced a few times, and competed. She scored incredibly well," Recznik said of her diver's 170.75-point performance. "[Coming up just over 20 points shy of the defending AMCC champion in her first competition] is quite a feat."
Recznik also noted the performance of freshman Aimee Vunovich, who competed in the 100, 200, and 100-yard intermediate butterfly races. She placed second in two out of those three events.
"She is an incredible butterflier," Recznik said. "She really pushed herself. I was so impressed with her attitude; she attacked the water and swam like a champ, all while swimming against some really intense competition."
The Lady Barons have an out of conference meet next Saturday at Chatham University against Chatham and Juniata College, and Recznik thinks the early season successes her team has achieved will yield confidence for future matches.
"I definitely think it bolstered the spirits of the team to get a win under their belts," Recznik said. "We've got some work to do before Behrend comes to our home meet in two weeks, but we have the potential to beat them and now the girls know that."
