FROSTBURG, Md. - The Franciscan University swimming team put up a fight in tonight's meet taking third place against the University of Washington out of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and host Frostburg State University.

"The competition tonight was intense all the way through," said head coach Cassandra Pyle. "The girls we were up against were all stellar swimmers."

The stand out for the Lady Barons was senior Kellie Rankin. While usually a diver, Rankin did her fair share of swimming, as there was no diving at the event. Rankin swam the anchor leg in two relays and performed very well in 50-meter freestyle with a time of 33.29 seconds.

"Kellie Rankin was very versatile for us," said Pyle. "She swam very well in all her events."

Elizabeth McNulty took second place in her signature race, the 100-meter butterfly, finishing with a time of 1:10.26

Pyle was pleased the effort that several of her freshman swimmers put in including Bernadette DiMaria in the backstroke, Katherine Kennedy in the breaststroke and Sarah Tohill as a sprinter. All showed promise and with a little more training could become solid swimmers, said Pyle.

After the scores were totaled, Mary Washington took the meet with a score of 90. Frostburg State followed close behind in second place and Franciscan took third.

Looking ahead, Pyle said that the team needs to fix several minor technical flaws as well as well always keep their heads in the game.

"It is important that we don't let the head games get to us," said Pyle. "Swimming is very much a mental sport."

The Lady Barons compete again tomorrow in an invitational hosted by Chatham University.