SATURDAY RESULTS

YORK, Pa. -- Megan Hayward (Meshoppen, Pa./Tunkhannock) swam the 10th-fastest 1,650-yard freestyle time in program history and the Kutztown University women's swim team brought home a ninth-place finish at the 2020 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday at the Graham Aquatic Center.

A season-best time of 3:41.78 by the 400 freestyle relay team of Lindsay Brenneman (Dover, Pa./Dover), Emmarose DeCaro (Apex, N.C./Apex), Hayward and Keelie Walker (York, Pa./York Suburban) in the final event of the championships earned the Golden Bears 44 team points and helped them hold off East Stroudsburg by eight points in the final team standings. Kutztown's ninth-place showing was its best since 2012, when it also took ninth.

Hayward completed her 1,650 free heat during Saturday's morning session and went 18:25.59, setting a new personal-best by nearly 44 seconds over the 19:09.45 she swam earlier this season at the Franklin & Marshall Invitational. The junior from Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, in her first year competing for the Bears, moved into 10th on Kutztown's all-time top 10 in the event ahead of Colleen Brady (18:31.50 at the 2004 PSAC Championships).

A pair of KU swimmers qualified for 'C' finals in their respective events out of morning preliminaries.

Emmarose DeCaro (Apex, N.C./Apex) posted the 20th quickest time in 200 backstroke prelims, a season-best 2:13.85. She nearly mirrored that time in the finals, going 2:13.93 to place 22nd overall. Sophomore classmate Charlotte Owens (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) was 22nd in 200 breaststroke prelims and registered a season-best 2:33.53 in the 'C' final to finish 23rd overall.

Walker turned in a personal-best 2:35.02 in 200 breast prelims, while Jocelyn Seidt (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) recorded a season-best 2:14.83 in 200 back prelims.

West Chester's run of dominance atop the PSAC continued with its 14th consecutive conference title dating back to 2007. The Golden Rams amassed 1,714.5 points. Indiana (Pa.) was a distant runner-up with 1,139.5 points and third-place Bloomsburg staked its claim as the only other team to reach 1,000 points over the course of the four-day meet with 1,027.

Clarion (936.5) and Edinboro (693) completed the top five. Sixth-place Gannon (521), Shippensburg (463), Cal U (324.5), Kutztown (259) and East Stroudsburg (251) made up the back half of the top 10.
 

---

KUTZTOWN RESULTS

1,650-Yard Freestyle
17. Megan Hayward, 18:25.59, personal-best, 10th all-time at KU
 
200-Yard Backstroke 'C' Final
22. Emmarose DeCaro, 2:13.93
 
200-Yard Backstroke Prelims
20. Emmarose DeCaro, 2:13.85q, season-best
26. Jocelyn Seidt, 2:14.83, season-best
 
200-Yard Breaststroke 'C' Final
23. Charlotte Owens, 2:33.53, season-best
 
200-Yard Breaststroke Prelims
22. Charlotte Owens, 2:34.06q
25. Keelie Walker, 2:35.02, personal-best
30. Keara Bedson, 2:40.61
 
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
8. Kutztown 'A' (Lindsay Brenneman, Emmarose DeCaro, Megan Hayward, Keelie Walker), 3:41.78, season-best