YORK, Pa. – Sally Meyers of Widener women's swimming earns 72 individual points and helps earn a 5^th place team finish at the 2023 MAC Championships at Graham Aquatic Center.
 
INDIVIDUAL POINT LEADERS

• Sally Meyers – 72 points
• Lauren Kalsbeek – 65 points
• Mary Sanders – 40 points

HOW IT HAPPENED AT 2023 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

DAY 1
 
The Pride opened the meet with an A final race in the 500 freestyle from sophomore Lauren Kalsbeek. Kalsbeek's 5:28.57 earned her an eighth-place finish and 22 individual points.
 
Mary Sanders topped her season best in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:20.08. Her preliminary time of 2:23.99 would go on to earn her a B final spot which would eventually grab her 13^th place and 14 individual points. Anna Durboraw would go on to see a spot in the C final after her 2:24.12 preliminary time. Durboraw's final swim saw almost a second drop (2:23.13) to place 18^th and earn seven individual points.
 
In the last individual event of the session, Azaria Luckey and Caitlyn Blaum would earn spots in the C final of the 50 freestyle. Luckey, a sprint specialist, hit the wall in a 25.54 to earn her second in the race while teammate Blaum hit in a 26.07. Luckey placed 18^th overall and earned seven points. Blaum placed 24^th overall which earned one point. Sophia Sapnas would fall just shy of a spot in the finals as first alternate with her 25.97.
 
Widener's A relay went on to place sixth in the 200-medley relay. The team of Sapnas (28.77), Blaum (31.34), Sanders (27.06), and Luckey (25.59) earned 48 team points and would create the fastest season relay. The ladies clocked in at 1:51.76. The B team consisting of Jenna Angelucci (31.20), Durboraw (32.86), Meyers (27.75), and Olivia Downs (25.59) would also set a B relay season best in a 1:57.40. The B relay would earn 20 team points and place 19^th.

After day one and seven events of racing the team sat in seventh place with 119. Messiah would lead the meet with 295 points.
 
DAY 2
 
On the second day of competition the ladies would get things rolling with the 200-freestyle relay. The relay quartet of Luckey (26.11), Blaum (24.85), Sapnas (25.48), and Kalsbeek (24.79) would open the second day with a sixth-place finish in a 1:41.13. The four would earn 48 team points while the B would earn 18. The B team of Sanders (27.12), Kylie Rodi (27.35), Angelucci (27.75), and Gabby DiGiovanni (26.53) saw a final time of 1:48.75.
 
In individual racing, Durboraw would start the Pride off with a B final race in the 400-individual medley. Her preliminary time of 5:06.80 would 15^th seed going into finals. In her evening race, she placed 16^th to earn 11 individual points and hit the wall in a 5:08.93. Senior Teresa LaPointe would see her final 400-individual medley in her career with a 19^th place finish and a drop from the morning swim. Her preliminary time of 5:29.72 would be beat by a 5:23.03 at night. LaPointe would grab third in the race and six individual points.
 
Sanders earned a spot in the A final after a 1:01.38 preliminary swim. She would then go on to better her time by 0.07 at night with a 1:01.31 to place seventh and earn 23 individual points. Rodi and Luckey would also earn spots in the evening finals races. Rodi would see a season best with her 1:03.36 while Luckey would go on to place 24^th in a 1:09.27. Rodi's 16^th place would earn her 11 individual points.
 
Meyers begun her A final string in the 200 freestyle after a personal best of 1:59.40 in the preliminary race. At finals Meyers would clock a 2:00.13 to grab sixth place and 24 individual points. Kalsbeek would place 10^th with a 2:01.40 while DiGiovanni would win the C final and place 17^th overall in a 2:02.87. Kalsbeek picked up 17 points while DiGiovanni grabbed nine.
 
In the final event of day two, the relay team of Sapnas (1:02.84), Blaum (1:08.90), Meyers (1:01.20), and Kalsbeek (55.08) would go on to place fifth in the 400-medley relay. The team would hit in a 4:08.02 to set the fastest season relay and earn 50 team points.
 
After two days of racing and 17 events, the Pride would move up to fifth place with 357 team points. Messiah would continue leading with 728.
 
DAY 3
 
Meyers continued her A final string in the 200-butterfly. Meyer's again see a personal best with a finals time of 2:16.13. Her 2:16.65 preliminary time earned a fifth-place seed. At night she would place sixth and earn 24 individual points.
 
In the 100-backstroke, the Pride would place three in the finals. Sapnas would lead in the B final with a 1:04.02 to place 14^th overall. In the C final, Rodi would go on to place 20^th overall in a 1:05.14 while teammate Shea Rane would see her first final of the meet. Rane would hit the wall in a 1:05.45 to place 22^nd overall and grab three points while Rodi would snag five. Angelucci would just miss finals as first alternate with a 1:06.56.
 
Blaum would see her second finals of the meet in the 100-breaststroke. In the B final she would go on to place 11^th overall and third in the race. Her 1:10.41 would earn her an additional 16 individual points. Sanders also saw an additional finals race. In preliminaries, Sanders hit in a 1:17.05 to earn a 23^rd seed which she would go on to drop two seconds to a 1:15.55 and place 22^nd.
 
The last relay of the session would be the 800-freestlye relay. The Pride would place sixth which would better their seed time by two seconds. The team of Meyers (2:01.72), Kalsbeek (2:02.17), Downs (2:06.77), and DiGiovanni (2:04.10) would hit the wall in 8:14.76. The B team consisting of Rane (2:27.89), Durboraw (2:05.13), LaPointe (2:13.07), and Angelucci (2:10.68) would place 20^th overall with a 8:56.77.
 
After three days of racing and 25 events, the Pride would remain at fifth place with 487 team points. Messiah would remain in first with 1025.
 
Day 4
 
In the final day of racing, the Pride would open with Kalsbeek and Meyers in the 1650 freestyle. Kalsbeek would swim in a 18:39.32 which would earn her a fourth-place finish just missing the medal list. Meyers would see another personal best with sixth place finish and a 18:42.16. LaPointe would conclude her collegiate career with a 20.42.29 in the morning swim.
 
Luckey would also swim her final individual collegiate race in the preliminaries of the 100 freestyle. Luckey would touch the wall in a 58.62.
 
Sapnas would see her individual race of the meet in the 200-backstroke. She would go on to touch the wall in a 2:18.66 which would better her 2:20.33 preliminary time and place her 12^th overall with 15 individual points. In the C final, Rodi, Angelucci, and Rane would place 18^th, 21^st, and 22^nd respectively. Rodi would place second in the head with a 2:18.77 which would blow away her preliminary time of 2:23.72. Angelucci would hit the wall in a 2:22.11 and earn four individual points. Rane would finish just behind Angelucci with a season best of 2:23.77 and three individual points.
 
In the last individual event of the meet, Blaum and Durboraw would see B final spots. Blaum would blow out her preliminary time of 2:42.26. At finals she would touch at a 2:39.88 and 12^th place. Durboraw would finish two spots behind and also drop time from the morning swim. Her preliminary time of 2:42.57 would go on to be beat with a 2:40.85.
 
The Pride would end the meet with a seventh-place finish in the 400-freestlye relay from the A team and a 19^th place from the B. The team of Meyers (55.98), Downs (57.25), DiGiovanni (57.52), and Kalsbeek (55.46) would final in a 3:46.21 which would earn 46 team points. The B team consisting of Sapnas (58.13), Sanders (58.57), Blaum (56.38), and Luckey (58.10) touched in a 3:51.18 earning 20 team points.
 
After four days of racing and 35 events, the Pride would end the meet in fifth place with 663 points. Messiah would go to win the meet with 1400.5 points.