Penn State Behrend men's and women's swimming and diving captured the first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship this past Saturday, February 10.  The three-day event was held at Grove City College from February 8-10 and featured 10 men's teams and 10 women's, with four on each side representing the AMCC.

The Behrend men finished with 337 points, a full 205 points better than the closest AMCC competitor Penn State Altoona, who ended with 132.  The men finished fourth overall in the field of ten, with Westminster taking first-place with a score of 964.5.  On the women's side, Behrend finished with 300 points, enough to claim the AMCC crown and finish fifth overall.  Westminster also set the standard on the women's side with 865 points.

Dustin Fairchild (Corry/Corry) was the individual high point scorer for the men, taking first among AMCC competitors in an amazing five events.  Fairchild set the standard for AMCC competition in the 500 freestyle (4:56.20), 1000 freestyle (10:43.22), 100 breaststroke (1:02.65), 200 breaststroke (2:15.96), and the 200 IM (2:08.10).  His 200 and 500 freestyle times were both school records.  The men's supporting cast was led by Anthony Spoto (Birmingham,MI/Seaholm) and Jason Hall (Lower Burrell/Burrell).  Spoto won the AMCC 50 freestyle (22.33) and 100 freestyle (49.46), while Hall took the 50 backstroke (26.26), 100 backstroke (57.00), and 200 backstroke (2:06.32).

For the women, it was Sara Breese (West Springfiled/Northwestern) who took the individual high point honors with her 40.5 total points.  Breese took the AMCC 50 freestyle event with a time of 25.86 seconds.  She went on to finish first among AMCC competitors in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:14.02.  Also coming up big was Colby Seibert (Milton/Milton) who had the AMCC's top time in the 100 freestyle (56.97), 100 butterfly (1:02.51), and the 200 butterfly (2:18.84).  Seibert's time of 1:02.51 broke a school record that had been held since 2004.

A total of 12 new school records were set over the course of the event, five by the women and seven on the men's side.  Michelle Quail (Cranberry/Seneca Valley) starred on the boards.  Her 1-meter score of 266.30 and 3-meter mark of 242.05 were both new Behrend records.  Fairchild, Spoto, and Hall were all part of three separate relay squads that all broke school records.

The inaugural Championships concluded the AMCC season, next up for the men and women will be the ECAC Open which will take place over three days from February 15-17.