YSU’s Roberts smashes mark for breaststroke

CHICAGO — Youngstown State freshman Sam Roberts placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke final on Friday to lead the Youngstown State University swimming and diving teams efforts on the third day of competition at the Horizon League Championships.

Roberts smashed the school mark in the event, finishing with a time of 1:06.01. The previous-best time by a Penguin was 1:07.83 set at last year’s championship by Jennifer Johnstone.

Roberts also placed 13th in the 400 IM with a time of 4:36.23. That mark moved her into third place in school history.

In the 100-yard butterfly, sophomore Nishani Cicilson placed 13th in the 100-yard butterfly with time of 58.37 seconds. Cicilson established a career-best time of 58.30 in the prelims.

In the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Kirstin Walker finished 14th with a time of 1:55.54. Walker set a career-best time earlier in the day at 1:55.27.

In the 100-yard backstroke, freshman Amanda Ritzenthaler placed 16th with a time of 1:02.63. To qualify she had a career-best time of 1:01.10 in the prelims.

The final event was the 800-yard freestyle. The Penguins placed sixth with a time of 7:55.06.

In the team standings, YSU is in sixth place with 164.5 points. Green Bay has a sizeable lead over Wright State for the overall lead.

The final day of competition will be today. Events for the women are the three-meter dive, 1,650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly and the 400 Free Relay.

On Thursday, Cicilson broke a 25-year-old school record by placing fifth in the 50-yard freestyle.

Cicilson swam identical times of 23.8 seconds in the preliminary round and the final. The previous record of 23.94 seconds was set in March 1984 by Janet Kemper.

Freshman Casey Hill finished fourth in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 263.65. Green Bay’s Lauren McGrew won the event with a score of 283.80.

In the 200 IM, freshman Rachel Tano was YSU’s top placer finishing in 15th place. Tano had a time of 2:11.95 in the event. The time was a career-best mark for Tano and her time ranks as the third-fastest in school history.

YSU posted a sixth-place time in the 400 medley relay. The grouping of Cicilson, Roberts, Caitlin Cook and Walker had a time of 3:59.62 which ranks second in school history.