Grace Dangelo
NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. — Penn State Altoona women’s swimming picked up 10 awards in the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference team, which was announced on Thursday, Feb. 27.
AMCC All-Conference status in swimming is determined by finishes and results during the four-day conference championships, which occurred last Wednesday through Saturday.
Leading the way for the Lady Lions on the All-AMCC squad was freshman Grace Dangelo (State College, Pennsylvania/State College), who was named the conference’s Women’s Swimmer of the Year and Women’s Newcomer of the Year by virtue of being the top point-getter of any women’s swimmer during last week’s league championships.
Dangelo was involved in setting five new Penn State Altoona women’s swimming program records during the AMCC Championships. Individually, she set new team records in the 200 Yard Butterfly (2:11.19), 200 Yard I.M. (2:11.92), and 400 Yard I.M. (4:39.10), with her times in the 200 Yard Butterfly and 400 Yard I.M. also being AMCC-wide records for those events. Dangelo was also part of team record-setting times in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:43.48) and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3:49.06).
Dangelo achieved three first place AMCC finishes individually during the conference championships. The freshman won the 200 Yard I.M. with a time of 2:11.92, placed first in the 400 Yard I.M. by clocking in at 4:39.10, and came in first in the 200 Yard Butterfly by finishing in 2:11.19.
As part of relay teams, Dangelo swam in squads that took first in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:43.48) and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3:49.06), as well as fourth in the 200 Yard Medley Relay (2:01.79) and 400 Yard Medley Relay (4:30.17).
During the 2019-20 season, Dangelo etched her name in the Penn State Altoona women’s swimming record books a total of eight times, with six of those representing new records in individual events and two being relay team events. The freshman also took AMCC Women’s Swimmer of the Week honors a league-high eight times.
In addition to picking up the Women’s Swimmer and Newcomer of the Year awards, Dangelo also earned first-team All-Conference status for her wins in the 200 Yard I.M., 400 Yard I.M., and 200 Yard Butterfly.
Fellow freshman Avery Heisey (Lancaster, Pennsylvania/Conestoga Valley) took All-Conference spots in three different individual events.
Heisey earned first-team All-AMCC recognition in the 50 Yard Freestyle, in which she placed first with a time of 24.83. She was also a first-team All-Conference swimmer in the 100 Yard Freestyle, which she won in 55.02. Both of Heisey’s times in those events set new Penn State Altoona women’s swimming records.
Heisey also took second-team All-AMCC status in the 100 Yard Butterfly, placing second in that event with a time of 1:04.53.
Penn State Altoona women’s swimming also earned slots on the All-AMCC first team in a pair of relay events.
In the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, Heisey, Dangelo, Gillian Lowe (York, Pennsylvania/Dallastown), and Kaitlin Heil (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/CAPA) took first-team All-AMCC by winning that event during the championships with a combined time of 1:43.48. That same foursome also earned first-team All-Conference recognition in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, placing first with a time of 3:49.06.
Both of those relay times established new records for the Lady Lions swimming program.
Penn State Altoona women’s swimming finished in fourth during the AMCC Championships, totaling a team score of 229 points.
