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JCC women win second consecutive national title

Submitted Photo Todd Conklin, Jamestown CC swimming coach, is pictured with the women’s team after they won the NJCAA non-scholarship championship Saturday at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The Jamestown Community College women’s swimming and diving team captured its second straight NJCAA non-scholarship championship, the Jayhawks’ third title in program history, Saturday at Indian River State College.

“It was an exciting finish and well deserved,” stated Jayhawks coach Todd Conklin. “It’s a day that we built to. The girls were calm coming into the finals, we had a separate meeting with them and told them they the opportunity to wrap up another national title.”

To go along with the championship, Tia Moppert (Gowanda, N.Y./Gowanda HS) was named the Swimmer of the Meet, finishing with 31 individual points for 44th overall out of 80 competing swimmers.

“Tia is a girls that when I took over, she was getting ready to graduate from Gowanda,” stated Conklin. “I knew what type of girl she was, I knew she was going to be a hard nosed fighter that works and trains hard. We’re going to miss her, she’s a top notch kid and I’m pleased to have her as one of the main members to our team.”

On the final day of competition, the Jayhawks finished with five more Honorable Mention All-Americans including Moppert who placed 11th in the 50-yard butterfly. Moppert posted a time of 28.49, setting a new school record.

Jamestown CC had a pair of swimmers finish 11th and 12th in the 200-yard backstroke in Shannen Stein (Olean, N.Y./Portville HS) and Jenna Fiebiger (Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa/Fourways HS). Stein finished with a time of 2:38.01 and Fiebiger posted a time of 2:40.83.

Kaylee Constantino (Frewsburg, N.Y./Frewsburg HS) rounded out the individual Honorable Mention All-American performances, placing ninth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:42.73.

The team of Constantino, Stein, Fiebiger and Moppert posted a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 3:57.07.

“I can almost guarantee those girls were our four high point scorers for the week,” stated Conklin. “When you can put your high scorers on the block to close out a title you’re in a good spot.”

Overall, the Jayhawks finished fifth with 258 points.

“Credit also goes to coach Derek Hosier and coach Rollinger who has been helping out,” added Conklin. “We couldn’t do any of this without George Sisson, Ashley Lund and Andrew Rogacki. JCC is fortunate to have those three care about JCC athletics as much as they do.”

The men’s team placed ninth overall and third in the non-scholarship division with 119 points.

The duo of Colby Pantall (Jamestown, N.Y./Maple Grove HS) and Jackson Vanstrom (Jamestown, N.Y./Southwestern High) had strong performances to end the week, capturing new best swims in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Pantall took 45 seconds off his previous time and finished with a time of 19:33.63. Vanstrom took nearly one minute off his previous best time, finishing with a time of 20:53.22.

Cole Carlson (Boonsboro, Md./Southwestern High) and Joseph Keyser (Mayville, N.Y./Chautauqua Lake Central) also posted new bests in the 100-yard freestyle. Carlson posted a time of 53.10 while Keyser posted a time of 53.50.

The Jayhawks closed up the weekend with the 400-yard freestyle relay as the team of Carlson, Vanstrom, Pantall and Matthew Fennell (Fourways Garden, Johannesburg, South Africa/King Edwards VII School) finished with an eighth-place finish. The team finished with a time of 3:39.29.

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