LANCASTER, Pa. – The Millersville University women's swimming team traveled to Franklin & Marshall College for a three-day invitational serving as their mid-season meet. The Marauders competed against 13 universities, including several familiar PSAC opponents such as Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, and Shippensburg. 

The Marauders posted three new PSAC Championship qualifying times from Anna Burrowes, Madison Taylor, and Kiersten Zecchin. Leah Eckert broke two different school records, one in the 100-yard breaststroke and the other in the 200-yard breaststroke. There are also nine new Millersville Top-Ten Addition Times from this past weekend. Hannah Baumgardner stays in seventh with a new time of 5:15.92 in the 500-yard freestyle along with a fourth spot in the 1650-yard freestyle (18:02.69). Abigail Lowman swam a 2:11.72 in the 200-yard IM for fifth all-time. The 400-yard relay team of Lowman, Eckert, Pizzillo, and Sassaman is fifth all-time with a time of 4:01.42. That same team is seventh in the 200-yard medley with a time of 1:49.51. Violet Pizzillo now holds the sixth spot in the 400-yard IM (4:46.25) and is tied for eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.42). Izabella Wreski moved up to sixth all-time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.62 and improved her time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.44). Anna Sassaman is tied for fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (53.25). 
 
Friday's events featured preliminaries and finals in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 50-yard freestyle, as well as finals for the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. Competition continued Saturday with preliminaries and finals in the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, and 100-yard backstroke, followed by the final of the 800-yard freestyle relay. The invitational concluded Sunday with preliminaries and finals in the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 100-yard IM. For the Marauders to swim in the final heats, they needed to place in the top 24 times of the preliminary rounds.

Millersville opened Friday morning's session with preliminary heats in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 50-yard freestyle. The Marauders qualified four swimmers in the 500 free, led by Claire Weaver's 5:12.04. She was joined by Jane McClelland, Wreski, and Baumgardner, who all delivered steady prelim performances. In the 200 IM, Lowman secured Millersville's lone finals berth after clocking a 2:13.39, while the Marauders came up just short of advancing a swimmer in the 50 free.
 
During the evening finals, Weaver dropped time to finish fifth in the 500 freestyle at 5:09.58, with McClelland close behind in seventh. Wreski and Baumgardner added ninth and thirteenth-place finishes to round out the event. Lowman returned in the 200 IM finals, posting a 2:11.72 to take fifteenth overall.
 
Millersville also fielded two squads in the 400-yard medley relays. Team one (Lowman, Eckert, Pizzillo, and Sassaman) finished eleventh, while team two (Weaver, Wreski, Sara Blitva, and Baumgardner) placed twentieth. The session concluded with the 200-yard freestyle relay, where two Marauder teams again competed. Team one (Lowman, Blitva, Eckert, and Sassaman) earned fourteenth, and team two (Baumgardner, Jillian Fidelman, Taylor, and Pizzillo) took twenty-second.
 
Saturday's heats featured a full slate of events, including the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, and the 800-yard freestyle relay. Millersville opened the morning with three finalists in the 400 IM, as Pizzillo, Wreski, and Lowman each posted qualifying times. The Marauders did not advance a swimmer in the 100 butterfly, but Weaver, McClelland, and Sassaman responded with strong swims to secure spots in the 200 freestyle finals. In the 100 breaststroke, Eckert delivered one of Millersville's strongest prelim performances, finishing second overall, while Pizzillo added another qualifying effort. Lowman continued her consistent morning by qualifying in the 100 backstroke with a 1:00.87. The prelim session closed with the 800 freestyle relay, where Millersville placed third with 8:06.31.
 
In the evening finals, Wreski, Pizzillo, and Lowman opened competition in the 400  IM, finishing consecutively with times of 4:45.99, 4:48.10, and 4:43.76. The 200 freestyle followed, where Weaver and Sassaman both broke the 2:00 barrier, while McClelland finished close behind at 2:00.38. In the 100 breaststroke, Eckert delivered Millersville's first event win of the meet, touching in 1:04.49, swimming a new school record that surpassed her own 2022 mark of 1:05.30. Lowman then returned to the pool to post a faster swim in the 100 backstroke, finishing in a tie with an ESU competitor
 
Millersville added an eleventh-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay before closing the night with the 200-yard medley relay. The Marauders' top squad of Lowman, Eckert, Pizzillo, and Sassaman recorded a 1:49.51, while the second team finished in 1:53.70.

Sunday's session featured the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and the 1650-yard freestyle. Millersville narrowly missed qualifying in the 200 back, with Weaver clocking a 2:14.21. Sassaman advanced to the finals in the 100 freestyle after posting a 53.78. In the 200 breaststroke, Eckert delivered another strong swim with a third-place prelim time, followed closely by Wreski, who qualified sixth. The Marauders did not advance a swimmer in the 200 butterfly. The 100 IM final also took place during the morning session, with Blitva and Sassaman recording non-scoring swims. Millersville closed out the morning session with the 1650 freestyle. Wreski earned the fifth seed in 18:26.90, while Christiana Snavely (18:46.84) and Taylor (18:53.76) also secured spots in the event's final heat.

In the afternoon finals, Sassaman placed eleventh in the 100 freestyle. Eckert continued her standout weekend by finishing third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:22.99—setting her second school record of the meet. The distance events highlighted Millersville's depth, as McClelland surged to a fourth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle at 17:49.50, followed by Baumgardner in eighth with an 18:02.69.

The Marauders capped the invitational with a ninth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, bringing their final team total to 505 points. The Marauders are back in the water Dec 5. when they host the Bald Eagles from Lock Haven for senior day.