ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon swim teams came up just short despite winning five events and recording 21 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying times Saturday afternoon during a tri-meet hosted by Edinboro University.

The women's team dropped a 153-109 decision against Edinboro and a 180-81 verdict against Clarion. Meanwhile, the men's squad suffered close setbacks, falling 138-124 against Edinboro and 142-120 versus Clarion.

Saturday's men's competition was intense as Gannon won five events and produced 12 top-three finishes. Mitchel Meighen (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and Luke Curtis (Adelaide, South Australia/Blackfriars Priory) both won a pair of events.

Meighen won the 100-yard breaststroke for the third time this season with a PSAC-qualifying time of 1:00.60. The senior later won the 200-yard breaststroke for the first time this season with another qualifying-time of two minutes and 12.42 seconds. He wrapped up his trio of top-three finishes by placing second in the 200-yard freestyle. His time of 1:47.17 met conference standards and produced his first 200-yard freestyle top-three finish of the season.

Curtis began his day with a victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:06.62, PSAC-qualifying time). It represented his second title in that event this season. The freshman also won the 400-yard IM for the second time this season, completing the event with a PSAC-qualifying time of four minutes and 16.15 seconds. In between, he finished third in the 200-yard backstroke by meeting the conference mark with a time of one minute and 59.96 seconds.

Ethan Chase (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) captured the final individual championship in the 100-yard butterfly. His time of 53.63 beat the PSAC-qualifying mark and gave the sophomore his first 100-yard butterfly win of the season. He also posted a top-three finish in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall third with a conference-qualifying time of 2:01.96. It also represented his season-best time.

Alex Dovale (Cape Town, South Africa/South African Collage) had a tremendous day, recording two top-three finishes and a pair of PSAC-qualifying times. The junior placed second in the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.59) and third in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.92). In addition to his qualifying time in the 200 fly, he also met conference standards during a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.15).

Other conference-qualifying times met on the men's side included Daniel Hodson (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) in the 100-yard backstroke (55.77, fourth place) and Mike Kneidinger (Erie, Pa./McDowell) in the 100-yard freestyle (49.12, third place).

The men's competition was capped with a third-place finish by the 200-yard freestyle relay team. The group of Kneidinger, Chase, Dovale and Hodson swam the event in one minute and 28.52 seconds.

Kaitlyn Bosy (Courtice, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary) led the attack on the women's side with three silver medals. The junior was the runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle (1:59.62), the 100-yard freestyle (55.37) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:21.98). Her times in the 200 free and the 500 free met conference-qualifying standards.

Steph Graham (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Jackie Rzymek (Erie, Pa./McDowell) each recorded a pair of second-place finishes. Graham posted the feat in the 200-yard butterfly (2:12.96) and the 400-yard IM (4:48.75). Both times were PSAC-qualifying marks. Rzymek countered with pair of qualifying-times of her own during second-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (25.10) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.10).

Rachel King (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) posted a pair of PSAC-qualifying times in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.33, sixth place) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:14.96, fourth place). Sarah Lawton (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) completed the group of qualifying times with a 100-yard backstroke time of 1:01.88, placing fifth.

The Lady Knights finished third during both relay events. The 200-yard medley relay team of Lawton, Katie Vincent (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus), Graham and Ellie Hess (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) produced a time of one minute and 55.16 seconds. The 200-yard freestyle team of Rzymek, Lawton, Hess and Bosy posted a time of one minute and 42.01 seconds.

In a separate diving event held at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion, Diana Rocco (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) finished second in the three-meter event with a score of 225.25 and third in the one-meter event with a final tally of 215.65 points. Nine divers from Gannon, Clarion and Ashland competed in both events. Greg Evanoff (McKean, Pa./General McLane) placed seventh in the one-meter dive (184.30) and eighth in the three-meter dive (144.20).

The Gannon women's team dropped to 6-4 in dual meets with its two losses. The men's squad fell to 3-5 with Saturday's verdicts. Both teams return to action Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29 at the Indiana (Pa.) Invitational.

For complete results of Saturday's tri-meet against Edinboro and Clarion, please click here.