GROVE CITY — GROVE CITY — The Grove City College men’s swimming and diving team captured its 5th consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference title Saturday night by concluding the 3-day PAC Championships with 850 team points. Grove City finished with a 139-point margin of victory over runner-up Westminster.

Four Wolverine swimmers helped punctuate the conference title by recording individual wins. Ben Bowser captured the 200 butterfly title in a pool- and school-record time of 1:52.04. Bowser earned the Swimmer of the Meet award and the conference’s MVP award for his performance over the event.

Kirk Gagliardo won the 100 free in 45.65 while Louis Gabriele won the 200 breaststroke in 2:07.11.

Dave Bossert opened Saturday night’s session by winning the 1650 in 16:40.84.

C.P. Dehli, Nick Hamilton, Eric Fairchild and Gagliardo concluded the meet by winning the 400 free relay in a pool- and meet-record time of 3:04.95.

Fairchild earned 2nd in the 100 free (46.39) while Clay Beckner captured runner-up in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.45). Josh Kim placed 3rd in the 1650 (16:58.65).

Jim Bossert earned 4th in the 200 backstroke (1:56.61) while Hamilton placed 4th in the 100 free (47.76). Ben Satre took 4th in the 200 fly with a time of 1:57.25.

Kim posted the 3rd-fastest time of the night in the 200 fly (1:55.51) in winning the consolation heat.

E.J. Leuschner placed 5th in the 1650 with a 17:09.13 clocking and Dehli earned fifth in the 100 free (47.91). Richie Klimek took 5th in 1-meter diving with 311.70 points.

Head coach Dave Fritz earned the conference’s Coach of the Year award.

Grove City has won 25 overall conference titles, including 17 PAC crowns. GCC won 8 Penn-Ohio Conference titles between 1955 and 1968.

ä The Grove City College women’s team earned its 4th straight PAC title Saturday by rolling to the team title at the College’s James E. Longnecker Pool in the PAC Championships. The Wolverines finished the event with 933 team points.

The Wolverines sealed the conference title Saturday night by winning the 400 free relay in 3:29.17 seconds. Jenna Richert, Kait Riesmeyer, Jenny Ryan and Angela Palumbo combined for the winning effort.

Ryan opened Saturday night’s session by winning the 1650 in 17:27.60. Palumbo captured the 100 free in 51.47 while Riesmeyer prevailed in the 200 butterfly (2:05.09).

Lauren Cassano won the 200 backstroke in 2:07.86 for the Wolverines.

Richert took 2nd in the 100 free (53.01) while Kate Wilt earned 3rd in the 200 breaststroke (2:26.23). Tori Baker placed 4th in the 200 back (2:09.59), 1 spot ahead of Natalie Keibler, who recorded a time of 2:10.07.

Emma Rudolf captured 5th place in the 200 breaststroke in 2:29.54 and Larissa Cassano earned 5th in the 200 butterfly (2:15.42).

Head coach Dave Fritz earned the conference’s Coach of the Year award.

GCC’s 267.5-point margin of victory is the largest ever for an NCAA Division III team in the 22-year history of the meet. GCC’s 933 team points are the most ever by a Division III team at the meet.

Grove City has now won 10 conference titles in the last 21 years.

GROVE CITY

ä Women’s Basketball —  The Grove City College women’s basketball team concluded the 2011-12 regular season Saturday afternoon with a 63-59 setback at Thiel in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia.

Grove City jumped out to a 7-0 lead but Thiel (8-17, 8-10 PAC) rallied to take a 27-26 lead by halftime. Thiel extended its lead to 53-43 in the second half before the Wolverines made a final charge at Thiel.

Senior guard Megan Gebrosky drilled a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to cut the Thiel advantage to 61-59. The Wolverines then held defensively on the following possession but could not tie the game on the next trip down the floor.

Thiel's Rianne Thornton missed the front end of a one-and-one with five seconds left but Thiel’s Ashley Davis grabbed the offensive rebound. The Wolverines fouled Davis and she sealed the win by hitting both foul shots.

Sophomore forward Hannah Jo Coneby paced Grove City with a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Leah Gibson tossed in 13 points and Gebrosky finished with 10 points. Gebrosky also had 5 assists and 3 steals while Gibson had four assists.

Kelly Barzak led Thiel with 26 points and Davis posted a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double. Thiel outrebounded Grove City 44-34, including 12 offensive rebounds.

Grove City shot 35 percent (20 of 58) from the field, including an 8-for-18 effort on 3-point goals. Thiel made 26 of 63 (41 percent) attempts from the floor. Each team turned over the ball just 11 times.

Grove City (7-18, 6-12 PAC) will be the No. 8 seed in this week’s conference tournament. The Wolverines faced top-seeded Thomas More Tuesday. in the quarterfinals.

ä Men’s Basketball — Thiel forward Austin Forbes drained a three-point goal as time expired Saturday afternoon to give the host Tomcats an 80-78 victory over Grove City in a PAC matchup at Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia.

Grove City took a 78-77 lead with 4.6 seconds left on a driving layup from senior guard Brett Matson. However, Thiel quickly moved the ball down the court and Forbes' three-point attempt went through the hoop as time expired.

Senior center Kris Verderber put Grove City up 72-70 with a backdoor layup with 1:04 to go. Freshman guard J.T. Schwartz pushed the lead to 74-70 with a steal and layup with 37 seconds left.

A tip-in by Thiel's Ladell Trotty halved the lead but freshman guard Mitch Marmelstein countered by hitting a pair of free throws. Thiel's Blair Rozenblad slashed the lead to 76-75 with a three-point play with 19 seconds left and following a Wolverine turnover, Rozenblad put Thiel up 77-76 with two foul shots.

Thiel led 34-32 at halftime after Ladell Trotty buried a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer.

Marmelstein led four Grove City players in double figures by firing in 20 points. Matson posted 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Verderber poured in 11. Schwartz finished with 10 points.

Grove City (11-13, 7-9 PAC) shot 27 of 59 (46 percent) from the field for the game, including a 17-of-29 (59 percent) effort in the second half. Thiel went 31 for 69 (45 percent) from the floor.

Anthony Harvey led Thiel (16-7, 13-3 PAC) with 22 points while Rozenblad posted a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double. Trotty also had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Thiel owned a 44-35 rebound edge.

Matson added 5 assists and Schwartz recorded four steals for Grove City. The game featured 14 ties and 15 lead changes. Neither team led by more than 7 points. Ten of Grove City's 16 conference games have been decided by 5 points or less. The Wolverines went 5-5 in those games.

Grove City will be the No. 5 seed in this week's PAC Championship Tournament. The Wolverines visited No. 4 Saint Vincent Tuesday night in the quarterfinals.

GROVE CITY

ä Men’s Tennis — GCC opened the 2012 season on Friday with an 8-1 non-conference win over Penn State-Behrend at the Westwood Club, Erie.

The Wolverines swept the 3 doubles matches and then won 5 of the 6 singles contests. Grove City has now won 11 straight regular-season matches dating back to the end of 2010.

Peter Riley, Anthony Rosselli, Scott Yanak, Steve Harrison and Andrew Deckert won in singles play. Caleb Fuller suffered a 6-1, 6-0 loss at No. 1 singles. Fuller-Rosselli won 9-8 at 1st doubles, Deckert-Riley notched an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles and Harrison-Yanak registered an 8-1 win at 3rd doubles.

ä Women’s Tennis — GCC opened the spring portion of the schedule Friday with an 8-1 win against PSU-Behrend at Westwood Club, Erie.

Christina Bedi, Caroline McGuire, Emily Buurma, Kaitlyn Heese, and Leah White captured singles victories. Buurma-McGuire teamed up for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, Bedi-Lauren Troxel posted an 8-1 win at 2nd doubles and Heese-Danielle Mendheim notched an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.

SLIPPERY ROCK

ä Women’s Basketball — SRU dropped its 10th consecutive game, 70-45 at No. 21 Indiana University (Pa.) Saturday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.

With the loss Slippery Rock falls to 5-19 overall and 2-18 in PSAC play. Indiana improves to 19-5 overall and 15-5 in league play.

D'Asia Chambers led The Rock for the second consecutive game, netting a game-high 14 points. Jasmine Cooper added six points and a team-high five rebounds and Danielle Smith added six points to cap the top performers.

ä Men’s Basketball — For the 2nd time this winter, Slippery Rock University went toe-to-toe with defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion Indiana before losing a narrow decision.

Marcel Souberbielle scored 5 points in the final 30 seconds, including a 3-point basket that gave IUP a lead it would not relinquish, to lift the 13th-ranked Crimson Hawks to a 66-63 victory.

SRU's John Bayardelle buried a trey with 1:01 left to tie the game at 61-61, but that proved to be The Rock’s last hurrah.

Souberbielle's 3-point shot with 0:31 left to play and a pair of free throws 15 seconds later gave the hosts a 66-61 lead.

Tabari Perry scored on an offensive rebound with 0:12 left to account for the final points of the game. But SRU battled to the final horn as Devin Taylor misfired on a potential game-tying 3-point shot with 5 secondsleft.

Taylor finished the game with a team-high14 points and 7 rebounds. Chaquille Pratt added 12 points and 5 rebounds in a substitute role, Perry chipped in 10 points and a team-high 9 rebounds, Luiz Santos scored eight points and Bayardelle finished with 7 points off the bench.

Ashton Smith scored a game-high 23 points for IUP, while Souberbielle and Julian Sanders each added 13 points.

ä Baseball — Slippery Rock University opened its 2012 season Saturday afternoon with a 4-2, 5-4 doubleheader sweep of NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rival Ohio Valley University of West Virginia at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Sophomore right-hander Lou Trivino pitched a complete-game and sophomore right fielder Brandon Myers smacked a home run and collected 2 RBIs to lead the winning effort in Game 1.

Senior southpaw Zach Jeney picked up the Game 2 win after pitching 4 innings in relief. Junior 1st baseman John Shaffer had 2 doubles to lead the offensive attack. Senior captain Carter Haponski had a pair of hits in each game to lead The Rock.

Trivino, an all-conference and all-region performer last spring, picked up right where he left off as he struck out 8, walked only 1 and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits in a 7-inning route-going effort.

Myers' home run tied the score at 1 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Haponski had a double and a single in the game and senior Lee Foxton (Clinton, NY/Clinton HS) added 2 singles.

ä On Sunday, SRU managed only 7 hits in two games Sunday and dropped 3-2 and 6-3 (9 innings) decision to NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rival Wheeling Jesuit University at VA Memorial Park.

The Rock (2-2) collected only 3 hits in Sunday’s 1st game and were held to 4 hits in the nightcap. Adding salt to the wound was the fact Wheeling Jesuit parlayed four Rock defensive errors into five 2-out runs in the top of the 9th inning to record the 2nd-game win.

Senior captain and left fielder Haponski had a single in Game 1 and a double in Game 2, while senior catcher Matt Accardi had a 2-run double and an RBI single in Game 2 to highlight The Rock's lackluster offense.