WEBSTER, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona women's swimming team got off to a strong start in the first finals session of the conference championships on Wednesday evening, recording 72 points as a team to rank third out of five squads in day one of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships at the Webster Aquatic Center.

Penn State Behrend held first place the AMCC standings with 116 points, and Alfred State College was second with 108 points. Penn State Altoona's 72 points placed the Lions third, ahead of fourth place Wells College (62 points) and fifth place Pitt-Bradford (40 points).

In the combined meet with the Empire 8, Nazareth College led the field of nine teams with 134 points.

Wednesday night's finals consisted of a pair of relay events, with Penn State Altoona breaking one team record.

In the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay, the team of Avery Heisey (Lancaster, PA/Conestoga Valley), Grace Dangelo (State College, PA/State College), Sarah Petry (St. Benedict, PA/Cambria Heights), and Madison Coleman (Altoona, PA/Tyrone) combined for a time of 8:16.05 to finish in second place in the AMCC standings. The foursome's time of 8:16.05 established a new Penn State Altoona women's swimming record in that event, surpassing the previous mark of 8:34.72.

In the other event, the 200 Yard Medley Relay, the group of McKenna Holl (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin), Hailey Toth (New Ringgold, PA/Tamaqua), Grace Frey (Wayne, PA/Conestoga), and Camille Izdepski (Lusby, MD/Patuxent) took third place among AMCC teams with a total time of 2:01.02.

Penn State Altoona women's swimming resumes action in the AMCC Championships tomorrow, Thursday, February 17, for day two. Preliminaries begin at 10:00 a.m., with the day's finals session being held at 5:00 p.m. On the schedule for the Lions tomorrow are the 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard I.M., 50 Yard Freestyle, and 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.