West Chester’s Kitty Fischer Named PSAC Women’s Swimmer of the Year
Lock Haven, Pa. – Two-time NCAA Division II Champion and Division II record-holder
Kitty Fischer of West Chester has earned the PSAC Women’s Swimmer of the Year accolade. IUP’s
Aniella Janosky earned PSAC Freshman of the Year honors, while her head coach
Chris Villa has been named the PSAC Coach of the Year.
Fischer clinched gold in both the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle at the 2014 NCAA Division II Swimming Championship. Her winning time of 1:59.21 in the 200 IM set a new Division II record and bested her previous D-II record time of 1:59.41 swam at the 2014 PSAC Swimming Championship. She is the only Division II women’s swimmer to ever eclipse the two-minute mark in the 200 IM. Fischer won the NCAA title in the 200 free with a time of 1:48.48 to set a new PSAC record. She placed second in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championship with PSAC record-setting times of 1:01.25 and 2:12.62, respectively.
Janosky earned All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the women’s 200 butterfly at the NCAA Division
II Championship with a time of 2:02.55. The freshman also placed 12th at the national meet in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.09. Janosky won the 200 fly at the PSAC Championship thanks to a time of 2:03.31. At the conference championship Janosky help her relay teams to three second-place finishes (200 medley, 200 freestyle, 400 medley) and a pair of third-place finishes (400 freestyle, 800 freestyle).
Villa has been at the helm of the Crimson Hawks program for eight seasons and has earned the PSAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year distinction once before in 2011. Villa led IUP to a second-place finish at the 2014 PSAC Championship, marking the program’s highest finish since winning the conference title in 1999. He led the Crimson Hawks to nine All-America finishes at the national meet and a 16th
place team finish, marking the highest finish for the program since placing 14th in 2003.
2013-14 PSAC Women’s Swimming Postseason Awards
Women's Athlete of the Year: Kitty Fischer, West Chester
Women's Freshman of the Year: Aniella Janosky, IUP
Women's Coach of the Year: Chris Villa, IUP