LANCASTER, PA. - After helping lead the Bears to a top-3 finish at the Gettysburg Invitational, Ursinus sophomore swimmer Melissa Leonard earned Centennial Conference Women's Swimming Athlete of the Week, announced by the Conference on Tuesday morning. 

Leonard collected three individual wins at the Gettysburg Invitational over the weekend and posted four times that rank among the top-40 nationally. She claimed first place in three freestyle events – the 200 (1:55.17), 500 (5:04.83; 39th in DIII), and 1650 (17:39.40; 28th in DIII).  

She also contributed to second-place finishes in the 400-freestyle relay (3:32.12; 22nd in DIII) and 400 medley relay (3:57.14; 27th in DIII).  

The Dallas, Pennsylvania native also carved her name into Ursinus swimming All-Time Top-10 list for her times in the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events. She now ranks 2nd all-time in the 1650-yard freestyle and ranks 3rd in both the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle events. This is the first weekly conference award for any Bears swimming ahtletes this season. 

The Bears will return to action January 14 as they host Cabrini for a non-conference meet at 6PM.