Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Bucknell Women Maintain Third Place at PL Swimming & Diving Championships
2/20/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 20, 2009
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Patriot League swimmers continued their assault on the record books on Friday at Kinney Natatorium, and the Bucknell contingent was happy to take part, as sophomore Macey Keath (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) accounted for two of the team's five school records on the day. The Bison remained in third place in the eight-team field with one more day of championship competition to go.
Bucknell now has 437.5 points, trailing only Colgate (537) and Navy (496.5). American is a distant fourth with 232.5 points, followed by Army (216), Lehigh (178.5), Lafayette (115) and Holy Cross (104). The Patriot League record fell in all seven swimming events contested on Friday.
The Bison began the evening finals session by smashing the four-year-old school record in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of Courtney Warren (Montour Falls, N.Y./Watkins Glen), Kelly Morris (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen), Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) and Alex Lovallo (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) clocked a time of 1:43.25, two seconds behind Colgate's winning time. Warren's 25.67 leadoff leg was the fastest in the field by almost a half-second.
Warren also accounted for the team's best finish of the night in a swimming event, when she placed third in the 100 backstroke in 55.26. In the morning prelims, Warren posted the fastest time, a 55.02 that bettered the Bucknell and Patriot League records. In the finals, Colgate's Beverly Walker swam a 54.83 to re-break the league record, but Warren now holds the school record by more than one full second.
Abigail Atkinson took fifth in the 100 back in 56.79, which is now the third-fastest time in school history.
Bucknell racked up the points in the 400 individual medley, with three swimmers scoring in both the final and consolation final. Keath broke the school record in that event with a time of 4:25.68 in the prelims, but Lauren Russell (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) had the team's fastest time in the finals. Russell's 4:25.91 was good for fourth place, while Keath took fifth and Abigail Paulus (York, Pa./Baltimore Lutheran) took eighth. Russell now ranks No. 2 in school history behind Keath in that event.
Keath also broke the Bucknell record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday morning. Her prelim time of 1:03.81 surpassed Jamie Flick's old mark of 1:04.17, set in 2005. In the finals, Keath placed fifth in 1:04.14, while Morris was sixth in 1:04.48 (third all-time) and Nikki Seaman (Cleveland, Ohio/The Hawken School) placed eighth in 1:05.48 (her prelim time of 1:05.28 is No. 4 all-time).
Another school record fell in the 200 free, courtesy of junior Megan Mongan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy). Mongan broke the mark in both the prelims and the finals, with her evening swim of 1:51.83 good for fifth place.
In the 100 butterfly, Goebel finished in eighth place, and her time of 56.31 was the second-fastest in school history behind only Hall-of-Famer Margaret Grunow.
Bucknell's highest place finish of the night actually came in the 1-meter diving event, where Rebecca Bersani (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) placed second with a score of 230.15. Allison FitzPatrick (Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) placed fifth with a point total of 221.90.
The Bison wrapped up the evening with a bronze-medal effort in the 800 free relay. Freshmen Jamie Chakany (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Christine Shepherd (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) joined Mongan and Lovallo for a time of 7:37.57, which ranks No. 2 in program history.
The final day of competition comes on Saturday, with prelims starting at 10:30 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m.
