Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Swimming & Diving Places Eight on All-Patriot League Team
3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 9, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Eight members of the Bucknell women's swimming & diving team have been awarded All-Patriot League honors based on their performances at the 2009 Patriot League Championships, which were held Feb. 19-21 at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium. Bucknell's eight selections were third-most in the league, behind only champion Colgate with 13 and Navy with 10.
The Bison women, who finished in third place at this year's league championships, claimed three First Team All-Patriot League picks in junior Lauren Russell (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell), junior Abigail Atkinson (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) and sophomore Macey Keath (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).
Named to the second team were junior diver Rebecca Bersani (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), junior Courtney Warren (Montour Falls, N.Y./Watkins Glen), sophomore Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan), freshman Jamie Chakany (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and junior Megan Mongan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy).
Each of the All-Patriot League teams is comprised of 18 student-athletes. First-team status is automatically awarded to competitors who earn a first-place finish at the championship meet. The remaining first-team slots are filled by student-athletes with the highest remaining individual point totals from the meet. Second-team status is automatically given to all second-place finishers who do not otherwise have enough points to move up to the first team. The remaining second-team slots are then filled by competitors with the highest remaining point totals.
Russell, Atkinson and Keath all earned first-team honors based on point totals. Russell became a first-team honoree for the second straight year by placing second in the 200-yard individual medley, fourth in the 400 IM and fifth in the 200 backstroke. Atkinson moved up from second team to first team all-league this year after placing third in both the 200 back and 200 IM and fifth in the 100 back. Keath captured all-league plaudits of any kind for the first time in 2009 thanks to a runner-up finish in the 200 breaststroke and fifth-place performances in the 100 breast and 400 IM.
Bersani earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors for the third year in a row after finishing second in 1-meter diving and fifth on the 3-meter springboard. Warren and Mongan also made it three straight all-conference certificates. Warren finished third in the 100 back and fifth in both the 50 free and 100 free, while Mongan was fifth in the 200 free, eighth in the 200 IM and 11th in the 100 free.
Goebel earned her second straight second-team honor with a fourth-place finish in the 50 free, a seventh in the 100 free and an eighth in the 100 fly. Chakany was third in the 1,650 free, sixth in the 500 free and ninth in the 400 IM at her first Patriot League Championships.
Also at the 2009 Patriot League Championships, Bucknell women broke school records in 10 of 14 individual events and four of the five relays. Among the notable times:
Macey Keath: Shattered the school record in all three of her individual events, the 400 IM (4:25.68), the 100 breaststroke (1:03.81) and the 200 breaststroke (2:15.90). She was also on the record-setting 400 medley relay.
Molly Goebel: Broke the school record in the 50 free (23.20) and swam on all four record-setting relays.
Courtney Warren: Broke the school record in the 100 back (55.02) and swam on all four record-setting relays.
Megan Mongan: Broke the school mark in the 200 free (1:51.83) and swam on all four record-setting relays.
Abigail Atkinson: Smashed the school record in the 200 back (2:00.24).
Lauren Russell: Broke the Bucknell standard in the 200 IM (2:03.98). Teammates Russell, Atkinson and Mongan now rank 1-2-3 in that event.
Jamie Chakany: The Bison freshman broke the school record in the 1,650 free (16:48.52) by more than 13 seconds and became the first in program history to go under 17 minutes. Her first 1,000 yards was also a school record (10:11.43).
Relays: Bucknell smashed school records in four of the five relays this year.
Bucknell's men and women combined for 17 All-Patriot League selections, the second-most in the league behind Navy's 29. Colgate was next with 15.
