Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Rutgers Invitational
Molly Goebel Wins 50 Free to Lead Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving on First Day of Rutgers Invitational
11/19/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 19, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Molly Goebel and Emily Wright finished 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle and three Bison set new program top-10 marks in the 500 free to highlight the first day of the Frank Elm Rutgers Invitational for the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team on Friday. The Bison are in second place in the team standings with 363.5 points as they trail only Pittsburgh (550.5) in the 11-team field.
Goebel swam a season-best time of 23.69 seconds to win the 50 free, finishing .14 seconds ahead of Wright, who tied with La Salle's Holly Biro for second place. Wright's time (23.83) was also a season best. Goebel's finish was especially impressive because she placed fourth in the prelims and bettered that time by .36 seconds in the finals.
The Bison had six swimmers advance to the finals of the 500 free and three of them etched their names in the Bucknell record books. Kelly Pontecorvo led all Bison with a fourth-place finish in a time of 4:58.50, placing her fourth on the program's top-10 list. Only Nikki Woodward, teammate Jamie Chakany and Daniela Faas have swum the distance faster. Additionally, Kelly Purcell finished seventh in the race in 5:01.10, putting her seventh in program history, while Melissa Besman was 11th in 5:01.22, ranking her eighth on the Bucknell all-time list.
Five Bison also advanced to the finals in the 200 individual medley. Elizabeth Porcellio paced that group with a sixth-place showing (2:07.79). Macey Keath, Jennifer Brennan and Kristen Bucaria also posted top-16 showings in the event.
Both relay squads also had strong showings as both the 200 free relay foursome of Wright, Porcellio, Kaitlyn Utkewicz and Goebel as well as the 400 medley relay team of Brennan, Keath, Kaitlyn Sweeney and Goebel posted times that now rank eighth in program history. The 200 free relay finished fourth in a time of 1:36.40, while the medley relay was seventh in 3:54.15.
Day two of the Rutgers Invitational will continue Saturday. Prelims begin at 9:30, while the finals are at 5:30 p.m. The three-day event then wraps up on Sunday.
Team Standings
1. Pittsburgh - 550.5
2. Bucknell - 363.5
3. La Salle - 270.5
4. Delaware - 259
5. Fordham - 231
6. Rutgers - 218
7. Central Connecticut State - 199
8. The College of New Jersey - 177.5
9. Saint Francis (Pa.) - 124
10. Wagner - 101
11. Sacred Heart - 28
