Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving in Second After Day One of PL Championships

Thursday, February 18

Annapolis, Md.

6:00 PM

Bucknell University

PLC - Day 1 Finals

Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving in Second After Day One of PL Championships

2/18/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

By: TBD

Feb. 18, 2010

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Molly Goebel took second in the 50-yard freestyle and eight new program top-10 marks were set by the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team on the first day of the Patriot League Championships Thursday at Navy's Lejeune Hall. The Bison, who totaled seven top-eight finishes in individual events, are in second place in the team standings one-third of the way through competition.

Bucknell trails only host Navy. The Bison finished the day with 205 points, while the Mids piled up 297 points as they won five of the six events contested Thursday. Two-time defending champion Colgate is in third place with 166 points, while American (104) points rounds out the top half of the standings.

Goebel's second-place showing in the 50 free was Bucknell's top finish on the day. She touched the wall in 23.51 seconds, while teammate Courtney Warren was only .37 seconds back in fifth place. Goebel took fourth in the 50 free last year, while Warren matched her 2009 showing.

The Bison had four scorers in both the 500 free and 200 individual medley, the only other individual swimming events contested Thursday. All four swimmers in the 500 free recorded new program top-10 times. Jamie Chakany was the fastest of all as she placed fifth in 4:57.47. However, her morning preliminary time of 4:56.56 was faster and ranks second in the Bucknell record books. Kelly Purcell (5:01.96) and Anna Griest (5:03.54) finished 10th and 14th, respectively. Their times were good for ninth and 10th on Bucknell's top-10 list. Additionally, Megan Mongan scored a 16th-place finish. However, her preliminary time was nearly 11 seconds faster. That prelim time (5:00.90) listed her fifth in program history and was more than four seconds faster than her previous best.

Already the school record-holder in the 200 IM, senior Lauren Russell bettered her mark as she took fourth in the event in 2:03.27, shaving .71 off her time from last year. Classmate Abigail Atkinson finished seventh and Elizabeth Porcellio took eighth, giving the Bison three of the top eight finishers. Sinead O'Dwyer and Kristen Bucaria added points in the “B” final with O'Dwyer's time of 2:07.84 slightly slower than her prelim time that ranked her sixth in program history.

Warren, Goebel and Mongan each participated in both the 200 free relay (with Atkinson) and in the 400 medley relay (with Macey Keath). The Bison placed second in the 200 free relay in 1:33.59, the second-best time in school annals. They followed that up with a third-place showing in the 400 medley relay in 3:47.00, just .27 off the program standard.

The three-meter diving competition was also contested on Thursday and two seniors placed in the top six for the Bison. Senior captain Allison FitzPatrick claimed third (249.15), while Rebeccas Bersani registered a season-high of 239.60 to finish sixth. Her previous high this year was 218.78.

Bucknell has finished third at the Patriot League Championships each of the last two years and has not finished as high as its current second-place standing since 2007.

The Patriot League Championships will continue Friday and Saturday with the preliminaries starting at 10:30 a.m. and the final at 6 p.m. each day.

Team Scores
1. Navy - 297
2. Bucknell – 205
3. Colgate – 166
4. American – 104
5. Army – 100
6. Lehigh – 96
7. Holy Cross – 65
8. Lafayette - 59

New Top-10 Times
200 IM (1. Lauren Russell – 2:03.27; 5. Elizabeth Porcellio – 2:07.07; 6. Sinead O'Dwyer – 2:07.27)
500 free (2. Jamie Chakany – 4:56.56; 5. Megan Mongan – 5:00.90; 9. Kelly Purcell – 5:01.96; 10. Anna Griest – 5:03.54)
200 free relay (2. Atkinson, Goebel, Mongan, Warren - 1:33.59)

Bucknell Results
Abigail Atkinson
200 IM prelims: 5th, 2:05.80
200 IM finals: 7th, 2:05.80

Rebecca Bersani
3-meter diving prelims: 7th, 212.25
3-meter diving finals: 6th, 239.60

Kristen Bucaria
200 IM prelims: 15th, 2:09.74
200 IM finals: 16th, 2:10.08

Jamie Chakany
500 free prelims: 3rd, 4:56.56
500 free finals: 5th, 4:57.47

Molly Goebel
50 free prelims: 3rd, 23.71
50 free finals: 2nd, 23.51

Allison FitzPatrick
3-meter diving prelims: 3rd, 229.70
3-meter diving finals: 3rd, 249.15

Anna Griest
500 free prelims: 14th, 5:03.92
500 free finals: 14th, 5:03.54

Megan Mongan
500 free prelims: 10th, 5:00.90
500 free finals: 16th, 5:11.35

Sinead O'Dwyer
200 IM prelims: 11th, 2:08.27
200 IM finals: 10th, 2:07.84

Morgan Oxley
50 free prelims: 30th, 25.74

Morgan Popple
3-meter diving prelims: 10th, 198.40

Elizabeth Porcellio
200 IM prelims: 7th, 2:07.07
200 IM finals: 8th, 2:07.94