Bucknell's Goebel Wins 50 Free on First Day of PL Swimming and Diving Championships

Thursday, February 17

Lewisburg, Pa.

6:00 PM

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships - Finals

Bucknell's Goebel Wins 50 Free on First Day of PL Swimming and Diving Championships

2/17/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

By: TBD

Feb. 17, 2011

Results

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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) won her first career Patriot League title in the 50-yard freestyle, helping the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team to third place in the team standings following the first day of the Patriot League Championships Thursday at Kinney Natatorium.

Goebel, who is just the second Bison to win a Patriot League title in the last five years along with 2010 graduate Courtney Warren, won the 50 free in 23.29 seconds. She was followed closely by teammate Emily Wright (Wayland, Mass./Wayland), who clocked a career-best 23.36 to claim second place. That time ranks tied for third in program history, a list that Goebel already tops (23.20). Goebel and Wright also finished 1-2 in the prelims.

Goebel now has four career top-six finishes in the 50 free. She placed sixth as a freshman in 2008, fourth as a sophomore in 2009 and second as a junior last February.

The Bison totaled 147 team points with Goebel and Wright accounting for 37 in the 50 free alone. Colgate leads the way with 198, while defending champion Navy is second with 171.

Elizabeth Porcellio posted a solid performance in the 200 IM prelims as she timed in at 2:03.84 to place fourth. That mark is the second-best in program history, behind only Lauren Russell's 2:03.27 standard from last year's Patriot League Championships and it was more than three seconds faster than Porcellio's previous best. Porcellio ended up finishing fifth in the final in 2:04.64.

In addition to her individual title, Goebel helped a pair of relay teams set new Bucknell top-10 marks. The 200 free relay of Wright, Porcellio, Kaitlyn Utkewicz (Montville, N.J./Montville) and Goebel finished third in 1:34.25, good for third in program history. Additionally, the 400 medley relay of Jennifer Brennan (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy), Macey Keath (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), Goebel and Wright recorded the sixth-best time in school history (3:51.75).

A total of five top-10 marks were recorded Thursday with Kelly Pontecorvo's (New Providence, N.J./Mount St. Mary Academy) strong 500 free performance rounding out the list. Pontecorvo claimed seventh in the 500 free in a career-best time of 4:56.71. That was 1.79 seconds better than her previous best and placed her third in program annals behind only Nikki Woodward (4:55.73) and teammate Jamie Chakany (4:56.56).

The three-day Patriot League Championships will continue Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. with additional prelims. The finals Friday and Saturday will begin at 6 p.m.

Team Scores
1. Colgate - 198
2. Navy - 171
3. Bucknell - 147
4. American - 110
5. Army - 98
6. Lehigh - 61
7. Holy Cross - 54
8. Lafayette - 52

New Top-10 Times
500 free (3. Kelly Pontecorvo - 4:56.71)
200 IM (2. Elizabeth Porcellio - 2:03.84)
50 free (t-3. Emily Wright - 23.36)
200 free relay (3. Wright, Porcellio, Utkewicz, Goebel - 1:34.25)
400 medley relay (6. Brennan, Keath, Goebel, Wright - 3:51.75)

Bucknell Results
Melissa Besman
500 free prelims - 20th, 5:10.19

Jennifer Brennan
200 IM prelims - 17th, 2:09.55

Jamie Chakany
500 free prelims - 17th, 5:08.59

Molly Goebel
50 free prelims - 1st, 23.27
50 free finals - 1st, 23.29

Anna Griest
500 free prelims - 14th, 5:05.42
500 free finals - 14th, 5:05.03

Sinead O'Dwyer
200 IM prelims - 11th, 2:08.88
200 IM finals - 13th, 2:08.97

Kelly Pontecorvo
500 free prelims - 8th, 4:59.33
500 free finals - 7th, 4:56.71

Elizabeth Porcellio
200 IM prelims - 4th, 2:03.84
200 IM finals - 5th, 2:04.64

Alexandra Psaris
500 free prelims - 26th, 5:18.68

Kelly Purcell
500 free prelims - 11th, 5:03.20
500 free finals - 13th, 5:04.99

Kaitlyn Sweeney
500 free prelims - 15th, 5:05.66
500 free finals - 15th, 5:05.33

Marisa Taddeo
50 free prelims - t-20th, 24.77