Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
American
Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving Splits with American, Navy
11/3/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 3, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Bucknell women's swimming and diving team traveled to American's Reeves Pool to face the host Eagles and Navy in a double dual Saturday afternoon and came away with a split. The Bison defeated American 252-36, but lost to the Mids 185-113. Bucknell is now 1-3 on the young season.
Kelly Pontecorvo (1,000 free) and Emma Levendoski (100 back) posted victories in the swimming events for the Bison, while Tara Boyle (one-meter) and Katie Hetherington (three-meter) registered first-place finishes in diving competition. Bucknell and Navy combined to finish first in all 16 events.
Levendoski, who also placed second in the 200 back and was the leadoff leg of the second-place 200 medley relay, clocked a time of 57.98 seconds on the way to her gold medal in the 100 back. That time ranks her eighth in program history, a spot she already held, but the time was .26 better than her previous best.
Pontecorvo combined a third-place showing in the 500 free with her victory in the 1,000 free.
"I thought that overall the team had another solid outing today," said Bucknell seventh-year head coach Dan Schinnerer. "We really emphasize making improvement from week to week and meet to meet at this point in the season and we definitely saw improvement in a number of areas from a number of people. Our biggest goals are more long term at this point and we just want to keep making steps forward.
"Navy is the defending league champion, so we had a chance to measure ourselves against the best in our conference today. I thought we raced well and competed hard throughout the course of the meet. We really appreciate American putting together the competition at the last minute when Lafayette had to withdraw from hosting the meet."
Bucknell really dominated the diving competition Saturday as Boyle and Hetherington finished 1-2 off both boards, just switching final placings. Additionally, Tori Molchany was fourth off both boards, while Lisa Bolle was seventh off the one-meter and fifth off the three-meter.
Freshmen (Levendoski, Ashley Henderson) combined for three of Bucknell's top four finishes in individual swimming events as Henderson posted a runner-up showing in the 200 IM, leading a pack of four Bison in the top six of the final results. She also placed fifth in the 100 fly.
"In addition to the individuals who scored victories for us, I thought we had some very strong performances from our freshmen today," praised Schinnerer. "Ashley Henderson turned in a great day overall and is developing into someone who can be a factor for us in multiple events."
Bucknell's next scheduled competition is in two weeks when it hosts the Bucknell Invitational Nov. 16-18 at Kinney Natatorium. Prelims each day are scheduled for 10 a.m., while finals are slated for 6 p.m.
