Bucknell University Athletics
Seven Members of Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving Team Named All-Patriot League
2/22/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 22, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Seven members of the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team earned All-Patriot League honors based on their performances at this past weekend's Patriot League Championships, the league office announced Wednesday. The Bison's seven selections ranked third in the league behind only champion Navy and second-place Colgate.
Bucknell, which finished in the top three at the league meet for the 12th consecutive year, tied Navy and Colgate for the most second-team selections with five.
The Bison's seven honorees highlighted the youth on the team as four freshmen, two sophomores and a junior were cited.
Freshman Tara Boyle (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) landed on the first team thanks to her one-meter diving title, while classmate Lauren Perry (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) joined her on the first team thanks to accumulating a team-high 42 points at the championship meet. It marked the first time Bucknell has had a freshman on the first team since Laura Goeller in 2004.
Freshmen Stephanie Koziol (Summit, N.J./Oak Knoll) and Katie Hetherington (Houston, Texas/Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart), as well as sophomore Kelly Pontecorvo (New Providence, N.J./Mount St. Mary Academy), earned second-team plaudits after registering second-place finishes last weekend. Junior Elizabeth Porcellio (Fairport, N.Y./Penfield) and sophomore Jennifer Brennan (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) received second-team honors based on their accumulated points during the meet.
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.
Porcellio and Pontecorvo are repeat All-Patriot League honorees. This is the third consecutive year Porcellio has been on the second team, while Pontecorvo is making her second appearance on the second team in as many years.
Boyle earned Bucknell's only gold medal over the weekend as she surprisingly captured the one-meter title, finishing two spots ahead of Hetherington, who had posted the highest score during the prelims. Boyle's victory marked the first Patriot League diving title in Bison history. She scored a 243.40 in the finals, her second-highest tally of the year as she won an event for just the second time this season. Boyle also competed in three-meter diving at the meet and placed fifth. She was part of a trio of Bucknell rookie divers, along with Hetherington and Tori Molchany, that placed in the top seven off both boards.
Hetherington, who captured 13 diving titles during the regular season, finished third off the one-meter and second off the three-meter board en route to her second-team honor.
Perry totaled a Bucknell-most 42 points at the Patriot League Championships to rank 13th in the league. She placed fourth in both the 50 free and 100 free and seventh in the 200 free. She recorded new season bests in each event and ranks in the top 10 in program history in all three, listing eighth in the 50 free, ninth in the 100 free and second in the 200 free.
Koziol was the second-highest point scorer for the Bison as she ranked 23rd overall with 35 points. She posted three top-10 finishes, touching the wall second in the 400 IM, eighth in the 200 fly and 10th in the 200 back. Her time of 4:25.17 in the 400 IM ranks third in program history, one spot ahead of Porcellio, who finished third in the event this past weekend.
Porcellio, who has seven career Patriot League top-10 finishes, recorded a third-place showing in the 400 IM, an eighth-place finish in the 200 IM and an 11th-place tally in the 200 breast.
Pontecorvo broke her own school record in the 1,650 free, did the same in the 1,000 free thanks to her split time and posted the second-best time in program history in the 500 free as she piled up 31 points during the weekend. She finished second in the 1,650 free and fifth in the 500 free.
Brennan tied Pontecorvo and Army's Alyssa Tran for 30th in points scored at last weekend's meet as she totaled her 31 thanks to three top-10 showings. Brennan finished seventh in the 100 back, seventh in the 200 back and 10th in the 200 IM. She posted new program top-10 times in all three events to rank fourth in school history in the 100 back, fifth in the 200 back and 10th in the 200 IM.
Perry (200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay), Porcellio (200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay), Pontecorvo (800 free relay), Koziol (800 free relay) and Brennan (200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) each helped Bison relays to numerous top-five finishes during the weekend, in addition to competing in their individual events.
While the Patriot League Championships are now complete, the season does not end for the Bison. A number of Bucknell swimmers and divers will be competing at this weekend's ECAC Championships, which will take place back at Navy, the site of this past weekend's conference meet.
Bucknell's All-Patriot League Selections (previous All-League selections)
First Team
Tara Boyle
Lauren Perry
Second Team
Jennifer Brennan
Katie Hetherington
Stephanie Koziol
Kelly Pontecorvo (2011 - 2nd)
Elizabeth Porcellio (2010 - 2nd; 2011 - 2nd)
