Bucknell University Athletics
Three Bison Win Patriot League Weekly Swimming & Diving Awards
1/6/2014 3:30:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Three members of the Bucknell swimming and diving program earned weekly awards from the Patriot League on Monday. Mike Nicholson (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) broke the league record for Male Swimmer of the Week awards as he was honored for the 15th time in his four-year career. Female Swimmer of the Week Kaitlyn Utkewicz (Montville, N.J./Montville) earned her first career PL honor, while Katie Hetherington (Houston, Texas/Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart) was named the Female Diver of the Week for the third time this season and the 11th time in her three-year career.
Nicholson earned his fourth weekly award this season as he moved out of a first-place tie with Navy's Adam Meyer for most career PL Male Swimmer of the Week citations. He won three races this past Saturday in a 172-127 loss to Columbia. Nicholson was also part of the second-place 200 medley relay, swimming the third leg.
A three-time All-Patriot League selection, Nicholson now has 22 individual victories this season. He won his three events (200 breast, 200 fly, 200 IM) by a combined 5.60 seconds and came just one-tenth of a second shy of equaling his own school record in the 200 fly.
While Nicholson has plenty of hardware from the Patriot League, Utkewicz earned her first career weekly honor from the conference after winning the 100 free, finishing second in the 50 free and swimming as a member of Bucknell's fastest 400 free and 200 medley relays that finished second and third, respectively.
Utkewicz posted her first career individual victory by winning the 100 free, and she was one of just two Bison swimmers to win a race in the dual loss to Rutgers.
Hetherington was Bucknell's top diver on Saturday, winning the one-meter competition and placing second off the three-meter board. She posted season-high marks off both boards with her 277.25 off the three-meter the fifth-best score of her career.
Hetherington, the school record holder off both boards, now has four first-place finishes this season.
The Bison men's and women's swimming and diving teams have a busy weekend ahead. They will travel to Army on Saturday, Jan. 11, for a 1 p.m. dual. Twenty-four hours later they will host Binghamton at Kinney Natatorium with the program's 12 seniors being honored before the meet on Senior Day. Both teams will enter the weekend with a 5-2 record this season.
Players Mentioned
