Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Swimming & Diving has Nine Named All-Patriot League for Second Straight Year
2/26/2014 5:23:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's swimming and diving team placed second at last week's Patriot League Championships and on Wednesday it was ranked second in number of All-Patriot League honors earned at the event. Nine Bison were named All-Patriot League for the second straight year with five landing on the First Team and four more on the Second Team. Only three-time champion Navy had more (10).
Junior diver Tara Boyle (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) and classmate Lauren Perry (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) were on the First Team for the third consecutive year. Freshmen Diana Hanson (Derwood, Md./Poolesville) and Amber McDonnell (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield), as well as four-time Patriot League champion Emma Levendoski (Mandeville, La./Mandeville), joined them on the First Team. Ashley Henderson (Chicago, Ill./The Latin School), Stephanie Koziol (Summit, N.J./Oak Knoll), Tori Molchany (Coplay, Pa./Parkland) and Kelly Pontecorvo (New Providence, N.J./Mount St. Mary Academy) were on the Second Team.
Six of the nine Bison cited are repeat All-Patriot League selections. Only one of the nine (Pontecorvo) is a senior, with all five first-team honorees being underclassmen.
Each of the All-Patriot League teams is comprised of 19 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 the filled by competitors with the highest remaining point totals.
Boyle, just the second person in Patriot League history to win the one-meter diving title three consecutive years, earned her third straight First Team All-PL citation. In addition to winning the one-meter crown, she placed a career-best second off the three-meter board.
The first Bison female to win a diving title at the Patriot League Championships, Boyle broke classmate Katie Hetherington's school record off the one-meter board and improved her own No. 2 score in program history off the three-meter board.
The first person to sweep both the 100 and 200 backstroke events at the Patriot League Championships in back-to-back years since former Bison Jennifer Myers did it in 1997 and 1998, Levendoski, a sophomore, earned her second straight First Team All-PL honor. She won both backstroke events for the second straight year and broke her own school record in both events as well. Levendoski also set league and meet marks in the 100 back.
Levendoski, who swept both backstroke events eight times during the regular season, also placed 16th in the 50 free, matching her exact finishes in all events from 2013. She was also part of three relays, two of which broke school records.
As a freshman McDonnell was Bucknell's top points scorer with 47 to rank eighth in the league. She broke her own school record in the 200 fly and eclipsed Lauren Russell's four-year-old school standard in the 200 IM, while her time in the 400 IM ranks second in program history. McDonnell posted three top-five finishes at the Patriot League Championships, placing second in the 200 IM, third in the 400 IM and fifth in the 200 fly.
McDonnell and Hanson are the fifth and sixth Bison freshmen to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors in the last three years.
Hanson scored in three events and posted three new program top-10 times as well. She was third in the 200 IM (No. 3 time in program history), fifth in the 100 breast (No. 6 time) and 10th in the 400 IM (No. 7 time). Hanson tied for 15th in the league in points with 37.
Perry, the 2013 Patriot League champion in the 100 and 200 free, matched Boyle with her third straight first-team citation. The junior who holds the school records in the 100 and 200 free was third in the 200 free, sixth in the 100 free and seventh in the 500 free with the No. 2 time in program history.
Perry has now scored in all nine of her individual events during her Patriot League career, including five top-five showings.
In addition to her individual performance, Perry was part of four relays, three of which set school records and the other posting the second-best time in program annals.
Pontecorvo, a First Team All-Patriot League choice in 2013, earned her third career second-team nod this year. The senior who won the 1,650 free a year ago, was third in both the 500 free and 1,650 free last week. She also swam the 200 free and placed 22nd.
A scorer in 10 individual events over the last four years, Pontecorvo owns school records in the 500 free, 1,000 free and 1,650 free.
Koziol earned her third straight Second Team All-Patriot League honor thanks to scoring in the 400 IM (6th), 1,650 free (9th) and 500 free (12th). The junior who owns the school record in the 400 IM has now scored in nine career events at the Patriot League Championships with five championship finals appearances. She was also part of the school record-setting 800 free relay.
A First Team All-Patriot League selection as a freshman in 2013, Henderson earned her second career all-league citation thanks to her performance in the breaststroke events last week. She placed third in the 100 breast with the No. 3 time in program history and sixth in the 200 breast with the No. 6 mark. Henderson was part of two school record-setting relays (200 medley, 400 medley) as well.
Molchany, a junior, earned her first career All-PL citation thanks to a second-place finish off the one-meter board with the No. 2 score in program history. She finished just one spot behind Boyle. Molchany was 12th off the three-meter board and she has now scored in all six diving competitions during her Patriot League career. Her previous best finish was sixth.
While the Patriot League Championships are now complete, the season does not end for the Bison. A number of Bucknell student-athletes will be competing at this weekend's ECAC Championships, which take place back at Navy. The event starts Friday and continues through Sunday.
Bucknell's All-Patriot League Selections (previous All-League selections)
First Team
Tara Boyle (2012 – 1st; 2013 – 1st)
Diana Hanson
Emma Levendoski (2013 – 1st)
Amber McDonnell
Lauren Perry (2012 – 1st; 2013 – 1st)
Second Team
Ashley Henderson (2013 – 1st)
Stephanie Koziol (2012 – 2nd; 2013 – 2nd)
Tori Molchany
Kelly Pontecorvo (2011 – 2nd; 2012 – 2nd; 2013 – 1st)
Players Mentioned
