Levendoski Completes Backstroke Sweep, Bison Women Finish Second at PL Championships

Saturday, February 21

Lewisburg, Pa.

6:00 PM

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships Finals

Levendoski Completes Backstroke Sweep, Bison Women Finish Second at PL Championships

2/21/2015 10:37:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell junior Emma Levendoski completed her third consecutive sweep of the backstroke events and the Bison women's swimming and diving team had at least one top-five finisher in five of the six individual events contested Saturday on the final day of the Patriot League Championships at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison finished comfortably in second place, trailing only four-time champion Navy.

Bucknell has now finished second in the team standings three consecutive years. The Bison now have a 15-year streak of finishing in the top three. Bucknell scored 665 points and was 176 points ahead of third-place Boston U.

Levendoski captured the 100-yard backstroke on Friday and finished off the sweep on Saturday with a win in the 200. She won the prelims by .30 seconds over teammate Ashley Henderson and then took nearly two seconds off that time in the finals, touching the wall in a meet record 1:56.22. Henderson was next in 1:58.45, the No. 2 time in program history. The victory in the 200 back was the sixth career Patriot League gold medal for Levendoski, who now ranks fourth on the program's all-time list for most conference titles behind only Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famers Margaret Grunow, Jen Myers and Kathy Lynch.

Henderson's runner-up showing in the 200 back was her eighth career top-five finish at the Patriot League Championships. The junior finished third in both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke earlier this week and ranked eighth in the league in points scored at this meet.

Sophomore Diana Hanson, who captured her first career Patriot League title (100 breast) on Friday, had another outstanding performance on Saturday, placing second in the 200 breast. She improved on her own No. 3 time in program history with a 2:18.45 and was just .42 behind champion Ellen Bradford from Navy. Hanson finished with 52 points in the meet to rank fourth in the league.

Freshman Julianna Foss also earned a spot on the podium Saturday with a third-place showing in the 200 butterfly. She had previously taken third in the 100 fly earlier this week and also recorded a ninth-place showing in the 200 back. Amber McDonnell (12th) also scored in the 200 fly. Foss and McDonnell entered the meet ranked first and second on Bucknell's all-time list in the 200 fly.

Freshman Dani Potis recorded Bucknell's other top-five swimming finish with a fifth-place showing in the 1,650 freestyle. Her time of 16:56.63 improved upon her own No. 3 time in school history as did her 1,000 split time of 10:14.21 on that list. Stephanie Koziol (10th) also scored in the longest event of the meet.

The Bison also had plenty of success in the three-meter diving competition as five Bucknell divers scored points, led by third-place Tara Boyle. It marked Boyle's fourth career top-five finish off the higher board and was her eighth time scoring at the Patriot League Championships. A three-time champion off the one-meter board, Boyle placed ninth off that board on Thursday.

Fellow senior Katie Hetherington capped her Patriot League career with a sixth-place finish off the three-meter board. She captured the title as a sophomore and scored eight times in diving events in her career.

Also scoring in diving were freshman Tally Ford (9th), senior Tori Molchany (11th) and freshman Christine Kehrli (15th).

Led by Levendoski (1st), Henderson (2nd) and Foss (9th), the 200 back equaled the divers for the most Bison scorers in an event on Saturday as Rachel Perry (10th) and Caroline Orem (13th) also made finals appearances. Orem's prelims time of 2:03.29 ranks her 10th in school history.

Gina Gautieri (7th) joined Hanson in the “A” final of the 200 breast, while Leah Bloodgood finished 12th in that event.

Senior Lauren Perry was Bucknell's top finisher in the 100 free with a ninth-place showing. Maddi Marcheskie was 13th, rounding out the list of Bison individual scorers on the day.

Perry, who was honored along with teammates Boyle and Koziol after the meet as the top Patriot League point scorers in this year's senior class, concluded a strong Patriot League career that featured two titles, nine “A” finals appearances and 12 events in which she scored. Perry ranked first among all seniors in career points, while Boyle was second and Koziol third.

The meet concluded with the 400 medley relay and Bucknell's team of Potis, Marcheskie, McGoff and Lauren Perry placed sixth, but their time of 3:27.11 ranks No. 2 on the school's all-time list.

While the Patriot League Championships have concluded, it does not mean Bucknell's season is complete. The Bison will compete at next weekend's ECAC Championships at Pittsburgh.

Team Scores
1. Navy - 798
2. Bucknell – 665
3. Boston U. – 489
4. Lehigh – 481
5. Army – 416
6. Colgate – 284
7. American – 165
8. Loyola – 161
9. Lafayette – 118
10. Holy Cross – 74

New Top-10 Marks
200 back (2. Ashley Henderson – 1:58.45; 7. Rachel Perry – 2:02.15; 10. Caroline Orem – 2:03.29)
100 free (9. Dani Potis – 51.80)
1,000 free (3. Dani Potis – 10:14.21)
1,650 free (3. Dani Potis – 16:56.63)
200 breast (3. Diana Hanson – 2:18.45)
3-M diving (8. Tally Ford – 244.95)
400 free relay (2. Potis, M. Marcheskie, McGoff, L. Perry – 3:27.11)