Levendoski Wins 200 Back Title as Bison Women Finish Fourth at ECAC Championships

Sunday, March 1

Pittsburgh, Pa.

4:00 PM

Bucknell University

ECAC Championships Finals

Levendoski Wins 200 Back Title as Bison Women Finish Fourth at ECAC Championships

3/1/2015 7:02:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

By: TBD

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Fresh off her third consecutive sweep of the backstroke events at the Patriot League Championships, Bucknell junior Emma Levendoski added another gold medal to her collection Sunday on the final day of the ECAC Championships as she easily won the 200-yard backstroke. She was one of 10 Bison to score in individual swimming events on the final day of the three-day meet.

Bucknell scored 153 of its 413 points on the final day of competition at Pittsburgh's Trees Pool and finished in fourth place in the team standings. The Bison placed third last year.

Levendoski had an impressive showing in the 200 back as she won the prelim by nearly two seconds over second-place Kaitlyn O'Reilly (Navy). She followed that up by winning the final by nearly five seconds over O'Reilly. Levendoski's winning time of 1:55.60 would have been an ECAC Championships record, but she had already bettered that with a Trees Pool-record 1:54.91 in a time trial earlier in the meet.

Levendoski became Bucknell's first 200 back champion at the ECAC Championships since Jen Myers in 1997. She is just the fifth different Bison swimmer to win an ECAC title.

While Levendoski had the standout performance of the day for the Bison, freshman Dani Potis had a strong showing as well by posting two top-five finishes. The All-Patriot League selection was one of three Bucknell swimmers in the top five of the 200 fly with a team-best third-place showing. Potis also placed fifth in the 100 free and recorded new school top-10 times in both events.

Potis touched the wall in the 200 fly in 2:02.55, nearly four seconds faster than her prelim time. That mark puts her third in the school record book, while her 51.30 in the 100 free ranks eighth in program history. Potis previously stood ninth on that list.

Led by Potis, the 200 fly was definitely the strongest event of the day for the Bison with four scorers all finishing in the top seven. School record holder Julianna Foss was in fourth, while Sage Maggi was fifth. Emily Andrews touched the wall seventh after finishing ninth in the prelims. Maggi and Andrews both recorded program top-10 times in the event.

Stephanie Koziol (11th) and Jackie Shroyer (13th) joined Levendoski as scorers in the 200 back, while Gina Gautieri (9th) and Emily Gwynn (13th) added to the Bison point total in the 200 breast. Gautieri's finals time of 2:20.53 moved her to eighth from ninth on the school's all-time list.

Leanne Archer got the evening finals session started with a sixth-place showing in the 1,650 free, while Rachel Perry, Paige Daniel, Shroyer and Koziol concluded the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 400 free relay.

A total of 20 Bison took part in individual events on Sunday.

Team Scores (top 5 of 22)
1. Pittsburgh – 590.5
2. Navy – 483
3. Penn – 437
4. Bucknell – 413
5. Marist – 386.5

New Top-10 Marks
200 fly (3. Dani Potis – 2:02.55; 5. Sage Maggi – 2:04.62; 6. Emily Andrews – 2:05.56)
100 free (8. Dani Potis – 51.30)
200 breast (8. Gina Gautieri – 2:20.53)

Bucknell Results
Emily Andrews
200 fly prelims – 9th, 2:06.73
200 fly finals – 7th, 2:05.56

Leanne Archer
1,650 free finals – 6th, 17:35.12

Rachel Brekovsky
200 back prelims – 17th, 2:12.28

Paige Daniel
100 free prelims – 19th, 52.96

Caroline Edelman
100 free prelims – 20th, 52.97

Grace Ford
100 free prelims – 52nd, 56.09

Julianna Foss
200 fly prelims – 5th, 2:04.78
200 fly finals – 4th, 2:02.80

Gina Gautieri
200 breast prelims – 9th, 2:25.03

Emily Gwynn
200 breast prelims – 15th, 2:28.32

Stephanie Koziol
200 back prelims – 11th, 2:07.20
200 back finals – 11th, 2:06.60

Emma Levendoski
200 back prelims – 1st, 1:58.61
200 back finals – 1st, 1:55.60

Sage Maggi
200 fly prelims – 3rd, 2:04.62
200 fly finals – 5th, 2:04.75