Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
ECAC Championships Finals
Devlin Caps ECAC Championships With 200 Back Title
3/1/2015 7:23:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Bucknell freshman Chris Devlin capped an impressive ECAC Championships Sunday with his first career title at the event as he captured the 200-yard backstroke gold medal. It was the third top-eight finish of the three-day meet for Devlin, who was also third in the 200 IM and eighth in the 200 free this weekend.
Thanks in part to Devlin's performance, Bucknell placed eighth in the team standings with 259 points. Fellow Patriot League schools Navy and Army occupied in the top two spots.
Devlin became the first Bison to win the 200 back title at the ECAC Championships since Don Steenson swept the 100 and 200 back in 1992. He defeated Pittsburgh's Matt Tankle in the final by 1.25 seconds, touching the wall in 1:45.80, after winning the prelim by 1.52 seconds over Columbia's Zach Thomas.
The 200 back was Bucknell's deepest event on Sunday as Louis Behnen placed fifth and Colin Lynch was ninth. Behnen completed the weekend with a pair of top-five showings after finishing third in the 200 free. Lynch's finals time of 1:47.91 was the fourth-fastest in the field and nearly five seconds faster than his prelim time. He won the consolation final by .74 seconds and his time improved his own No. 4 mark in school history.
Behind Devlin, Brian Phillips had Bucknell's next highest individual finish on the day, placing third in the 1,650 free. The junior moved up from fourth to third on the program's 1,650 free and 1,000 free lists with his swim. Phillips touched the wall in 15:41.81 and his 1,000 split was 9:26.94.
Sean Lyons placed 14th in the 1,650 free to make it two Bison scorers in the event.
Bucknell also had two scorers in the 200 breast as seniors Ben Seketa (9th) and Tim Perley (15th) closed out their Bison careers.
Juniors Jeff Shanley (15th) and Will Rappaport (16th) swam in the consolation final of the 200 fly.
The three-day meet closed with the 400 free relay and Bucknell's group of Lynch, Devlin, Behnen and Stephen Hollinshead placed sixth.
Team Scores (top 10 of 15)
1. Navy – 661.5
2. Army – 428.5
3. Columbia – 418
4. Binghamton – 400
5. Marist – 346
6. Pittsburgh – 295
7. Penn – 264
8. Bucknell – 259
9. Rider – 195
10. Maine – 128
New Top-10 Marks
1,000 free (3. Brian Phillips – 9:26.94)
1,650 free (3. Brian Phillips – 15:41.81)
200 back (4. Colin Lynch - 1:47.91)
Bucknell Results
Louis Behnen
200 back prelims – 5th, 1:48.75
200 back finals – 5th, 1:49.07
Kyle Bloom
100 free prelims – 32nd, 47.41
Chris Devlin
200 back prelims – 1st, 1:46.28
200 back finals – 1st, 1:45.80
Steve Grune
100 free prelims – 35th, 48.16
Colin Lynch
200 back prelims – 15th, 1:52.50
200 back finals – 9th, 1:47.91
Sean Lyons
1,650 free finals – 14th, 16:14.70
Tim Perley
200 breast prelims – 12th, 2:05.15
200 breast finals – 15th, 2:06.65
Brian Phillips
1,650 free finals – 3rd, 15:41.81
Will Rappaport
200 fly prelims – 17th, 1:56.54
200 fly finals – 16th, 1:56.84
Ben Seketa
200 breast prelims – 10th, 2:04.04
200 breast finals – 9th, 2:02.23
Jeff Shanley
200 fly prelims – 14th, 1:54.07
200 fly finals – 15th, 1:55.51
Wes Marberry
200 back prelims – 21st, 1:53.59
Jack Robinson
100 free prelims – 24th, 46.93
Sam Rutan
200 back prelims – 20th, 1:53.52
400 free relay
Prelims: Nangle, Behnen, Rutan, Devlin – 4th, 3:06.04
Prelims: Hollinshead, Bloom, Seketa, Grune – X, 3:09.87
Finals: Lynch, Devlin, Behnen, Hollinshead – 6th, 3:04.35
Finals: Rutan, Nangle, Bloom, Seketa – X, 3:08.99
Players Mentioned
