Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships Finals
Devlin Wins 200 Back and PL Swimmer of the Meet, Bison Men Finish Fourth
2/20/2016 11:06:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – For the second consecutive day Bucknell sophomore Chris Devlin added a gold medal to his trophy case. On Saturday at the Patriot League Championships Devlin captured the 200-yard backstroke title in a Patriot League, meet and Bucknell record time of 1:43.14. It came one day after he won the 400 IM for the second consecutive year. Following competition, he was named Bucknell's first Patriot League Swimmer of the Meet since 1993.
The Bison finished in fourth place in the team standings for the third consecutive year. Navy claimed its 13th consecutive team trophy, while Army West Point was in second place and Boston University finished third, just 18.5 points ahead of the Bison.
Bucknell registered 10 school top-10 times on Saturday, including a school record in the 400 free relay, but Devlin stood out. He was one of four Bison to score in the 200 back and his time was an NCAA “B” Cut time and it shaved 1.90 seconds off his own school record. No other Bison has gone faster than current teammate Jack Robinson, who placed fourth on Saturday in a time of 1:46.92. Will Rappaport (14th) and Wes Marberry (15th) also scored in the 200 back.
Devlin, who has six career Patriot League top-five finishes in his two-year career, became the first Bison named Patriot League Swimmer of the Meet since Jay Gross and Steve Droste shared the award in 1993.
Devlin also swam the anchor leg of the record-setting 400 free relay that took more than a half-second off the school record that had stood since 2011. Robinson, Charlie McFarland, Louis Behnen and Devlin finished fourth in the race in a school-record time of 3:00.29 to cap the meet.
Bucknell had four of the top 11 finishers in the 1,650 free on Saturday with Behnen leading the way with a bronze medal. It marked his ninth career top-five finish at the Patriot League Championships. Brian Phillips (6th), Sam Rutan (9th) and Denver Freeman (11th) also scored in the lengthy race. Phillips took .02 off his previous best that ranks third in program history, while Rutan and Freeman posted program top-10 times with their 1,000 splits.
Freshmen were the top Bison finishers in the 200 fly and 200 breast as Mitch Buccalo finished sixth in the 200 fly with the No. 3 time (1:49.87) in program history, while Chadd Cummings won the “B” final to finish ninth in the 200 breast, also in the No. 3 time (2:01.06) in the school record book. Triston Loux (14th) joined Buccalo as a scorer in the 200 fly, while Sam Mackie (13th) joined Cummings in the 200 breast.
McFarland was the squad's lone point scorer in the 100 free, placing 14th. His 45.69 in the prelims ranks ninth in program history.
Bucknell will be back at Navy's Lejeune Hall next weekend for the ECAC Championships.
Team Scores
1. Navy – 951.5
2. Army West Point – 650
3. Boston U. – 487.5
4. Bucknell – 469
5. Loyola – 300.5
6. Lehigh – 250
7. Colgate – 172.5
8. Lafayette – 157
9. Holy Cross – 100
10. American - 99
New Top-10 Marks
200 back (1. Chris Devlin – 1:43.14; 2. Jack Robinson – 1:46.92)
100 free (t-4. Jack Robinson – 45.24; t-9. Charlie McFarland – 45.69)
200 breast (3. Chadd Cummings – 2:01.06)
200 fly (3. Mitch Buccalo – 1:49.87)
1,000 free (5. Sam Rutan – 9:34.06; 8. Denver Freeman – 9:36.75)
1,650 free (3. Brian Phillips – 15:41.79)
400 free relay (1. Jack Robinson, Charlie McFarland, Louis Behnen, Chris Devlin – 3:00.29)
Players Mentioned
