Women's Swimming and Diving Falls to Boston University, 157-143

Saturday, October 17

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

143

157

Boston University

Results

Photo by: Carolyn Andros

Women's Swimming and Diving Falls to Boston University, 157-143

10/17/2026 4:08:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's swimming and diving team opened the season against Boston University on Saturday at the Kinney Natatorium, falling 157-143 in a close meet that came down to the final few events.

Bucknell (0-1, 0-1 PL) won six events on the day as Kelly Byrne and Clara Renner won two events each. Samantha Benzija won the 100 breast, and the Bison won the opening 200 medley relay. Renner and Byrne led the Bison with 22 points each for the meet.

Natalia Gajecki, Byrne, Kylie McKirryher and Tori Castro opened the day with a win in the 200 medley relay for 11 points, and the group set the seventh-fastest time in program history in 1:42.53. Bucknell's team of Sienna Wilson, Abbey Amato, Benzija and Lindsay Young took third with a time of 1:43.76.

Renner followed up with a second-place finish in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:05.93 to earn four points. Emma Briganti followed with a fourth-place finish in 10:30.48.

Virginia Hastings (1:51.38), Kennedy DeVeaux (1:53.38) and Hanna Klingensmith went 2-3-4 in the 200 free to combine for nine points for the Bison in the event. Alivia Wainwright (56.31), Sienna Wilson (56.79), and Gajecki (57.15) followed suit with a 2-3-4 finish in the 100 back. Wainwright's time was just less than a second off of a top-10 time.

The Bison took the top three points in the 100 breast led by Benzija's win in 1:03.99. Her time was just 0.18 seconds off of a top-10 time for the Bison. Byrne took second in the event with a time of 1:04.10 and Amato took third with a time of 1:04.97.

Renner followed with a win in the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.39 to beat the next finisher by nearly four seconds. Tessa Feld followed with a third-place finish for three points in 2:06.61, and Joslin Halsey took fourth in 2:06.72.

Castro took second in the 50 free, and the sophomore made a run at her personal record which ranks second in school history. Her time of 23.33 was 0.17 away from her personal record and 0.33 away from the school record. Hastings took fourth in the event in 23.91, which is 0.35 seconds away from a top-10 time.

Castro followed with another second-place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.55. McKirryher took second in 52.59 and Hastings placed fifth in 52.55. Wainwright (2:01.56) took second in the 200 back followed by Wilson (2:02.87) in third and Karlin Smith (2:07.13) in fifth.

Byrne's first win of the day came in the 200 breast in 2:18.28, defeating field by over three seconds. Renner followed with a win in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.69.

Castro earned her third second-place finish of the day in the 100 fly with a time of 55.61. Benzija was close behind with a time of 55.63, and Halsey took fifth in 57.20.

Byrne's second win of the day came in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.65. Hastings took third with a time of 2:07.02. Bucknell closed out the day with a second-place finish in the 400 free relay. Renner, McKirryher, DeVeaux and Wilson swam a time of 3:28.71 to collect four points.

Natalie Penman led the Bison divers on the day seven points, taking second in the 3-meter dive and third in the 1-meter dive. She scored a 245.63 in the 3-meter, and a 245.10 in the 1-meter.

Ruby Olliffe took fifth in the 1-meter dive with a score of 231.83, and Mielenz earned a point in the 3-meter with a score of 226.13.

Bucknell is back in action next Saturday, October 24 to host the Bucknell Fall Invite at 12 p.m. at the Kinney Natatorium.