Women's Swimming and Diving Defeats American and Lafayette; Falls to Navy in Quad Meet

Saturday, November 7

Lewisburg, Pa.

11 a.m.

Bucknell University

127.5

171.5

Navy (Quad-Meet)

Results

11/7/2026 6:01:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's swimming and diving team won seven events as part of a 2-1 day in a quad meet against American, Lafayette and Navy at Kinney Natatorium on Saturday. Bucknell dominated American, 251-39, and Lafayette, 240-59. Navy went 3-0 and defeated the Bison 171.5-127.5.

"Our women competed extremely well today, " said head coach Josh Huger. "Race execution, energy and staying committed to the process have been consistent themes within our program, and we took meaningful steps forward in all three areas today."

Clara Renner won all three of her individual events and Tori Castro won two events. Kelly Byrne and Alivia Wainwright also won events for the Bison.

Bucknell got off to a strong start with a second-place finish by Natalia Gajecki, Samantha Benzija, Castro and Sara Ketron in the 200 medley relay. The Bison lost only to Navy and their time of 1:41.71 is the third-fastest time in school history.

Renner won the first individual event of the day in the 1,000 freestyle. The race came down to the wire as Renner gutted out the win by just under two seconds in the distance event with a time of 10:15.00. Byrne was close behind with a time of 10:24.48 in third as the Bison collected big points early on.

Virginia Hastings gathered more points for the Bison with a time of 1:51.00 in the 200 free. Kennedy DeVeaux took sixth with a time of 1:53.57, beating both Lafayette and American in the event. Hanna Klingensmith finished with a time of 1:54.18, topping all American swimmers in the event.

Gajecki was Bucknell's best finisher in the 100 back with a time of 55.75 which is less than a second from her personal best. She lost only to two Navy swimmers, besting both American and Lafayette. Alivia Wainwright and Sofia Burns took fifth and sixth, and both swimmers defeated all American and Lafayette swimmers.

Abbey Ammato, Benzija, and Sydney Jee went 3-4-5 in the 100 breast, losing to only two Navy swimmers to take big points against American and Lafayette. The three Bison finished within a second of each other with times of 1:03.90, 1:03.96 and 1:04.77, respectively.

The Bison followed with wins in back-to-back events from Renner in the 200 fly and Castro in the 50 free. Both swimmers made a run at the school record in the events as the Bison collected plenty of points in the two events.

Renner finished in 1:59.98, less than two seconds off her school-record time of 1:58.21. Joslin Halsey beat all American and Lafayette swimmers with a third-place finish in 2:07.20. Tessa Feld finished sixth overall but defeated all American swimmers in the event to earn points.

Castro then won the 50 free with a time of 23.31, just 0.31 second from Ketron's school record. Hastings was close behind at 23.69 in second place for a 1-2 Bison finish. Hasting's time was 0.13 seconds from a top-10 time.

Navy took the top three spots in the 100 free, but Castro took fourth in 51.32 to defeat American and Navy in the event. Ketron finished in sixth in 51.81 and McKirryher was right behind in 52.16 as the Bison went 1-2-3 against American and Lafayette in the event.

Alivia Wainwright picked up her first win of the season in the 200 back with a time of 2:00.68. The time was just 0.08 seconds away from a top-10 time. The Bison collected plenty of points as Karlin Smith earned a third-place finish in 2:03.68 and Sofia Burns took fifth in 2:05.97. The three Bison bested all swimmers from American and Lafayette.

Byrne, Jee and Benzija went 2-3-4 in the 200 breast, losing out only to Navy in the event. Byrne finished with a time of 2:17.35 while Jee (2:21.57) and Benzija (2:21.60) finished within 0.03 seconds of one another.

Bucknell won the final three individual events of the day started off by Renner's third win of the day in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.52. Renner beat the field by more than three seconds. Navy took the second and third spots, but Emma Briganti took fourth with a time of 5:06.49. Meghan Hadsell bested all Lafayette swimmers with a time of 5:08.53.

Castro followed up with a win in the 100 fly with a time of 55.26. Castro is the school record-holder in the event with a time of 54.40. Benzija (56.71) took fourth and Wainwright (56.94) took fifth as the Bison went 1-2-3 over Lafayette.

Byrne capped off the final individual event with a win in the 200 IM by more than two seconds with a time of 2:03.32. Bucknell went 1-2-3 over American and Lafayette as Hastings (1:06.22) took third and Jee (2:07.96) took fifth.

The Bison ended the day with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:35.19 by Ketron, Renner, Kylie McKirryher and DeVeaux. The Bison finished third behind two Navy teams while beating American and Lafayette.

Natalie Penman posted two top-five finishes on the boards. She took second in the three-meter dive with a score of 258.90. She also took fourth in the one-meter dive with a score of 242.05, finishing behind two Navy divers and one Lafayette diver.

"Across the board, we had athletes step up, gain confidence and experience 'aha moments' where the work they've put in starts coming together," said Huger. "It was exciting to see that progress translate into racing, and I'm proud of how our women approached today's opportunity."

Bucknell moved to 4-2 on the season with a 2-2 mark in the Patriot League. Next up, the Bison will host the Bucknell Invitational from December 4-6 at Kinney Natatorium.