Byrne Wins Gold; Castro Breaks Two Records as Bison Jump Into Third Place After Day Three of Patriot League Championships

Friday, February 20

Annapolis, Md.

10 a.m./6 p.m.

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships

Photo by: Carolyn Andros

Byrne Wins Gold; Castro Breaks Two Records as Bison Jump Into Third Place After Day Three of Patriot League Championships

2/20/2026 11:08:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

RESULTS

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Kelly Byrne became the 2026 Patriot League 400 individual medley champion and Tori Castro broke two school records as the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team had a big day three at Lejeune Hall on Friday to jump back into third place.

After swimming a time of 4:23.35 in the preliminaries, Byrne smashed that time by more than seven seconds to take gold in a stellar swim for the junior. Byrne swam a time of 4:16.24, winning the event by nearly two seconds. Her time is the second-fastest in school history.

Castro opened the day for the Bison women by setting the new school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.40. Castro later swam the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay as she teamed with Sara Ketron, Jennifer Bolden and Kyla Kelly to break the record with a time of 1:32.09. Ketron swam the last leg of Bucknell's record-breaking 200 medley relay time on Wednesday.

Bucknell used a huge day 383-point day to take control of third place heading into the final day and stay in reach of Army in second place. At 680 points, the Bison are in front of Boston U. at 614 points after the Terriers took a 10-point lead over the Bison on Thursday. Navy (919) leads heading into the final day with Army (814) right behind them.

Castro earned 17 points from the 100 butterfly, and Byrne followed up with 32 points from her gold medal in the individual medley. Virginia Hastings and Clara Renner took fourth and fifth in the A-Final as the pair combined to collect 51 points from the event. Hastings' time of 4:18.64 was five seconds off of her preliminary time and just four-tenths of a second away from a bronze medal. Renner finished with a time of 4:21.57.

Bolden and Sydney Dettmann swam in the A-Final of the 200 freestyle. Bolden took fifth with a time of 1:49.72 to earn 25 points. Dettmann took 22 points and finished eighth with a time of 1:50.70. Earlier in the day, Bolden swam a time of 1:48.99, which is now the sixth-fastest time on the top-10 lists.

Kelly and Kennedy DeVeaux added another 33 points with a second and third-place finish in the B-Final of the 200 freestyle. Kelly swam a time of 1:50.30 and DeVeaux finished in 1:50.76.

Hanna Bingley and Sydney Jee competed in the B-Final of the 100 breaststroke. Bingley took 16 points with a third-place finish in 1:03.60. Jee collected 13 points with a time of 1:04.50. Bingley owns the second-fastest time in school history in the event, and her time of 1:03.04 from the morning session was just seven-hundredths of a second off of her personal record.

Natalia Gajecki grabbed 25 points from the A-Final of the 100 backstroke as she swam a time of 55.02 to take fifth. After breaking into the top-10 lists yesterday from the medley relay, Gajecki set a new personal record in the morning with a time of 54.82. That time is now No. 5 on the list.

Sofia Burns also entered the top-10 in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.75. Her time is seventh on the list as she collected 14 points from the B-Final.

Bucknell's record in the 200 freestyle relay was good for fourth place to earn 52 points, and the Bison were just four-hundredths of a second away from bronze as Lehigh just edged the Bison.

The Bison go again tomorrow for one final day at Lejeune Hall. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and end with finals at 6 p.m.