2015 Patriot League Swimming & Diving Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 18 – Saturday, February 21, 2015; prelims 11am, finals 6pm
- Location: Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, Lewisburg, PA (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: W – Navy, M – Navy (results)
- Live Results: Available
- Live Video: Available
- Championship Central
There was some interesting shuffling going on in the standings on the second night of finals at the 2015 Patriot League championships. What stood out most in the women’s meet was the meteoric rise of Boston University and the superb performance by Lafayette. On the men’s side of things, it was Bucknell and Boston who both moved ahead of Army with several big swims. Navy continued to outscore all its opponents but by margins than anticipated.
Full finals results are available here.
500 Freestyle
Defending champion Stephanie Nasson of Boston University had the fastest time in prelims and led through the 450 but Navy’s Rachael Dudley outsplit Nasson 27.46-28.39 over the last 50 and got the touch with 4:49.30. Nasson finished in 4:49.86. Navy’s Jenny Smith (4:51.44) was third, a little over a second faster than in the morning. Colgate’s Morgan Cohara, Army’s Bridget Ritter, Dani Potis of Bucknell, Army’s Sabrina Mortell, and Lehigh’s Meghan Thompson rounded out the championship final.
The Midshipmen had qualified the top five swimmers in the men’s race, while Bucknell had three, numbers 6-8. But in finals, the Bison’s Louis Behnen inserted himself into the Midshipmen’s party and notched a fourth. He and the top three all made “B” cuts. Defending champion Thomas Duvall, the 2014 Swimmer of the Meet, repeated with a 2015 win in 4:20.27, significantly off his 2014 meet record of 4:15.86 and league record of 4:14.04. Navy teammates Alex Nickell (4:21.48) and Noah Martin (4:24.23) placed second and third, just ahead of Behnen (4:24.50).
The rest of the A final consisted of Jonathan Debaugh and Riley Mita of Navy, and Sam Rutan and Denver Freeman of Bucknell.
200 Individual Medley
Charlotte Meyer of Navy went her second-best lifetime 200 IM and set a new meet and conference record with her “B” cut of 1:59.34. Teammate Kaitlyn O’Reilly (2:02.39) and Ashley Henderson (2:02.70) of Bucknell were second and third, respectively. Diana Hanson from Bucknell, Ellen Bradford of Navy, Bucknell’s Amber McDonnell, and Lehigh’s Jess Burkett and Kelly Carroll rounded out the A final.
BU put up the three fastest times in prelims but Navy’s Young Tae Seo won the men’s 200 IM with a dominant second half. In fourth place after the fly and back, Seo outsplit all but teammate Martin Brutkiewicz in the breast, with a 30.6, to take over the lead. He also had the fastest free leg in the heat and ended up first by .4 in 1:47.72. BU’s Quinn Smith (1:48.18) and Mun Hon Lee (1:48.20) took second and third. Their teammate Garrett Chin was fourth, followed by Navy’s Martin Brutkiewicz and Morgan DeJong, Army’s Sam Mo, and Bucknell’s Colin Lynch.
50 Freestyle
Lehigh’s Kaitlyn Ruffin held her top seeding from the prelims session and held off two-time defending champion, Molly Mucciarone of Army. Ruffin earned a “B” cut with her winning 22.91, as did Mucciarone (22.96). Navy’s Maddie Thompson (23.06) took third. Next were Kenzie Margroum and Brianna Bilunas of Navy, Army’s Hailey Phillips, Carolyn Koch of Lehigh, and Sami Wary of Colgate.
Chris Szekely of Army was the men’s champion, clocking a 20.22 ahead of Lehigh’s Jamal Willis (20.30) and Navy’s Dain Bomberger (20.23). BU’s Andy Vazquez, Lehigh’s Justin White, Steven Grune of Bucknell, Andrew Hacker of Colgate and Zach Tieke of Lehigh rounded out the final.
Women’s 1-Meter Diving
Top honors went to Navy junior Julie Jesse, who scored 252.70 points to lead the field on the 1-meter board. Bucknell’s Tori Molchany (241.25) placed second, while BU’s Kalli Roebelen (236.70) was third. Katie Hetherington of Bucknell, Lizzie Tillo of Boston, Tally Ford of Bucknell, Navy’s Hannah Collins, and Bucknell’s Lara Curtis placed fourth through eighth, respectively.
Bucknell picked up 65 points in this event, more than any other team in any other event so far in the meet. It solidified the Bison women’s second-place standing but wasn’t enough to challenge Navy’s depth. Diving provided a huge boost to BU, as well. In one fell swoop, the Terriers caught up to Lehigh headed into the 200 free relay.
200 Freestyle Relay
Navy ended the night with a very narrow victory over Army in the women’s 200 free relay. Thompson (23.14), Molly Kuenstler (23.68), Bilunas (22.99), and Kenzie Margroum (22.82) combined for 1:32.63 to Army’s 1:32.83. The Black Knights’ relay consisted of Kelly Hamilton, Mucciarone, Haileigh Phillips, and Keeli McNeary. Lehigh, with 1:33.20, was third and thus moved ahead of Boston, who placed fourth in the relay, by 2 points in the team race.
The Navy men broke the pool record with their win in the 200 free relay. Joseph Lane (20.71), Bomberger (19.56), Ethan King (20.07), and Duvall (19.68) combined for 1:20.02. Lehigh’s Willis, Tieke, Owen Dunbar, and White were runners-up with a combined 1:20.34. Army was third with 1:20.73.
Standings After Day Two
Women
- US Naval Academy 305
- Bucknell University 231
- Lehigh University 179
- Boston University 177
- US Military Academy 165
- Colgate University 118
- American University 67
- Lafayette College 62
- Loyola University 60
- College of the Holy Cross 461
Men
- US Naval Academy 318
- Bucknell University 204
- Boston University 196
- US Military Academy 195
- Lehigh University 149
- Loyola University 105
- Lafayette College 70
- Colgate University 65
- College of the Holy Cross 50
- American University 40