Feb. 21, 2008

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Twelve members of the Bucknell women's swimming and diving team reached the finals of the first six events at the 2008 Patriot League Championships on Thursday. At the conclusion of day one of the three-day meet, the Bison sit in second with 203.5 points while Navy is first with 223.5.

The Bison set three new 200 IM top-10 marks in the preliminaries as sophomores Megan Mongan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy), Lauren Russell (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) and Abigail Atkinson (Newton, Conn./Newtown) finished third, fourth and fifth. Mongan clocked in at 2:08.92, good for fifth in program history, while Russell's time of 2:09.08 ranked sixth and Atkinson moved into eighth all-time, finishing in 2:09.24.

In the final, Russell placed third and improved to fifth on Bucknell's top-10 list with a time of 2:07.87, while Mongan followed in fourth (2:08.42) and Atkinson in sixth (2:10.11). Freshman Sinead O'Dwyer (Green River, Wyo./The Peddie School (N.J.) qualified for the "B" final where she placed 11th with a time of 2:12.02.

In the 500 free, Bucknell saw four individuals advance to the evening's finals. Senior Kristen Skroski (North Haven, Conn./Hopkins) and freshman Katie John (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) took fifth and eighth with times of 5:01.38 and 5:10.89 respectively, while in the "B" final, senior Katalin Lyons (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon) and sophomore Sarah Pease (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin Senior High) finished 11th (5:07.94) and 13th (5:09.67).

Freshman Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) was the lone member of the Orange and Blue to reach the finals in the 50 free where her time of 24.27 landed her in sixth.

The 200 free relay squad of Goebel, Mongan, junior Alexandra Lovallo (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and sophomore Courtney Warren (Montour Falls, N.Y./Watkins Glen) took third with the sixth fastest time in Bison history, 1:36.82.

In the 400 medley relay, Warren, junior Kelly Morris (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen), Goebel and Mongan finished third, posting a time of 3:54.04, good for fifth on Bucknell's top-10 list.

All three of Bucknell's divers qualified for the final on the three-meter board. In the final, Sophomore Rebecca Bersani (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) led the way with her fourth-place score of 237.90, while classmates Eliza Massie (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) and Allison FitzPatrick (Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal) followed in fifth and sixth with scores of 230.35 and 213.30, respectively.

The Bison will continue to compete in the Patriot League Championships, tomorrow, Feb. 22, with day two preliminaries that will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 400 IM.