Feb. 17, 2007
Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championship Page
It was a day for records at the Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championship, with at least one broken in nearly each event. As for the search for the 2007 team titles, Navy men and women extended their lead over the rest of the League.
The events of the day included men's and women's 200-medley relay, men's and women's 400-IM, men's and women's 100-butterfly, men's and women's 200-freestyle, men's and women's 100-breaststroke, men's and women's 100-backstroke, men's and women's 800-freestyle relay and the women divers competed on the one-meter board.
The night started out with the 200-medley relay. Navy women (Jennie Spencer, Aubra Thomas, Mallory Dietrich, Thuy Mi Dinh) claimed first-place by 0.46 of a second with the time of 1:44.25. On the men's side, from lane three, Bucknell (Mark Kawczenski, Brad Bennett, Grant Steadman, JB Peterman) won in one minute, 31.93 seconds. Kawczenski gave his relay team a large jump with his leadoff backstroke leg.
Navy's Kelly Zahalka took the 400-IM with a NCAA B cut time of 4:22.95 and breaking the pool, Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet records. The Mid owned the previous Patriot League and championship records, set last year. Right behind was American's Kaitlin Moughty at second (4:24.26) and Army's Amanda Otto at third (4:30.15). Navy men swept the 400-IM, taking one, two and three. Adam Meyer set a pool, Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet record with his winning time of three minutes, 54.33 seconds. It was the second time today that the Mid had broken the pool record as he swam his preliminary 400-IM in three minutes, 56.37 seconds. James Lascara (4:01.66) and Andy Bockus (4:03.29) finished second and third, respectively.
In the women's 100-butterfly, Navy's Mallory Dietrich set a Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet record with her winning time of 55.77 seconds. Colgate's Kate Murphy (56.36) and Beverly Walker (57.18) came in second and third, respectively. For the men, Army's Zach Disbrow won the event, clocking in at 48.73 seconds, a pool record. Right behind with a time of 49.42 seconds was Navy's Tyler Hill followed by American's Matt Bank, who finished in 50.18 seconds.
Navy's Tara Chapmon won a very tight women's 200-freestyle. Her time of 1:50.19 was not only a NCAA B cut time, but also broke a 1995 Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet record held by Holy Cross' Colleen Lynch. American's Meghan Thiel (1:50.81) and Navy's Sarah Dorenkott (1:50.89) took second and third, respectively, with only 0.08 of a second between them. Army's Efri Ruthenberg cruised to a first-place finish in the 200-free with his time of one minute, 38.64 seconds. Lehigh's Dan Johnson (1:41.99) came in second and Navy's Andrew Plumb (1:41.32) captured third-place.
The two women's record-holders from Navy took first and second in the 100-breaststroke. Mallory Dietrich, who holds the pool and Patriot League records, won in one minute, 3.47 seconds. The current Patriot League Championship meet record holder, Aubra Thomas, touched the wall second in one minute, 4.07 seconds. Lehigh's Melanie Rolish (1:04.33) came in third. Navy's Ari Molina (56.44) captured first place .03 of a second before Army's Jake Mentele (56.47). Bucknell's Brad Bennett (56.71) took third-place.
Colgate's Beverly Walker finished first in the 100-backstroke with her time of 56.47 seconds. Bucknell's Courtney Warren (57.83) took second and Navy's Jennie Spencer (58.42) came in third-place. For the men, Bucknell's Mark Kawczenski touched the wall first in 49.90 seconds. Following the Bison was Lehigh's Tom Gilbert (50.38) at second and Colgate's Greg Dunlavey (51.23) at third.
In the women's one-meter board, Navy's Katie Griffin captured the title with a score of 261.65. Army's Lindsay Adao (244.5) took second and Bucknell's Rebecca Bersani (242.85) came in third.
Navy and Colgate women broke the pool, Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet records in the 800-freestyle relay but its Navy's names (Tara Chapmon, Kelly Zahalka, Thuy Mi Dinh, Sarah Dorenkott) that will be in the books as the relay team finished first in seven minutes, 27.85 seconds. Colgate (Ashley Bottger, Kate Murphy, Beverly Walker, Lisa Marchi) came in second with a time of 7:29.53 and Bucknell (Nikki Woodward, Megan Mongan, Kristen Skroski, Carlyn Donley) finished third in 7:39.75. The men's relay came down between Army and Navy in a very tight race. Army (Zach Disbrow, Mike Soderberg, Chuck Ciliske, Efri Ruthenberg), however, touched the wall first, clocking in at 6:40.98, a pool, Patriot League and Patriot League Championship meet record. Navy (James Lascara, Adam Meyer, Tyler Hill, Andrew Plumb) took second (6:41.79), breaking all of the same records as well and Bucknell (Luke Trafton, Chris Amato, Ben Leboza, Joe Metcalf) came in third (6:54.25).
The final day of the 2007 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships begins with 10:30 a.m. preliminaries and then finals start at 5 p.m. For more information, including results, visit the championship link on Patriot League swimming and diving's webpage sidebar.
