Rutgers swimming and diving finished third of 15 teams at the Frank Elm Invite over the weekend. The Scarlet Knights (1-3) totaled 1026 points over the three day event.
Pittsburgh came in first (1576.5) with Bucknell finishing second (1157.5). After RU, Delaware (969) and LaSalle (863.5) rounded out the top five.
Sophomore Taylor Curado (Highlands, Colo.) ranked first in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 56.41. Junior Jacquelyn Ward (Berlin, N.J.) also finished first in the 400 IM with a time of 4:24.11.
Ward finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.74. In the 200 breast, Ward ranked third with a time of 2:22.32. Freshman Trisha Averill (Renton, Wash.) touched the wall just before with a time of 2:20.69 for second.
Junior Brianne Lindblad (Kent, Wash.) tallied two strong showings in the 100 and 200 back. Lindblad touched the wall in 25.28 in the 100 back for a second-place finish. In the 200, the junior finished in 2:04.77 for a third-place ranking.
In the relays, the Scarlet Knights ranked third in the 200 medley relay (1:47.19). Lindblad started the team off, followed by Ward, Curado and freshman Mary Moser (Wyomissing, Pa.)
On the diving side, senior Jen Betz (Ivyland, Pa.) finished second on both the one and three meter boards. In the one meter, Betz collected 251.40 points and on the three meter board, the captain posted 267.60.
Nicole Scott (Toronto, Canada) won the platform diving event (251.95) and finished third on the three meter board (267.05). Freshman Valentina Gordon (Metuchen, N.J.) ranked third in the platform with 174.15.
Jonathan Podniesinski, Thomas Brown and Eric Sokolosky posted individual wins and the 400 free relay team finished first too as the Bucknell men’s swimming and diving team picked up first-place finishes in four of the six swimming events contested Sunday on the final day of the Frank Elm Rutgers Invitational. The Bison finished the three-day event in third place in the team standings, behind La Salle and Delaware.
Podniesinski’s victory came in the 1,650-yard freestyle as he clocked in at 16 minutes, 8.97 seconds, posting a 15-second victory over runner-up Zach Anderson from La Salle. Freshman teammate Matt Ramey gave Bucknell two of the top three finishers as he crossed the line third in 16:25.28.
Brown captured the 200 back in 1:51.24, bettering his previous season best by a full 2.69 seconds.
Sokolosky’s win came in the 100 free, an event that saw six Bison finish in the top 24 and score. Sokolosky’s winning time was 45.66, just .17 shy of his career best that ranks fifth in program history. Taylor Harris (4th, 47.48) and Matthew Segar (6th, 47.60) also posted top-10 finishes.
Segar, Harris and Sokolosky teamed up with Christian Treat to win the 400 free relay in 3:04.77, a mark that ranks 10th in program history.
Freshman Mike Nicholson almost earned his third win of the weekend, but had to settle for a second-place showing in the 200 breast. Nicholson captured the 200 IM on Friday and the 400 IM on Saturday.
The 200 butterfly was also contested on Sunday and Michael Volpe was Bucknell’s top finisher, crossing the line eighth. However, ninth-place Billy Krause’s B-Final time of 1:54.24 would have placed him third in the A-Final if he had qualified for it in the prelims.
Bucknell will be idle next weekend and will return to dual-meet competition when it hosts La Salle at Kinney Natatorium on Dec. 4. Start time for that meet is 1 p.m.
Team Standings
1. La Salle – 1,709.5
2. Delaware – 1,668
3. Bucknell – 1,421
4. Pittsburgh – 1,340
5. Fordham – 998.5
6. The College of New Jersey – 503
7. Massachusetts – 195
8. Drexel - 95
Freshmen Kelly Pontecorvo and Emily Wright as well as the 400 free relay posted victories for the Bucknell women’s swimming and diving team Sunday on the final day of the Frank Elm Rutgers Invitational. The Bison finished the three-day event in second place in the team standings, behind only Pittsburgh.
Bucknell collected just one first-place finish (Molly Goebel – 50 free) in the first two days of the Rutgers Invitational, but claimed first in half of the swimming events contested Sunday.
Pontecorvo’s victory was probably the most impressive as her time of 16 minutes, 55.26 seconds in the 1,650 free ranks her second in program history in that event. She shaved more than 36 seconds off her previous season best she swam against George Mason. Pontecorvo was one of five Bison in the top 14 finishers in the 1,650 free. Next up was classmate Melissa Besman, who finished sixth in 17:16.79, a time that ranks her eighth on the program’s all-time list. Jamie Chakany, Anna Griest and Kelly Purcell also scored points for Bucknell.
Wright, who earlier in the weekend finished second in the 50 free, won the 100 free in a season-best time of 51.67. That puts her sixth in the program record book. Goebel was fifth in the same race, recording a season-best time herself (52.16).
Wright and Goebel teamed up with Elizabeth Porcellio and Kaitlyn Utkewicz in the 400 free relay and the foursome crossed the line in 3:30.19, good for fourth in Bucknell’s all-time records. The Bison quartet beat out runner-up Central Connecticut State by a mere .14 seconds.
The 200 back, 200 breast and 200 fly were also contested and Jennifer Brennan (5th, 200 back), Porcellio (4th, 200 breast) and Alexandra Psaris (6th, 200 fly) were the Bison’s top finishers in those events.
Bucknell will be idle next weekend and will return to dual-meet competition when it hosts La Salle at Kinney Natatorium on Dec. 4. Start time for that meet is 1 p.m.
Team Standings
1. Pittsburgh – 1,576.5
2. Bucknell – 1,157.5
3. Rutgers – 1,026
4. Delaware – 969
5. La Salle – 863.5
6. Central Connecticut State – 733
7. Fordham – 687
8. Columbia – 626
9. Saint Francis (Pa.) – 428
10. Wagner – 408
11. The College of New Jersey – 380.5
12. Sacred Heart – 88
13. Drexel – 59
14. Massachusetts – 47
15. Colgate - 42
