Both the Bison Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams placed fourth at the 2024 Patriot League Championships at Lejeune Hall, at the Naval Academy.
The men followed first place Navy, second place Army and third place Loyola. Despite not placing in the top three, the Bison performed well, grabbing three medals and five school records.
John Gehrig ’24, Shane Wynne ’26, Andy Dorsel ’25 and Chris Kopac ’25 secured a 6:30.17 time in the 800 freestyle relay, winning the bronze medal, adding 54 points for their team, and setting the new school record. In the 400 Medley Relay, Chris Fabian ’24, Noah Basista ’24, Gehrig and Justin DiSanto ’25 scored a 3:12.99, tallying the second fastest time in Bucknell history. Fabian also secured a second school record, scoring a 46.92 time in the 100 butterfly and becoming the first Bison to break 47 seconds. Kopac also broke a second school record, this one in the 200 freestyle. Kopac tallied a 1:35.72 to break his own school record that he set in 2022 and grab bronze. Lastly, Will Hedges ’25 tied the school record with a 1:58.85 in the 200 breaststroke. Hedges finished 11th overall in the finals, James Lombardi ’27 followed, earning the sixth all-time record with a 2:00.53.
In addition to the aforementioned medal wins, Dorsel also secured Bronze for the 400 IM, where he finished at 3:51.78.
Other notable performances include Kopac’s 7th place time in the 1650 freestyle (15:31.68), William Shoemaker ’26’s 8th place time in the 1650 freestyle (15:33.52), Gehrig’s fourth place time in the 200 butterfly (1:46.49) and Dorsel’s seventh place time in the 200 butterfly (1:48.31).
The 200 medley relay team, Fabian, Basista, Finn Russell ’27 and DiSanto, swam the second fastest time in Bucknell history, however were short of earning a medal. Russell also recorded the program’s third-fastest time in the 100 butterfly prelims with a 48.26.
As for the women’s team, they also came in fourth place, following Navy in first place, Army in second and Boston in third, breaking two school records and winning three medals.
Virginia Hastings ’27, Kyla Kelly ’26, Kayla Lichtner ’24 and Esme Hunter ’24 scored a 1:32.93 in the 200 freestyle Relay, placing sixth in the race and breaking the school record. Kate Handley ’27 scored a 1:02.03 in the 100 breaststroke Prelims, also breaking the school record, and securing a bronze medal in the finals with a time of 1:02.37.
Handley also performed well in the 200 Breaststroke, where she clinched fifth place with a time of 2:18.26.
In addition to Handley’s bronze, Reggie Frias ’25 also grabbed a bronze medal in the 3 meter dive with a score of 290.70, which is the second best in program history. Claire Kehley ’26 also performed well, earning a silver medal in the 1650 freestyle, which was the Bison’s highest event finish of the championship. Her performance was also the 6th best in school history.
Skye Sunderhauf ’25 also had a top-10 performance in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.75, which is the 7th best in school history. In addition to performing well in the 200 freestyle relay, Hastings, Kelly, Lichtner and Hunter also excelled in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:24.06, clinching the 4th fastest time in school history.
The Bison also saw an outstanding performance from Kelly Byrne ’27, who placed eighth in the 400 IM with a 4:26.38, and eighth in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 17:08.09.
This weekend, the Bison head back to Annapolis to compete in the 2024 ECAC Championships.
