The Bison hosted their three-day Bucknell Invitational Nov. 22 through Nov. 24 and competed against Connecticut, Davidson, Delaware, Fordham, Seton Hall and UMBC. Bucknell’s Swimming and Diving team started their season strong and continued their impressive performance throughout the Invitational.
After the second day of the Invitational, Women’s Swim and Dive sat in third place, trailing closely behind Delaware. Their sole victory of the day came in the 800-free relay. Clara Renner ’28 and Sydney Dettmann ’27 had impressive days individually, in addition to contributing to a top-10 time in the relay. This gold-medal winning 800-relay consisted of Renner, Dettmann, Virginia Hastings ’27 and Rylie Giles ’25, who swam for 7:19.28. This time made it into the Bison’s record books and was almost seven seconds faster than second-place Fordham.
Renner had an outstanding day, again swimming into Bucknell’s records in the 400-individual medley, now holding the Bison’s second-place all-time record. Her 4:18.48 time placed her in second in the race, and her time of 4:22.77 in preliminaries earlier in the day marked eighth in Bucknell history.
Dettmann neared the Bison’s all-time top ten record in the 200-free, but just fell short with a time of 1:50.24. Dettmann currently holds the record in tenth place with her time of 1:50.09.
The Orange and Blue took fourth place in the 200-medley with a time of 1:43.25. Sofia Burns ’28, Hanna Bingley ’26, Samantha Benzija ’26 and Sara Ketron ’27 swam this race for the Bison. Sydney Jee ’28 took fifth place in the 100 breast, but her preliminary time of 1:03.50 was eighth in Bison history. Bingley took ninth place all-time with her preliminary time as well. Benzija finished sixth place in the 100 butterfly, and she took sixth in the Orange and Blue’s record books with her preliminary time of 55.64.
The Bison women closed the meet with a strong second-place finish, taking first place in the 400 freestyle relay, which helped the Bison triumph past the Delaware Blue Hens and take second place, but fell short to the Connecticut Huskies. The Orange and Blue entered the finals 12.5 points behind the Blue Hens but finished by outscoring them 468-406.5 on Sunday.
Hastings, Ketron, Jennifer Bolden ’26 and Kyla Kelly ’26 won the 400 free relay with their time of 3:23.14, triumphing over Connecticut and concluding the meet. Their performance was the third fastest time in Bucknell history and fastest ever in a non-league championship meet.
Renner recorded her third second-place finish in the mile, accompanying her runner-up positions in the 500 free and 400 individual medley earlier in the meet. Renner’s time of 16:33:07 was third-fastest in school history and within three seconds of an 11-year school record. Additionally, Renner’s opening 1,000-meter time of 10:00.62 puts her in third place all-time.
Ketron led three Bucknell finalists in the 100 free with a fourth-place finish before her grand swim in the 400 relay. Relay teammates Kelly and Bolden finished behind her, with Kelly taking fifth and Bolden taking eighth. Kelly’s preliminary time of 50.98 was a personal record and led her to Bucknell’s ninth all-time.
Kelly Byrne ’27 recorded two sixth-place finishes, one in the mile and the other in the 200 breaststroke. Meghan Catherwood ’25 led the Bison with her seventh-place finish in the 3-meter diving event.
Skye Sunderhauf ’25 took third place in the 200 butterfly and set an impressive personal record. Sunderhauf and Dettmann helped the Bison take their second-place finish by taking third and fourth in the 200 butterfly. Sunderhauf’s 2:01.95 was not only a personal record but also made her the fifth-fastest in team history.
Renner is currently representing the Bison at the U.S. Open meet in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the team doesn’t compete again until January 10.
