Katherine Harris
Writer
The women’s swimming and diving place first in a field of six other teams at the Bucknell Invitational, ousting second place Delaware by just 2.5 points.
“Our team did an awesome job! We were truly united as a women’s team and it showed in our support and hard work. We gave everything our all in every event from diving to the relays and all races in between,” Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 said.
The Bison started out strong on Nov. 16 in Kinney Natatorium, finishing in second to Delaware by 17 points at the end of the night. Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 won the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.74, while teammate Ashley Henderson ’16 followed in fourth place with 2:07.30.
Porcellio was also part of the 400 medley team that took third place, along with Emma Levendoski ’16, Morgan Oxley ’13 and Lauren Perry ’15, posting a time of 3:53.80 that took 10th in the school record books. Katie Hetherington ’15 led the diving team with a second-place finish in three-meter diving, scoring a season-high 255.15.
The Orange and Blue then took the lead on Nov. 17, coming back to lead Delaware by eight points at the end of the day. Porcellio once again had a strong day, winning the 400 IM with a personal best time of 4:25.08 that moved her into third in school history. She also took fifth in the 200 free. She joined teammates Perry, Stephanie Koziol ’15 and Pontecorvo to win the 800 free relay, posting the second best program time in the event’s history. Perry also had another victory for the Bison on the day, winning the 200 freestyle with a school-record breaking time.
The final day of the invitational was down to the wire, with the Bison finally prevailing over Delaware by a mere 2.5 points. Pontecorvo won the 1,650 free with a time of 16:41.18, and also broke the school record with her 1,000 free time of 10:04.55. Levendoski also had another impressive day, recording a second-place finish in the 200 back. On the diving team, Hetherington finished third in the one-meter diving, with teammate Tori Molchany ’15 following in fifth place.
“Individually, I was very happy with my races,” Pontecorvo said. “I went a personal best in my 1,000 freestyle going out in the 1,650, so it makes me very optimistic for Patriots in February. I could hear the whole team cheering at that point and there was a roar in the crowd that gave me the extra motivation to finish my best.”
The Bison will compete at home again this weekend, hosting Binghamton tomorrow at 1 p.m.
