This past week (Feb. 18-21) is what the Bison have been waiting for, training for, and have had marked on their calendars all season long: the Patriot League Championships. The men’s swimming and diving team performed extremely well throughout this highly anticipated week of the year. The Bison took fourth in the Patriot League Championships in Kinney Natatorium with a score of 522 behind Navy (915), Army (642), and Boston University (536). The Orange and Blue have placed in the top half of the Patriot League for 24 out of 25 years since the championships began.

Feb. 18 was a very strong opening night for the Bison, as they took home-pool advantage and made school history right off the bat, setting school records in the 800 freestyle relay as well as having three divers score from the three-meter board.

The diving trio of Jon Jones ’15, Tyler Wenzel ’16, and Patrick Alvermann ’16 placed the men in a tie with Army, Loyola and Navy with the highest number of scorers. The diving team had a remarkable individual performance by Jones, who finished with a career best from the three-meter board due to a third-place showing score of 281.45.

The Bison swimmers’ overall performance as a team was strong, placing them in the top rankings. What stood out as an even more extraordinary performance was an individual’s: Chris Devlin ’18. The freshman was named Rookie of the Meet, an honor that has not been given to a Bison student athlete since Luke Trafton in 2007. The rookie had three top-five finishes as well as a win in the 400 IM and a silver medal in the 200 backs, which placed him at number six in the Patriot League.

Another key contributor to the Bison’s fourth place title was Louis Behnen ’17. The sophomore had runner-up showings in the 400 IM and the 1650 freestyle and also finished in fourth place in the 500 free. Behnen finished the Patriot Leagues with six career individual top-five finishes.

Other contributors for the Bison were Jack Robinson ’17, Colin Lynch ’18, and Wes Marberry ’16 who brought in scores from their performances in the 200 back. Robinson’s impressive time placed him on the program history at the number two time at 1:47.76.

Finishing off the Championships was the 400 freestyle relay which consisted of team members Robinson, Erik Heinemann ’15, Behnen, and Devlin who placed fifth. The team’s performance earned them the number seven time slot in school history at 3:03.04.

Although the Bison concluded their big Patriot League Championship week, they will still look to compete Feb. 27 to March 1 in the ECAC Championship in Pittsburgh.