Patriot League Championships: Day One

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, February 17. NAVY captured gold in all 11 events contested Thursday night to take the lead in both the men's and women's standings at the 2012 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships at Lejeune Hall.

The Mids, who have captured eight consecutive League crowns on the men's side, sit atop the men's standings with 275 points. Bucknell is in second with 167.5 points, ahead of third-place Lehigh (130) and last year's runner-up Army (100.5). Colgate is in fifth with 80 points, American sixth with 61, while Lafayette (55) and Holy Cross (46) round out the men's standings.

The hosts have the early lead in the women's standings as well. Navy has 259 points through the first day, ahead of defending champion Colgate (212 points) and third-place Bucknell (185). Army rounds out the top four with 154 points, while fifth-place American (86 points) and sixth-place Lehigh (85) are separated by the narrowest of margins. Lafayette has 66 points and Holy Cross has 45.

Navy swept both 200-yard free relays to open the 2012 championship meet. The foursome of Toni Paruso, Catherine Cortesio, Kellie Darmody and Hollis Capuano took the women's event with a time of 1:33.60, while the team of Robbie Parker, Dain Bomberger, Sean Bagent and Zach Ingold won the men's event in 1:19.91.

Freshman Ange Sawick of Navy captured her first career Patriot League title when she won the women's 500 free with a time of 4:49.48. She was the top qualifier in the morning session as well. Sophomore Rheanna Vaughn, last year's Female Rookie of the Meet, took second in 4:52.69, just four-hundredths of a second ahead of defending League champion Erica Derlath of Colgate.

Navy captured its fourth straight event when junior Justin Vagts won the men's 500 free in 4:21.83. He edged out teammate and two-time defending League champion Mac Anthony (4:22.28), while William Norton took third as the Mids finished the 1-2-3 sweep.
Navy junior Laura Gorinski, the reigning Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women's swimming and diving, set a Patriot League and League Championship meet record in the preliminaries Thursday morning with a time of 1:59.95. She was the fastest qualifier in the preliminary, and she kept up that performance in winning the 200 IM in 2:00.45 to capture gold.

Ben Bondurant made it 6 for 6 for the Mids as he touched the wall in 1:47.60 to win the men's 200 IM. He cleared the field by nearly three seconds. Bucknell's Mike Nicholson captured second, while Steve Dukleth and Mark Meyer of Navy finished third and fourth, respectively.

Paruso secured her second gold of the night when she took the title of the fastest woman in the Patriot League by winning the 50 free in 23.44. She edged Colgate freshman Samantha Wary by 11-hundredths of a second.

Like Paruso, Ingold secured his second win of the night when he became the two-time League champion in the men's 50 free with a time of 20.29. He shaved one-tenth of a second off his winning time from a year ago. Lehigh's Chris Hoke was second (20.38), while Mids Robbie Parker and Sean Bagent took third and fourth, respectively.

Senior Courtney Vandament, who took second in the morning preliminaries, extended Navy's streak to nine event victories with 282.15 points to take first in the women's three-meter diving. Collecting silver was Bucknell freshman Katie Hetherington, who was a four-time Female Diver of the Week in 2011-12. She scored 268.25 points, while American freshman Melissa Parker took bronze with 267.55 points.

The Mids wrapped up the night with two more relay victories, sweeping the 400 medley races. Alexandra Lundgren, Gorinski, Paruso and Bryn Moriarty won the women's 400 medley relay in 3:43.63, winning by nearly four seconds over second-place Colgate and eight seconds over Bucknell for third. Gage Trotter, Sean Murphy, Steve Dukleth and Anthony teamed up to post a time of 3:13.59 to win the men's 400 medley relay. Their time was a Patriot League, championship meet and Lejeune Hall record.

Friday's preliminaries are set to begin at 10:30 a.m., with the finals slated for 6 p.m. Once again both sessions will be streamed via Patriot League All-Access.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x