Lehigh women finish fourth, men fifth at Patriot League Championship

Lehigh women finish fourth, men fifth at Patriot League Championship

2/21/2015 10:36:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Saturday Results | Complete Results

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Three more school records fell Saturday, including the 400 yard free relay marks on both the men's and women's side as the Lehigh swimming and diving teams wrapped-up the Patriot League Championships at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium.

Lehigh's women finished fourth with 481 points, for their best finish in five years, while the men finished fifth with 329 points. The Mountain Hawks crowned one individual champion on the weekend, sophomore Kaitlyn Ruffing in the 50 free, and set 11 new school records, including all five women's relays.

Ruffing fell short in her bid to repeat as 100 yard freestyle champion, settling for fourth place with a time of 50.61 seconds. Junior Carolyn Koch finished third with a time of 50.33. Freshman Julianne Koch qualified for the B final and finished 16th overall with a time of 52.61.

Lehigh's sprinters helped end the championship meet on a high note as the Koch sisters, Ruffing and freshman Meghan Thompson finished second in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:23.72.

Saturday's final session began with the 1650 yard freestyle with two Mountain Hawks placing in the top eight. Sophomore Cora Summerfield placed fourth with a time of 16:56.25 while junior Courtney Patterson posted a time of 17:03.64 to finish eighth.

In her final event in the brown and white, senior Alissa Leung placed seventh in the 200 back with a time of 2:02.21. Freshman Rachel Rider finished 14th overall clocking in at 2:03.59.

Sophomore Melissa Feeney had a strong final swim in the 200 yard breaststroke placing fifth with a time of 2:21.10. Senior Kim Weyand also scored in the event, finishing 16th in 2:23.53.

Lehigh had four scorers in the 200 yard butterfly, led by freshman Sydney Bornstein, who finished fourth with a time of 2:04.26. Summerfield also reached the A final, placing seventh with a time of 2:07.60. Sophomore Kelly Carroll won the B final, clocking in at 2:04.74 to finish ninth overall, while senior Mary Caitlin Samuels finished 11th overall with a time of 2:05.40.

Navy won its fourth consecutive women's team title with 798 points. Bucknell finished second with 665. Lehigh's fourth place finish was its best since 2010. The Mountain Hawks finished just eight points behind third place Boston University and 65 ahead of fifth place Army.

On the men's side sophomore Jacob Moyar broke his own school record and met a NCAA B qualifying standard for the second straight day and was also a member of the 400 free relay team that closed out the championship meet with a school record performance.

From an individual standpoint, Moyar closed out the championships with a runner-up finish in the 200 yard butterfly breaking his own school record in the preliminaries and then again in the finals, with his time of 1:47.18 meeting the NCAA B qualifying standard. Junior Jake Hassel and sophomore Justin Kostelnik also scored in the event with Hassel finishing 12th overall in 1:51.72 and Kostelnik coming in 13th with a time of 1:52.13.

Moyar's second place finish matched classmate Jamal Willis' runner-up finish in the 50 free for the top individual finish for the Lehigh men at the championship meet.

In the final event of the championship, Willis and Moyar teamed with freshman Zach Tieke and sophomore Justin White broke the school record in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:00.16.

Three Mountain Hawks scored in the 1650 yard freestyle, led by senior Danny Bennett, who placed eighth with a time of 15:57.64. Freshman Patrick Champagne was right behind in ninth with a time of 15:59.08, while senior Jake Greene clocked in at 16:22.93 to finish 15th.

Lehigh had two championship finalists in the 100 free, with White finishing fourth in 45.03 seconds and Tieke coming in eighth with a time of 46.21.

Senior Sean Brant closed out his Lehigh career with a 14th place showing in the 200 back in 1:51.48, while sophomore Kevin Huntley placed 14th in the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:03.75.

Navy won its 12th consecutive men's team championship.

Final Women's Standings