Mountain Hawks head to Annapolis for 2022 Patriot League Championships

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The pinnacle of Lehigh's swimming and diving season comes down to the biggest event of the year this week as the Mountain Hawks head to Annapolis Thursday for the start of the four-day Patriot League Championships, hosted by Navy.

The Lehigh men and women will both compete for top times and scores starting Thursday and running all the way until Saturday evening to conclude the competitive schedule for the 2021-22 season.

Each day (aside from Wednesday) will consist of two sessions, a preliminary session at 10 a.m. and a finals session at 6 p.m. at Lejeune Hall. Wednesday's events will consist of diving trials at 2 p.m. and a finals session at 6 p.m.

Seven sessions (starting with Wednesday evening's finals) will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Cory Nidoh on the play-by-play call.

The Lehigh men will begin their search for their third-ever Patriot League team title and first since 2002 when the Championships kick off this week. The 2021 Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Mountain Hawks are coming off a sixth-place finish in 2020, a fifth-place finish and 2019 and sixth in 2018.

Seniors Glenn Lasco (Free) and Owen Thomas (Back/Fly) head into the week as the program's heavy-hitters and most consistent swimmers from the past season. Sophomore Miles Cox (Fly/IM) has come on strong in recent weeks and will compete for top times throughout the meet. In addition, first year Connor Goodyear (IM/Fly/Free) is the most versatile of the bunch and will challenge for scores in some of the more important events of the week.

Leadership-wise, the Mountain Hawks bring fifth-year senior Joe Huber and senior Connor Sept back to Patriots with a ton of past experience in the premier meet.

On the boards, senior Addison Cochran is the lone male diver, but has made a tremendous impact this season, bringing his best to each meet and competing for podiums. He should be right in the hunt for a Top 3 spot in both the one and the three-meter dives.

It's been a long while since the Mountain Hawks have competed for Patriot League titles on the men's side with the last individual champion coming back in 2017 with Justin White getting the gold in the 100-yard freestyle.

On the women's side, fifth-year senior Ann Foley (Free) is expected to show well in her individual events, as well as in relays. She has come on strong in the final meets of the year, getting back to her form from when she won the Patriot League title in the 50-yard freestyle back in 2019.

In addition to Foley, junior Sarah Hardy (Fly) has had an exceptional season and will look to improve upon her finishes at Patriots from 2020, where she finished sixth in the 400 IM (4:27.14), seventh in the 200 Fly (2:01.66) and 16th in the 100 Fly (56.56). Hardy ended the regular season with a pool record at East Stroudsburg in the 100 Fly.

Expect big things this week from junior Danielle Prekop, sophomore Maddie Dorish and distance first years Natalie Martin and Maggie Mikalic, who have both picked up top times within the last two weeks of the season.

On the diving board, first year Sarah Gill has had an excellent first season wearing the brown and white with numerous personal best scores heading into the biggest meet of the year. She was terrific to start the season and has a chance to break women's school diving records set by Megan Fennell, who won the Patriot League title in the one-meter dive her first year back in 2018.

Wednesday starts with diving trials and 2 p.m. and will follow up at 6 p.m. with the 200 medley relay, the men's three-meter dive and close the night with the 800 freestyle relay.

Thursday night opens with the men's and women's 500 free, the 200 IM, the 50 free, the women's one-meter dive and the 400-medley relay.

On Friday, the meet continues with the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, men's one-meter dive and 200 free relay while on the final day of competition on Saturday, the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, women's three-meter dive and 400 free relay conclude the event.

Tickets can be purchased through Navy's athletics website.

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Lehigh University Athletics

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Patriot League Championships on February 20, 2010 , , Men: 4th, 427 pts.<br>Women: 4th, 317.5

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Patriot League Championships on February 19, 2010 , , Men: 4th, 275 pts.<br>Women: 5th, 208 pts.

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Patriot League Championships on February 18, 2010 , , Men: 3rd, 98 pts.<br>Women: 6th, 96 pts.

Cancelled Event: Swimming and Diving at Penn State

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Bucknell on January 23, 2010 , , Men: Won 166.5-131.5<br>Women: Lost 182-115

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving at Army on January 15, 2010 , , Men: Lost 176-123<br>Women: Won 167-133

Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Marist on January 9, 2010 , , Men: Won 156-87<br>Women: Lost 141-102

Mountain Hawks head to Annapolis for 2022 Patriot League Championships

Players Mentioned

Addison Cochran

Miles Cox

Maddie Dorish

Megan Fennell

Ann Foley

Sarah Gill

Connor Goodyear

Sarah Hardy

Joe Huber

Glenn Lasco

Natalie Martin

Maggie Mikalic

Danielle Prekop

Connor Sept

Owen Thomas

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