U.S. Military Academy at West Point Cadet Sabrina Mortell on her way to helping the women's swim and dive team beat Bucknell University at Crandall Pool, Jan. 9. Mortell placed first in the 1,000m and 500m free-style (Photo by Army West Point Athleti...
WEST POINT, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2015) - For the fifth time in program history, and the first in head coach Mickey Wender's tenure, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point women's swimming and diving team defeated Bucknell.
The Black Knights beat the Bisons 172-128 Saturday afternoon at Crandall Pool Jan. 9.
"I'm so proud of the entire program today," said Wender. "The swimmers and divers and men and women have been growing and developing into the best team that I've seen here in my ten years. It was a great way to send out our firstie (senior) class. They have been a cornerstone of the program and have built a culture where everybody has the opportunity to grow to their full potential. I think our men's and women's relationship has grown and it showed today. The seniors over the four years have contributed so much. "It's fun to have these milestone wins. Bucknell is a talented team that is well coached so it makes it that much more meaningful to beat them head-to-head coming off a challenging night against Lehigh."
Cadet Jorie Mason won the 3-meter diving event to earn overall team points that led to Army's success in the meet. She notched a score of 221.77 to place first. Cadet Rebecca Sleight tallied 126.06 points to place sixth.
Off the 1-meter, Mason had a score of 189.59 to place first and Sleight had 153.22 to place sixth.
The Black Knights kicked-off the swimming portion of the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Cadets Kelly Hamilton, Kara Wineinger, Molly Mucciarone and Bailey Smith clocked a 1:45.84. They were followed by Cadets Cecelia Croman, Jess Fabrizio, Shannon Rogers and Jenna Forrester, who placed third with a time of 1:47.89.
Cadet Sabrina Mortell out-touched the competition in the 1,000 free. She finished in 10:46.29, while Cadet Meaghan McGovern was second with a time of 10:31.96.
In the 200 free, Cadet Monica Sowinski placed first after finishing in 1:53.95. Hamilton placed second in the 100 back with a time of 56.39.
In the 100 breast, Wineinger was first in 1:06.80, while Fabrizio touched third in 1:08.08. Rogers and Groton were Army's top finishers in the 200 fly with times of 2:08.61 and 2:09.18
Mucciarone clocked a 23.68 in the 50 free to place first, and in the 100 free, Hamilton and Sowinski went one-two with times of 51.95 and 53.19.
Smith took second in the 200 back after touching the wall in 2:04.17 and in the 200 breast, Wineinger placed second after finishing in 2:25.88.
The Cadets swept Bucknell in the 500 free with Mortell (5:05.79), McGovern (5:11.46) and Sowinski (5:14.92) leading the competition.
Mucciarone claimed first in the 100 fly after clocking a 56.49, and Rogers was third in 58.28, respectively.
Burkett won the 400 IM with a time of 4:31.32. Evans touched fourth in 4:38.24.
In the 400 free relay, Army was first with the team of Hamilton, Mucciarone, Smith and Sowinski touching the wall in 3:31.08, while Forrester, Bush, Clay and Rogers had a third-place time of 3:41.00.
"We purposefully set up these meets to swim tired and sore and perform the next day," explained Wender. "We did a great job, but this is one step along the way. We have bigger fish to fry and we are on our way to a great conference meet."
The Black Knights improve to 6-1 on the season and return to action Jan. 16 when they face Colgate and Lafayette in Hamilton, N.Y.
Related Links:
Army West Point Athletics website
U.S. Army Garrison West Point website
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