Jan. 22, 2008

The Army diving combination of Greg Sievers and Lindsey Adao combined to produce three Academy records during the Black Knights' meet with Lehigh last week, earning them diver of the week accolades. Army's Jake Mentele and American's Meghan Thiel were awarded swimmer of the week honors.

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Male Swimmer of the Week
Jake Mentele, Army Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mentele finished in first place in a combined six events last week, spanning over two meets with Bucknell and Lehigh. The senior earned multiple first-place finishes in the 100 Fly with times of 52.13 and 52.40, as well as in the 100 Breast with times of 57.02 and 57.11. Mentele also placed first in the 200 IM against the Bison and the 400 Medley Relay against the Mountain Hawks.

Female Swimmer of the Week
Meghan Thiel, American Sr., Arlington, Va.
Thiel finished first in three events last week in American's non-scoring meet with Georgetown and James Madison. The senior swam the 200 Free in a time of 1:53.92, the 500 Free in a time of 5:01.5 and the 1000 Free in a time of 10:11.87. Thiel ranks in the top-10 in Patriot League history in each race.

Male Diver of the Week
Greg Sievers, Army Sr., San Antonio, Texas
Sievers went undefeated on the weekend to sweep the diving competition against Bucknell and Lehigh. Against Bucknell, Sievers recorded scores of 296.63 and 313.42 in the one-meter and three-meter dives, respectively. Against Lehigh, the senior broke the Academy records on the one-meter, with a score of 335.70 as well as on the three-meter, with a mark of 361.12. The previous records were 326.17 and 360.00.

Female Diver of the Week
Lindsey Adao, Army So., New City, N.Y.
Adao swept both diving meets that she entered over the past week in meets against Bucknell and Lehigh. The sophomore set a personal best of 305.40 on the three-meter dive, and broke the Academy record of 296.93 when she recorded a score of 298.57 on the one-meter dive.

Honorable Mention

Corri Payne, Army
Fr., Bakersfield, Calif.
Payne combined for six individual victories and one relay victory in two dual meets last week against Bucknell and Lehigh.

Patriot League Notebook

CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Poll
Several Patriot League swimming and diving teams have been recognized on the latest installment of the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Poll. The Navy men's swimming and diving team is currently ranked No. 6 in the poll, while the Army men and Bucknell men were ranked Nos. 14 and 24, respectively. The Navy women found themselves ranked No. 2 in the poll, while the Bucknell women are currently No. 16. The poll has four release dates throughout the course of the season: November 14 (pre-Invite), December 20 (post-invite), February 6 (pre-Conference) and March 6 (post-Conference).

Quotable
"I am excited by our women's two wins this evening. Everyone swam pretty well. The sprinters, who are usually the most tired from our winter training trip, swam extremely fast with Marcella [Nehrbass] breaking the pool record. This gives the team momentum going into our next three match ups against Rider, Colgate and Army." Lafayette Women's Head Coach Jim Dailey after his team's last meet

"I'm very excited for our divers. They have the ability to do some very special things this year. However, we still have a long season to go. It is a great and historic day for our diving program in many ways but there is so much more we can accomplish. We can be proud of what we did today and realize that this is only a taste of what we can accomplish as a team this year." Army Diving Coach Ron Kontura following Army's record-setting performance vs. Lehigh

Want to Know More?
The 2008 NCAA Qualifying marks can be found on the sidebar of the Patriot League Swimming and Diving website, along with the Patriot League top-times so far this season.

Exactly One Month to Go
The 2008 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championship meet will take place Thurs. - Sat., Feb. 21-23 at Lejeune Hall on the campus of Navy. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. on each of the three days of competition.

Team Notebooks

American
The Eagles competed for the first time in 2008 in a non-scoring meet against Georgetown and James Madison. The men, who faced only Georgetown, were led in the pool by senior Joe Cornonato, who nothced first-place finishes in the 50 Free, 100 Free and 200 Free events. The women were led by Meghan Thiel, who earned first-place finishes in the 200 Free, 500 Free and 1000 Free events. The Eagles are back in action Saturday in a four-team meet at George Mason.

Army
The Black Knights competed in a pair of dual meets against Patriot League foes, as they swept Lehigh and were swept by Bucknell. Leading a strong contingent of swimmers on the men's side was Jake Mentele, who combined for six first-place finishes over the two dual meets. The women were paced by freshman Corri Payne, who was responsible for six individual victories and one relay victory. The Black Knights dominated the diving boards in both meets, however, as Greg Sievers and Lindsey Adao swept the competition.

Bucknell
The Bison split a pair of dual meets last week, falling to Columbia and sweeping Army. Senior John Peterman helped Bucknell win its first dual meet over Army since 1975 by winning the 50 Free, 100 Free and 400 Free Relay events. Peterman also recorded three second-place finishes against Columbia. Megan Mongan recorded two first-place individual finishes and one second place to help lead the Bison to a defeat of Army as well. her time in the 200 Free was a season best.

Colgate
The Raiders hosted Cornell last week, and split the dual meet with a loss for the men and a win for the women. Zach Whitman won the 100 Fly and 200 fly events for the men, who fell by a score of 156-123. The women were led by junior Ashley Bottger, who won the 100 Free, 200 Free and 200 Medley Relay events in the 181-117 win. Junior Michael O'Brien also recorded a victory in the one-meter dive.

Holy Cross
The Holy Cross men fell to Boston University by a score of 145-86 last week, and both teams will be back in action this weekend at the Worcester City Championship.

Lafayette
The Leopard women swept a tri-meet with Stony Brook and Binghamton, while the men were swept by the same opponents. Kevin Oswalt set a new school record in the three-meter dive, while Marcella Nehrbass broke the pool record in the 100 Free for the women.

Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks were swept by Army last week in dual-meet action. Lehigh will return to action this Saturday when they host Bucknell.

Navy
The Mids were idle from competitions last week, and return to the pool on Saturday when they host Penn in a dual-meet at Lejeune Hall.