Jan. 31, 2011

Center Valley, Pa. — The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for Jan. 24-30 in swimming and diving and indoor track and field Monday.

The Colgate women beat Army and Lafayette in a League tri-meet Saturday and swimmer Erin McGraw and diver Kim Pilka both led the way, as they sweep this week’s female awards. The Army men, led by Diver of the Week Chad Drake, swept Colgate and Lafayette in the tri-meet. Bucknell’s Mike Nicholson won the Male Swimmer of the Week with his performance at the unscored Bison Invitational.

With the Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships less than three weeks away, all Patriot League teams were busy last weekend tuning up for the three-day event Feb. 18-20. Navy’s Cody Rome (Male Track Athlete) and Jess Palacio (Female Track Athlete) swept the Track Athlete of the Week category, while Bucknell swept the Rookie of the Week awards with Chris Sacks and Hana Casalnova being selected. Lehigh’s Steve Tutunjian was named the Male Field Athlete of the Week and Army’s Kaci Clark was the Female Field Athlete of the Week.

Patriot League Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards

MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
MIKE NICHOLSON, BUCKNELL Fr., Chappaqua, N.Y.
Nicholson captured three more first-place finishes over the weekend, accounting for three of the Bison’s five individual wins in Friday’s 177.5-116.5 loss to Connecticut. Nicholson’s three wins all game in 200-yard races, as he posted a 1:50.99 in the fly, clocked a 1:53.26 in the IM and recorded a 2:05:00 in the breast. His three wins came by a combined 11.89 seconds, and his largest margin was a 6.03-second victory in the 200 breast. Nicholson’s clocking in the fly ranks second all-time in school history, behind Bucknell Hall of Famer Jim Harvey’s 23-year-old mark of 1:50.30. Nicholson now has 23 first-place finishes on the year, recording 11 of them in his last four dual meets.

FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
ERIN McGRAW, COLGATE Sr., Penfield, N.Y.
McGraw was a triple winner for the Raiders in Saturday’s tri-meet at West Point against Lafayette and Army. She logged a time of 1:52.37 in the 200-yard free for her closest time of the weekend to an NCAA B-cut, as she was three seconds off the pace. McGraw also won the 200 back (2:02.80) and 100 fly (56.49) races, making it the second time this season she’s been victorious in three events. The first was at the FIU Invitational. The Raiders finish their Patriot League slate with a 3-0 mark, having captured victories over Bucknell, Army and Lafayette.

MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
CHAD DRAKE, ARMY So., Fort Drum, N.Y.
Drake swept the one- and three-meter diving competitions Saturday in the League tri-meet at West Point that also included Colgate and Lafayette. The sophomore from Fort Drum, N.Y. met the NCAA qualifying standard for zones with a 324.50-point effort to win the one-meter event, and followed up with 303.00 points to win the three-meter competition. Drake’s one-meter score is his best mark of the season.

FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
KIM PILKA, COLGATE So., Great Falls, Va.
Pilka posted her sixth sweep of the season against Army and Lafayette at West Point Saturday afternoon. Her highest point total of the day came in the three-meter event, where she logged 274.20 points for the victory. She won the one-meter diving competition with 268.00 points. Pilka remains undefeated for 2011 and has lost only once in a dual meet this season.

HONORABLE MENTION
DAVID MAGARO, BUCKNELL So., Enola, Pa.
Magaro picked up four second-place finishes over the weekend, two against Connecticut and two at the Bison Invitational. In Saturday’s invitational held in Lewisburg, Magaro set season-bests from the one-meter (270.45) and three-meter (275.70) boards.

ALYSSA TRAN, ARMY So., Yorba Linda, Calif.
Tran won two races and finished runner-up in a third as Army defeated Lafayette and lost to Colgate in a tri-meet at West Point. Tran’s second-place finish was to current Female Swimmer of the Week Erin McGraw of Colgate in the 100 fly.

Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Weekly Awards

Male Track Athlete of the Week
CODY ROME, NAVY Jr., Eagle, Idaho
Rome earns his first and Navy’s third Male Track Athlete of the Week award, finishing first in the 3,000 at the Wesley Brown Invitational. His time of 8:12.91 qualified him for the IC4A Championships. It was a new personal record and was the fastest time for Navy in more than 10 years.

Female Track Athlete of the Week
JESS PALACIO, NAVY Jr., Sun Valley, Nev.
Palacio wins her third Track Athlete of the Week award after finishing first in the 800 (2:08.69) and first in the 3,200 relay (9:46.22) at the GMU Patriot Games. Both of her times were better than the ECAC qualifying standard, and her 800 time was a school record.

Male Field Athlete of the Week
STEVE TUTUNJIAN, LEHIGH Jr., Shrewsbury, Mass.
Tutunjian hit two IC4A qualifying marks in the field to win his second weekly award of the season. He finished first in the long jump (7.12 meters) and triple jump (15.06) as Lehigh defeated Lafayette 107-74. He was named the Field Athlete of the Meet.

Female Field Athlete of the Week
KACI CLARK, ARMY So., West Orange, N.J.
Clark won her first Field Athlete of the Week award, finishing in a second-place tie in the pole vault (3.70 meters) at The Armory in New York. The ECAC qualifying mark also was a new school indoor record. She owns the outdoor record with the same height.

Male Rookie of the Week
CHRIS SACKS, BUCKNELL Fr., Pound Ridge, N.Y.
Sacks finished helped the distance medley relay team finish first with an IC4A qualifying time of 9:55.24, while also placing fifth in the 1,000 (2:17.14) at the Penn State National Invite. Sacks’ 1,000 time also met an IC4A standard.

Female Rookie of the Week
HANA CASALNOVA, BUCKNELL Fr., Grove City, Pa.
Casalnova qualified for the ECAC Championships in two events at the Penn State National Invite, finishing sixth in the distance medley relay (11:56.72) and 12th in the 800 (2:15.08).

Honorable Mention
CONOR SULLIVAN, AMERICAN Sr., New City, N.Y.
Sullivan placed first in the 1,000 (2:28.99) at the GMU Patriot Games meeting an IC4A standard.

ZACH WRIGHT, AMERICAN Jr., Old Saybrook, Conn.
Wright placed first in the high jump (2.04 meters) at the GMU Patriot Games meeting an IC4A standard.

OCTAVIA RINEHARDT, AMERICAN Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.
Rinehardt finished third in the 3,000 (9:51.43) at the GMU Patriot Games to qualify for the ECAC Championships.

CLAYTON SMITH, BUCKNELL Sr., Sparta, N.J.
Smith placed fourth in the 800 (1:54.23) and first in the DMR (9:55.24) at the Penn State Invite, surpassing IC4A marks in both.

KATELYN HARTNETT, HOLY CROSS Jr., Danvers, Mass.
Hartnett placed fourth in the mile (4:57.82) at the Boston Indoor Games, qualifying for the ECAC Championships.

PATRICK CIEZ, LEHIGH Fr., Windham, Maine
Ciez helped Lehigh defeat Lafayette 107-74 with his first-place finish in the high jump (2.04 meters).

KRISTIN SMITH, NAVY So., Harleysville, Pa.
Smith placed first in the high jump (1.70 meters) besting an ECAC qualifying mark at the GMU Patriot Games.

BRETT BOGAARD, NAVY Fr., Pella, Iowa
Bogaard placed second in the 200 just qualifying for the IC4A Championships by 0.02 seconds at the Wesley Brown Invitational.