Feb. 2, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. – Navy once again makes an appearance on the weekly awards list, as three Midshipmen are honored. Tara Chapmon was named Patriot League Female Swimmer of the Week for the seventh time this season, extending her own record. Navy’s Adam Meyer and Ben Nicholas were also honored. Meyer earned the Male Swimmer of the Week nod for the fourth time this season while Nicholas won his third Male Diver of the Week honor for 2009-10. Bucknell’s Allison FitzPatrick is another repeat honoree, having secured the Female Diver of the Week award for the third time in the last four weeks.

Patriot League Swimming and Diving Release - 2.2.10

Male Swimmer of the Week

Adam Meyer, Navy Sr., Bethesda, Md.

Meyer notched a pair of NCAA B-qualifying times (200-m fly, 1:59.56; 200-m IM, 2:01.79) in two individual wins in the Mids’ loss to No. 8 Virginia. He added two more solo victories at the Navy Invitational in the 200-y IM (1:51.21) and 100-y fly (50.52).

Female Swimmer of the Week

Tara Chapmon, Navy Sr, Virginia Beach, Va.

Chapmon posted a time of 2:00.33 in the 200-meter free against No. 11 Virginia, breaking her own Academy record by .90 seconds and eclipsing the NCAA ‘B’ standard in the event by 1.57 seconds. She was the only female swimmer in the League this week to surpass the NCAA ‘B’ standard.

Male Diver of the Week

Ben Nicholas, Navy So., Bothell, Wash.

Nicholas picked up his third League diving award of the year after a solid weekend against No. 8 Virginia and at the Navy Invitational. He swept the one- and three-meter diving events at Saturday’s invitational, scoring a 277.00 from the one-meter board and a 318.00 in the three-meter event. On Friday versus the Cavaliers, he tallied a 289.88 in the one-meter event and a 301.12 from the three-meter board.

Female Diver of the Week

Allison FitzPatrick, Bucknell Sr., Berwyn, Pa.

FitzPatrick shined again for the Bison, picking up another sweep of the one- and three-meter diving events, this time at the Navy Invitational. She scored a career-best 237.30 from the one-meter board, winning that event by 11.20 points. In the three-meter event, she took her eighth victory of the season with a score of 234.45, 8.50 points clear of second place.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Kevin Oswalt, Lafayette Sr., Bellbrook, Ohio

Oswalt remained undefeated from the three-meter board this season after taking another victory in the event in the meet against Army and Colgate.

Courtney Warren, Bucknell Sr., Montour Falls, N.Y.

Warren won two events individually and picked up first place in a relay. She set her season best in the 100-yard free at the Navy Invitational (52.90).

Chris Nguyen, Army Fr., Cheshire, Conn.

Nguyen took first from the one-meter board and second in the three-meter event in Patriot League action against Colgate and Lafayette.

Patriot League Notebook

Raiders Remain Hot At Home
The Colgate women improved to 8-3 on the season after their sweep of Army and Lafayette in the tri-meet in Hamilton, N.Y. That also means the Raiders have run their winning streak at Lineberry Natatorium to 13 meets. Colgate’s last loss at home was a 129-94 defeat to Syracuse on Oct. 12, 2007. Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, the Raiders are 23-2 at Lineberry. They have not lost a Patriot League meet since Jan. 18, 2003, when Bucknell beat them 190-110.

Virginia Snaps Navy’s Streaks
Both Navy squads dropped their first decisions of the season on Friday at home against nationally-ranked Virginia. The No. 8 Cavalier men and the 11th-ranked women handed the Mids identical 160-128 losses at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md. The Navy men’s winning streak was snapped at 12, while the women suffered their first defeat in 26 meets.

Teams Prepare For Championships
This past weekend marked the end of the regular season for many League teams. Only a handful of teams will be in action this week. The Holy Cross men visit Boston College on Thursday in their final regular season tuneup before the Patriot League Championships at Navy. Speaking of the Mids, while the women are idle until Patriots, the men battle Ivy League opponents Columbia at home on Friday before visiting Princeton on Saturday. While Army’s swimmers prepare for the League Championships, the divers will host the Army Diving Invitational on Saturday. After being idle last week, both Lehigh teams travel to Penn State on Saturday for their last action before the Patriot League Championships.

Navy Men, Colgate Women Selected to Repeat
The Navy men’s and the Colgate women’s swimming and diving teams were unanimously selected to repeat as the Patriot League Champions in the 2009-10 League Preseason Poll, announced on Oct. 6. Both teams collected 14 of 16 first-place votes as the coaches and sports information directors are not permitted to vote for their own school. In the men’s poll, Navy collected 98 points. Army was second with two first-place votes and 80 points, followed by Bucknell (78 points), Colgate (57) and Lehigh (53). Lafayette was sixth with 41 points and American (27) and Holy Cross (14) rounded out the poll. Colgate also earned 98 points to take the top spot, followed by Navy (86). Bucknell finished third in the voting with 74 points, while Army (59) and Lehigh (42) rounded out the top five. American (39) edged out Lafayette (36) for sixth place, and Holy Cross (14) was selected to finish eighth. The Navy men’s team will be searching for its seventh straight League title — and seventh overall — while the Colgate women will look for their third straight.

Team Notebooks

American Alexandra Wessel, Jess Ballance, Anna Gooding and Leah Breen won the 200 medley relay at the Navy Invitational for the Eagles. The women also finished with four swimmers in the top seven in the 100 back. American is idle until the Patriot League Championships.

Army The men improved to 12-3 on the season with wins over Colgate and Lafayette, while the women now sit at 5-12 after defeating the Leopards but falling to the Raiders. James McLaughlin and Brody Blickle were triple winners for the Black Knights, while Alyssa Tran took a win in the 50 free. Lindsay Adao bested the field in the one-meter diving event and took second in the three-meter. Army hosts the Army Diving Championship on Saturday before prepping for the Patriot League Championships.

Bucknell The Bison claimed seven first-place finishes on the women’s side and eight overall at the Navy Invitational. Courtney Warren was a double winner, as was Allison FitzPatrick, who swept the one- and three-meter diving events. Daniel Fletcher took first in the 200 freestyle for the men. The Bison have concluded their regular season and are preparing for the Patriot League Championships at Navy.

Colgate Freshman Dan Sweeney had a banner day for the Raiders in their split with Army and Lafayette. In addition to winning the 50 free, he also broke the Colgate freshman record in the 100 fly (51.39), which had stood since 1982. Caren Guyett set a new Lineberry Natatorium record in the 500 free and Kim Pilka set a new freshman mark and qualified for Zones in the three-meter diving event as the women swept Lafayette and Army.

Holy Cross Maggie Beaudouin picked up wins in the 1,000 free and 200 back and the women won 10 events overall to beat Providence. Brian Power picked up the lone victory for the men in the 100 breast in their loss to the Friars. The men visit Boston College on Thursday for their final dual meet of the season, while the women are idle until the Patriot League Championships.

Lafayette Kevin Oswalt won the three-meter diving event in the Patriot League tri-meet against Colgate and Army, winning the competition with a score of 311.90, 44 points ahead of second place. The Leopards are finished with regular season competition and await the Patriot League Championships.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks were idle and close out the regular season on Saturday at Penn State.

Navy Both teams suffered their first losses of the season against nationally-ranked Virginia, falling by identical 160-128 scores. Adam Meyer picked up wins in both the 200 fly and 200 IM against the Cavaliers, while Tara Chapmon and Toni Paruso set career bests in the 200 free and 200 fly, respectively. On Saturday at the Navy Invitational, both teams combined for 22 wins. Meyer was a double winner again, as was Thuy Mi-Dinh. The Mids host the Patriot League Championships Feb. 18-20.