Dec. 8, 2010
Center Valley, Pa. — After a week off from competition around Thanksgiving, student-athletes from six of the League’s eight schools were back in the pool last weekend.
Patriot League Swimming and Diving Release - 12.8.10 
Navy sophomore Laura Gorinski posted the most impressive performances of the week, qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events at the U.S. Long Course National Championships in Columbus, Ohio. For the weekend, Gorinski posted a total of six NCAA B-cut times, bringing her total for the year to eight. She also set the Patriot League and Navy record in the 200-yard breast with a clocking of 2:13.09, which broke her own marks set two weeks ago at the Nike Cup.
The only team to participate in a dual meet last week was Bucknell, with the Bison earning a split against La Salle. The women defeated the Explorers 198-102, while the men fell by a slim 150-144 margin.
Only one meet is on the schedule this week, but it’s a big one. Army and Navy will square off at a neutral site for the first time in history in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Patriot League Weekly Awards
MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
MATTHEW SEGAR, BUCKNELL Jr., Carmel, Ind.
Segar was the only Bison to record multiple individual wins Saturday in Bucknell’s meet against La Salle. He finished first in the 200 free with a season-best time of 1:40.64, winning by 4.08 seconds, and captured the 500 free with a clocking of 4:41.23. He was also part of Bucknell’s second-place 400 free relay quartet, racing the first leg in 47.23.
FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
LAURA GORINSKI, NAVY So., Greensburg, Pa.
Gorinski posted a total of six NCAA B-cut times in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend at the U.S. Short Course Nationals and Long Course Invitational and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events. During the long course portion in a 50-meter pool, she took second place in both the 100- and 200-meter breast events, posting times of 1:11.55 and 2:32.20, respectively, to earn her spot at the Olympic trials. During the short course event, she finished 12th in the 100 breast in 1:01.13, which broke her own Navy record and eclipsed the NCAA B-cut standard by over 1.5 seconds. She clocked a 2:12.40 in the 200 breast to capture 13th, surpassing the B-cut time by almost four seconds and improving on her own Academy and Patriot League record of 2:13.09 in the event.
MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
CHRIS NGUYEN, ARMY So., Cheshire, Conn.
Nguyen competed at the “Big Al” Open at Princeton over the weekend and earned a third-place finish from the 1-meter board with 302.15 points. It was his personal best from that height, and he was just 0.8 points behind the second-place finisher Colin Bell of Florida. Nguyen also took ninth from the 3-meter board with a score of 270.25.
FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
MORGAN POPPLE, BUCKNELL Jr., Bear Creek, Pa.
Popple netted a career-best 242.78 from the 1-meter board to capture second and posted her second-highest score from the 3-meter at 209.10 to help the Bison defeat La Salle 198-102 over the weekend in Lewisburg. Popple improved her personal best from the 1-meter by 20 points.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
LIA KUNNAPAS, COLGATE So., Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
Kunnapas took second in the 200 back and third in the 100 back to help Colgate finish third at the Total Performance December Invite at Kenyon College over the weekend. She finished in 57.31 in the 100 race and clocked a 2:03.41 in the 200 back. She also helped the Raiders take fourth in the 400 IM relay.
ELIZABETH PORCELLIO, BUCKNELL So., Fairport, N.Y.
Porcellio won the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM races and swam the second leg of Bucknell’s winning 400 free relay foursome in the Bison’s win over La Salle on Saturday. She was one of two team members to win three individual events. Her winning time of 2:08.76 in the 200 IM was 5.75 seconds ahead of second place.
DORY ISAACS, AMERICAN Sr., San Jose, Calif.
Isaacs posted season-best times in the 50 free, 100 breast and 200 IM at the U.S. Short Course Nationals in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend. She tallied a 1:04.69 in the 100 breast, missing an NCAA B-cut time by 1.71 seconds.
Patriot League Notebook
GORINSKI ADDS 2012 OLYMPIC TRIALS TO FUTURE SCHEDULE
Navy sophomore Laura Gorinski already hit two NCAA B-cut standards two weeks ago at the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. After a two-week respite for Thanksgiving, she was back it once again, accruing more B-cut times during competition in Columbus, Ohio last weekend during the Short and Long Course National Championships. Gorinski outdid herself there, as posted four more times that surpassed the NCAA B-cut plateau in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. During the long course portion of the meet in the 50-meter pool, Gorinski clocked a 1:11.55 in the 100-meter breast and a 2:32.20 in the 200-meter breast, qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in both events.
PHILADELPHIA TO HOST ANNUAL ARMY-NAVY MEET
The city of brotherly love, which will house the annual Army-Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 11, will also host the annual swimming and diving meet between the two programs two days before on Dec. 9. It’s the first time in series history that the annual showdown will be held at a neutral site, which will be the new Salvation Army Kroc Center in Philadelphia. The diving events will start at 12 noon at La Salle University’s Kirk Pool, while the Kroc Center will host the swimming portion of the meet beginning at 6 p.m. The day after, student-athletes from both Army and Navy will provide free swimming lessons to children who reside in the facility area.
ANTHONY, GORINSKI FIRST TO HIT NCAA STANDARDS THIS SEASON
Navy junior Mac Anthony and sophomore Laura Gorinski became the first swimmers to reach NCAA standard times this season when the two eclipsed B-cut times during the Nike Cup two weeks ago in Chapel Hill, N.C. Anthony surpassed the B-cut time in the 500-yard freestyle twice, first in the prelims and then with a 4:23.84 clocking in the finals to take fourth. He also posted a time of 1:37.01 in the 200 free, good for another B-cut mark. Meanwhile, Gorinski took third in the 200 breast with a B-cut and Patriot League-record time of 2:13.09, while her sixth-place time of 1:02.89 in the 100 breast was also a B-cut mark.
DECEMBER PROVIDES A BREAK
Now that the first week of December is out of the way, most swimmers and divers are off through the rest of the month for finals and the Christmas holiday. The annual Army-Navy clash on Thursday is the final event of the month before American flies to Europe for its annual trip to San Sebastien, Spain on Dec. 28. Competition resumes right after the New Year with both Academies at the Tennessee Diving Invitational. That event will mark the beginning of the seven-week countdown to the Patriot League Championships at Bucknell from Feb. 17-19 in Lewisburg, Pa.
NAVY CHOSEN TO REPEAT IN BOTH MEN AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
The United States Naval Academy has been selected to repeat as Patriot League champions in the League’s 2010-11 preseason poll, it was determined in voting conducted by head coaches and sports information directors who could not cast a ballot for their own squads. Navy claimed a maximum 98 points and 14 first-place votes in both the men and women’s polls. In the men’s voting, Bucknell captured 83 points and one first-place ballot, while Army followed closely with 76 points and one first-place vote. Lehigh finished fourth in the poll with 59 points, followed by Colgate (48), Lafayette (35), American (34) and Holy Cross (15). In the voting for the women’s poll, Bucknell also captured second place with 81 points and the remaining two first-place votes, while Colgate garnered 79 points for third. Sitting in fourth is Lehigh with 53, just ahead of fifth-place Army which received 52 points. American (39), Lafayette (31) and Holy Cross (15) round out the voting.
BUCKNELL TO HOST 2010-11 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2011 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 17-19, from the Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. The schedules for all three days are the same, as trials will start at 10:30 a.m. while the finals are slated for 6 p.m. Navy is coming off a dominating performance at the 2010 League championships across the board. They won the men’s title by finishing 401 points ahead of Bucknell, while the women captured the title by 200 points over the second-place Bison. It marked the third time in League history in which the same institution swept the men and women’s titles. For the Navy men, it was their seventh straight League championship, which ties Army’s run from 1992-98 for the longest streak, while the women claimed their third League title.
Team Notebooks
AMERICAN Dory Isaacs set season-best times in three events at the U.S. Short Course National Championships over the weekend in Columbus, Ohio ... She took 56th in the 100 breast in 1:04.69 and 75th in the 200 IM in 2:07.12. She also time trialed the 50 free, clocking a 24.24 ... American is idle until Dec. 28 when it competes at the XV Ciudad de San Sebastien in San Sebastien, Spain. The team’s next dual meet is Jan. 15.
ARMY Chris Nguyen was named Male Diver of the Week for the second straight time after competing at the Princeton “Big Al” Open over the weekend, posting a career-best 302.15 from the 1-meter board to finish third ... The Black Knights head to Philadelphia to take on rival Navy Thursday, and then are off until the New Year when members of the team head to the Tennessee Diving Invitational in Knoxville.
BUCKNELL Junior Matthew Segar was the only Bison to post multiple wins in Bucknell’s 150-144 loss to La Salle in Lewisburg on Saturday. He captured first in the 200 and 500 free races ... Elizabeth Porcellio took first in three events and was part of the Bison’s winning 400 free relay team in the squad’s 198-102 win over the Explorers. She was one of two Bison to win three individual events, and her victory in the 200 IM (2:08.76) was by 5.75 seconds. Including the relay, she finished a total of 10.99 seconds ahead of second-place finishers. She’d entered the meet with only two individual first-place showings this season to date ... The Bison are idle until hosting Army in a League showdown Jan. 15.
COLGATE Lia Kunnepas finished second in the 200 back and third in the 100 back to lead the Raiders to a third-place finish at the Total Performance December Invitational at Kenyon College in Gambler, Ohio. The sophomore from Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. shaved a half-second off her trials time in the championship race of the 200 back, posting a 57.31. She was also part of Colgate’s fourth-place 400 IM relay foursome ... The men took seventh place at Kenyon, capturing 230 points ... Both the men and women are off until they visit Cornell Jan. 15.
HOLY CROSS The men and women both finished sixth at the Harold Anderson Invitational at the University of Rhode Island over the weekend ... Junior Annie O’Shea took third in the 200 fly in 2:11.79 and fifth in the 100 fly in 1:01.68, while sophomore Brian Power captured fourth in the 200 breast in 2:16.50. He also finished fifth in the 100 breast in 1:02.10 ... Junior Lindsay Mlazgar took third from the 3-meter board and freshman Nick Videtti finished fourth from that height to lead the Crusader diving effort ... The
LAFAYETTE The Leopards are idle until their annual Winter Training Trip to Florida Jan. 5.
LEHIGH The Mountain Hawks are idle until taking on Marist on Jan. 8.
NAVY Rheanna Vaughn broke the Academy and League records in the 200 fly in the trials of the Short Course Nationals with a 1:58.84. She missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200-meter fly by .11 seconds. She clocked a 2:16.60 in the event, and the cut time was 2:16.49 ... The Mids head to Philadelphia to take on Army in the first neutral-site meeting between the two programs on Thursday. After that, the Mids are off until the men participate in the Tennessee Diving Invitational in early January.
