The three-day Patriot League Championships came to a close on Saturday night at the Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell, with the American swimming & diving teams putting up solid performances. The men held its position in fifth overall, finishing with 270 points while the women finished eighth with 117 points.
American earned its first three medals of the tournament on Friday, with Bobby Ballance and Dylan Rasnick placing third overall to earn bronze medals and diver Melissa Parker winning silver. The Eagles went on to earn two more medals on Saturday.
The junior duo of Ballance and Matt Wurm was strong in the 200 backstroke with Wurm adding the Eagles third bronze medal of the 2013 championships, touching the wall in 148.79. Ballance was right behind, placing fourth overall with a time of 1:49.33.
The Eagle men had two more swimmers advance to the 200 back B-Final, with Harrison Volaski finishing third at 1:52.80 and Ross Honig placing seventh with a time of 154.86.
In the men's 200 breaststroke Charlie Taffet led the way with a fifth-place finish in the B-Final, touching the wall in 2:03.46. Dan Francis made it two point-getters in the event as he finished seventh at 2:06.34.
Senior Andrew Jackwin made his final appearance at the Patriot League Championship and added a third-place finish in the B-Final of the 200 butterfly, finishing in 1:55.31. In the same race, Kevin Bond placed sixth at 1:56.68.
After placing second on the one-meter board on Friday, Parker made it two-straight medals, scoring a 266.50 on the thee-meter diving board to earn the bronze.
AU's second senior Kylie Smith earned a point in her final championship, placing 16th on the 3-meter board with a score of 162.55.
American finished up the championship with the 400 free relay team of Wurm, Rasnick, Dylan Hall and Ballance combining for a sixth-place finish at 3:07.69, over three-seconds faster than their seeded time.
Women's Standings
1. Navy – 836
2. Bucknell – 670
3. Colgate – 655
4. Army – 542
5. Lehigh – 312
6. Lafayette – 185
7. Holy Cross – 120
8. American – 117
Men's Standings
1. Navy - 995.5
2. Army – 734
3. Bucknell – 543.5
4. Lehigh – 393.5
5. American – 270
6. Colgate – 189
7. Lafayette – 178
8. Holy Cross – 133.5
