Jan. 29, 2008
Just under a month to go until the Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championship, and teams are starting to peak at just the right time. Lehigh's Dan Johnson and Colgate's Ashley Bottger have earned swimmer of the week accolades after strong individual performances last week. Greg Sievers and Katie Griffin have been named divers of the week.
Patriot League Swimming and Diving Release - 1.29.08 
Male Swimmer of the Week
Dan Johnson, Lehigh Jr., Wayzata, Minn.
Johnson earns his first weekly award of the season after an impressive individual performance in a dual meet against Bucknell last weekend. Johnson recorded individual victories in the 200 Free (1:43.50), 100 Free (46.86) and 50 Free (21.26) events against the Bison, and also notched a relay victory in the 800 Free (7:01.91).
Female Swimmer of the Week
Ashley Bottger, Colgate Jr., Weston, Conn.
Bottger amassed a total of four individual victories and two relay victories in dual meets against Binghamton and UMass last week. Against Binghamton, Bottger won the 1000 Free (11:01.68) and 400 Free Relay (3:39.96). Against UMass, the junior finished first in the 200 Free (1:55.39), 100 Free (52.75), 50 Free (24.46) and 200 Free Relay (1:38.29).
Male Diver of the Week
Greg Sievers, Army Sr., San Antonio, Texas
Sievers earned his second-consecutive award following two strong performances last week. In the Black Knights' dual meet at George Washington, Sievers swept the one-meter and three-meter events with scores of 286.65 and 301.43, respectively. At George Mason in a quad-meet, Sievers won the three-meter dive with a score of 336.90, and finished second in the one-meter dive with a mark of 298.10.
Female Diver of the Week
Katie Griffin, Navy Sr., Ellicott City, Md.
Griffin wins the 20th weekly award of her stellar career after yet another dual-meet sweep against Penn last weekend. She posted a score of 277.40 in the one-meter event and a mark of 321.90 to win the three meter. Griffin helped the Mids end a seven-year losing streak to Penn.
Honorable Mention
Jake Mentele, Army
Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mentele helped the Black Knights to a 3-1 record this weekend, including wins over George Washington, American and George Mason. The senior placed first in the 100 Fly, 100 Breast and 200 Breast events over the course of the weekend.
Tara Chapmon, Navy
So., Virginia Beach, Va.
Chapmon was a key part of Navy's thrilling victory over Penn, as the Mids ended a seven-year losing streak to the Quakers. She placed first in the 800 Free and 400 Free, and was a member of the meet clinching 400 Free Relay team.
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
"It was a great team win. The team came out firing right from the opening relay. We won a lot of close races, but the key to our win, as it has been all season, was our depth."
Navy Men's Coach Bill Roberts after his team defeated Penn.
"The team has been training really well. We said we had to go out and make something exciting happen to win today. This is a great win for our senior class to end their dual meet careers with. We talked during the last break about us needing to finish races faster. That was something we were not doing early in the meet. Thuy-Mi [Dinh] and Tara [Chapmon] had great closing strokes in the relay. Thuy-Mi is swimming with so much confident right now, and Tara has the guts of a champion."
Navy Women's Head Coach John Morrison after defeating Penn.
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.
It's Getting Closer...
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 at George Mason this weekend in a meet that included GMU, Army and Old Dominion. Both the men and women went 0-3 on the day. The women were once again led by senior Meghan Thiel, who finished first in the 500 Free and 1650 Free, and fifth in the 200 Free. The Eagles will compete in the Navy Invitational this Saturday.
Army
The Black Knights earned a dual-meet sweep at GW on Friday, while the men finished 2-1 and the women 1-2 at George Mason on Saturday. Jake Mentele led the charge for the men, with individual victories in the 100 Fly against GW, and the 100 Breast and 200 Breast at GMU. He also had three second-place finishes and a third-place finish as well. Greg Sievers went 3-1 on the diving board last weekend, sweeping both events at GW and winning the three-meter event at GMU.
Bucknell
The Bison swept Lehigh in a dual meet on the road last week. On the men's side, sophomore Luke Trafton recorded individual victories in the 1000 Free and 500 Free, a second-place finish in the 800 Free Relay and a third-place finish in the 200 Fly. For the women, senior Kristen Skroski won the 1000 Free and 500 Free events, while sophomore diver Eliza Massie won the one-meter event.
Colgate
The Raiders competed against Binghamton and UMass last week, with the men suffering a sweep while the women won both events. Ashley Bottger led the women with four individual victories during the two meets, while the men were led by Zach Whitman, who won the 100 Fly at Binghamton, and recorded three second-place finishes at home against UMass.
Holy Cross
The Crusader men and women each won titles at the Worcester City Championship last weekend. The win for the men was their fourth WCC title, while the women's marked the seventh consecutive. Leading the men was sophomore Brian Livingston, who set a new meet record in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:03.08. Maggie Gousman was named swimmer of the meet for the women after setting new meet records in the 200 Free and 400 Medley Relay events.
Lafayette
The Leopards were defeated by Rider last weekend, but did have several record-breaking performances. Brian Cronise broke the pool record in the three-meter dive with a score of 283.35, while Marcella Nehrbass set the pool record in the 100 Free (53.40).
Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks were swept at home by Bucknell last weekend. Junior Dan Johnson was a bright spot in defeat for Lehigh, as he recorded three individual victories and one relay victory.
Navy
The Mids completed a sweep over Ivy League foe Penn on Saturday at Lejeune Hall. Leading the men was freshman Erik Hunter, who had individual victories in the 800 Free and 400 Free. Diver Adam Niekras posted a victory in the one-meter event. The women were led by Tara Chapmon's two individual victories, and Katie Griffin's sweep of the diving events.
