The swimming and diving teams wrapped up the two-day Bucknell University Invitational on Sunday after taking on Bloomsburg University with mixed results the day before.
With a 137-116 victory over Bloomsburg, the men's team improved to 4-0 in dual-meet action.
The men, who split their squad between the two meets, set the pace early with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay (1:41:36). The winning relay team comprised senior co-captain Liam Gallagher, sophomore Herman Chu and freshmen Joe Tseng and Tim Rauch.
"We have a lot of guys going for only a few relay spots," Gallagher said. "We've always had a successful (200-yard medley relay), and whoever is a part of the relay knows they have a lot to live up to."
Rauch placed first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.63) and 100-yard freestyle (50.21), Tseng won the 100-yard backstroke (56.53) and Gallagher captured the 100-yard breaststroke (1:13.14). Chu finished second in the 200-yard butterfly behind senior teammate R.T. Greeby.
Additional winners for the men's team included freshman Mike Molloy in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:14.47), senior Jonaid Lone in the 500-yard freestyle (5:08.47), sophomore Eric Rohrs in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.49) and sophomore James VanBiervliet in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.97).
The women's team came up just short against Bloomsburg, narrowly losing 135-127. With the loss, the Lions dropped to 1-4 on the season.
"We were extremely disappointed with the loss," head coach Jennifer Harnett said. "To be that close and not be able to pull out the win is hard on any competitor."
Freshman Margaret Molloy won the 500- (5:21.29) and 1,000-yard (10:57.49) freestyle events.
"Molloy had a good breakout weekend," Harnett said. "This weekend she relaxed and swam her own race and it paid off."
At the Bucknell University Invitational, the men's and women's teams both finished last but remained competitive against a field consisting entirely of Division I programs.
"The Bucknell Invitational was a great opportunity for us to compete in a fast meet early in the year," men's head coach Brian Bishop said. "We were able to finish in the top three in a number of events, and we will certainly value the experience."
The Lions' top finish came from junior diver Greg Lloyd who grabbed first place in the one-meter event (296.85) and second in the three-meter event (247.20).
"Staying calm during the meet and diving like I was in practice was what helped at this meet," Lloyd said.
Other strong performances came from freshman Tom Medvecky, who swam to a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (1:56.81) and third in the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.48), and senior Josh Forsman, who finished second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.07.
Standout performers for the women included senior co-captain Ava Kiss, who earned sixth place in the 100-yard butterfly (59.38) and freshman Katie Morgan, who placed 15th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:34.02).
"The fact that we could be competitive with Division I schools and have girls qualify for top 16 gave us a great boost," Harnett said. "It's what we needed especially after having so many tough dual meets in a row."
