The Bucknell women’s swimming and diving team returns two All-Patriot League performers and three conference medalists from a year ago as it looks to move up from a fourth-place finish at the 2024 championships.
Three-time All-Patriot Leaguer Esme Hunter, who was the team’s top scorer with 63 points at last year’s Patriot League meet, was one of only six graduates from that 2023-24 squad, so this year’s group will be led by 10 seniors and includes 16 athletes with at least one top-10 mark in school history.
“This year we have a big senior class that has had a wealth and a variance of experiences,” said head coach Dan Schinnerer. “We have some seniors who have done really well and some that have had to battle their way back from some setbacks. So there is a variety of experiences there, but I think when you put all of those experiences together from a leadership standpoint, this class has a lot to bring to the table.”
Diver Meghan Catherwood and swimmers Rylie Giles, Skye Sunderhauf, and Gillian Camperlengo are this year’s captains, and Schinnerer says this group epitomizes the team’s leadership.
“Our captains group kind of typifies our senior class,” said Schinnerer. “Meghan has been great for us on the boards throughout her career. Gillian is somebody who has really worked her way up and had a great finish last year after spending the first half of the year working through an injury. Rylie had a great freshman year, then had to work her way back from an injury and put it all together as we went through last year, which was exciting to see. Skye has been very consistent for us. Throughout the women’s team, there is another good step that everyone can make. If we can do that, we will accomplish some good things this year.”
Catherwood has compiled 62 career points at the Patriot League Championships and was a 2023 qualifier for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. She holds the second-best score on the 1-meter board and third-best on the 3-meter board in team history. Classmate Reggie Frias now has the No. 2 mark on the 3-meter board and is back for her senior campaign after taking the bronze medal in that event at the Patriot League Championships last February. Frias was a 2024 NCAA Zone A qualifier, and she was the 2023 ECAC champion and 2024 ECAC runner-up on the 3-meter board.
Bucknell’s other returning honorees are junior distance freestyler Claire Kehley, who earned All-Patriot League honors after claiming the silver medal in the 1,650, and sophomore Virginia Hastings (All-Patriot League).
Kehley is actually a two-time medalist in the mile after claiming bronze as a freshman in 2023 and silver as a sophomore last year. She now owns the sixth-fastest time in that event in school history, and Schinnerer calls her a “big meet swimmer”. Hastings is coming off a big rookie campaign that saw her reach Patriot League finals in the 400 IM (fourth) and 500 free (seventh), and her 58 points at the meet earned her a Second Team All-Patriot League citation. Her 200 free PR is the second-fastest mark in team history, trailing only former league champion Maddie Hartigan, and on the same day she joined junior Kyla Kelly and Class of 2024 stars Hunter and Kayla Lichtner on the school record-setting 200 free relay.
Kelly ranks eighth all-time in the 100 free and 200 IM, and Schinnerer says that even though her roots are in the IM, she could conceivably swim the butterfly, backstroke, sprint freestyle, and IM this year.
Junior Hanna Bingley now owns the No. 2 time in school history in the 100 breast. Bingley was sixth in the 100 breast at the Patriot League meet.
Junior Jennifer Bolden’s name is on five different top-10 lists, including third in the 100 free and second in both the 200 free relay and 800 free relay. She swam the leadoff leg on the 200 free relay that broke the school record at the 2022 Patriot League Championships, a mark that was broken last season by Hastings, Kelly, Lichtner, and Hunter.
Sophomore Sydney Dettman posted the third-fastest 200 fly time in school history at the Bucknell Invitational, Sara Ketron and Ashley Piacentino swam on two relays that won silver medals at the ECAC Championships, and they are part of a second-year class that Schinnerer feels could make a big jump this season.
“That collective group did a nice job last year and had a lot of people that were strong contributors in their first year. If they can build on that, then this has a chance to be a really important class for us.”
Six newcomers join the squad this year, representing every stroke group along with a diver in Annelise Enters. Sofia Burns (free/back), Sydney Jee (breast/IM/free), Lily Mathews (IM/free/breast), Clara Renner (free/IM), and Brooke Worth (free) are the first-year swimmers. Keep an eye on Renner, a Massachusetts native who comes in the door right on the school records in the distance free events.
Schinnerer admits that last season was a bit of a struggle thanks to some fluky injuries and illnesses, but that adversity could make the team stronger in the long run.
“Collectively as a team, we had a lot of setbacks last year,” Schinnerer says. “Losing some dual meets early in the season and missing some key people meant that the current sophomores had to step up right away. So I do think we learned a lot from that experience. We were pleased with how we performed at the Patriot League Championships, even though fourth place wasn’t what we had wanted. If we can build on the momentum from the end of last year and take with us what we learned last year, we have the ability to move up.”
Local swimming fans will have plenty of chances to catch the Bison in action with nine home meets on the schedule, including the 2025 Patriot League Championships on Feb. 19-22. The season kicks off with a home dual against Boston University this Saturday, and later in the year the Bison host two invitationals along with duals against six other Patriot League rivals in American, Lafayette, Navy, Army, Loyola, and Lehigh.
The first-semester invitationals provide a good chance for the coaching staff to see swimmers in a variety of events.
“When you get into the dual meets, sometimes you get wedged into a certain lineup because you’re trying to win,” said Schinnerer. “But the invitationals give us a chance to not worry about winning or losing a meet. It gives people the opportunity to swim some different events outside of the confines of a dual meet lineup.”
Returning Women on All-Time Top-10 Performers Lists
Samantha Benzija, So.
- 8th, 100 Fly (55.87)
- 4th, 200 Medley Relay (1:43.43)
Hanna Bingley, Jr.
- 2nd, 100 Breast (1:02.97)
- 4th, 200 Medley Relay (1:43.43)
Jennifer Bolden, Jr.
- 3rd, 100 Free (50.73)
- 7th, 200 Free (1:49.95)
- 2nd, 800 Free Relay (7:18.59)
- 2nd, 200 Free Relay (1:32.97) (former school record)
- 3rd, 400 Free Relay (3:23.43)
Meghan Catherwood, Sr.
- 2nd, 1M Diving (269.05)
- 3rd, 3M Diving (282.45)
Sydney Dettman, So.
- 3rd, 200 Fly (2:01.72)
- 9th, 200 Free (1:50.09)
- 5th, 800 Free Relay (7:19.96)
Emma Feld, Jr.
- 7th, 200 Back (2:00.17)
Reggie Frias, Sr.
- 2nd, 3M Diving (290.70)
Rylie Giles, Sr.
- 5th, 800 Free Relay (7:19.96)
Virginia Hastings, So.
- 2nd, 200 Free (1:48.06)
- 9th, 500 Free (4:55.58)
- 1st, 200 Free Relay (1:32.93)
- 4th, 400 Free Relay (3:24.06)
- 5th, 800 Free Relay (7:19.96)
Claire Kehley, Jr.
- 6th, 1650 Free (16:52.20)
Kyla Kelly, Jr.
- 8th, 100 Free (51.04)
- 8th, 200 IM (2:03.20)
- 1st, 200 Free Relay (1:32.93)
- 4th, 400 Free Relay (3:24.06)
Sara Ketron, So.
- 10th, 400 Free Relay (3:25.66)
Megan Leyden, Jr.
- 3rd, 100 Fly (54.83)
Ashley Piacentino, So.
- 10th, 400 Free Relay (3:25.66)
Ava Stallmeyer, Jr.
- 8th, 200 Breast (2:18.27)
Skye Sunderhauf, Sr.
- 7th, 200 Fly (2:02.75)
- 9th, 400 IM (4:23.31)