Bucknell, Navy in front after Day One of Open Championship
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The 2025 ECAC Open Championship got underway on Friday, with the women of Bucknell and the Navy men leading the way after the first day of competition. The event is being hosted by Navy and will run through Sunday.
The Bison women totaled 212 team points, while Navy and Penn rounded out the top three with 169 and 167 respectively. On the men’s side, the Midshipmen dominated Day One, racking up 288.5 points as a group, more than double the mark of second-place Loyola.
The Loyola group of Lily Mead, Remmi Shaw, Gabby Jones and Emily Colyar opened the weekend with a championship time of 1:32.97 in the women’s 200 free relay. Navy wasted no time, taking first with a 1:17.92 in the men’s event behind strong performances from Thomas Morris, Natanas Gaver, Henry Cain and Austin Lockhart.
Rutgers’ Orian Gablan (4:55.84) snagged first in the women’s 500 free, holding off Penn’s Maggie Straley (4:56.14). Cedric Brooking of Navy followed with a mark of 4:22.81, good enough to take the individual crown by nearly five full seconds, while teammates James Lyon (4:27.06) and Conor Cranfield (4:28.17) gave the Midshipmen three of the top five.
Virginia Hastings added 20 more points to Bucknell’s team total with a first-place time of 2:01.05 in the women’s 200 IM, narrowly edging teammate Clara Renner (2:01.47). Navy came up big on the men’s side, as the trio of Coleman Yates (1:46.10), Noah Robinson (1:47.55) and Jack Ussery (1:47.96) snagged the top three individual spots.
In the women’s 50 free, Mead cruised to a victory behind a time of 22.61, while Penn teammates Keara McGowan (23.32) and Brooke Blom (23.40) rounded out the top three. The Midshipmen shined once again in the men’s 50 free, with Lockhart (19.88) leading the pack of five Navy swimmers at the top of the leaderboard.
The Navy women took home the final event of the day, with Jackie Scheneman, Maddie Koutavas, Julianne McCranie and Samantha Aguirre teaming up for a time of 3:45.31 to hold off Rutgers in a photo finish in the 400 medley relay. The final event of the day saw Johnny Crush, Kohen Rankin, Daniel Verdolaga and Thomas Hadji run away with the men’s 400 medley relay, giving U.S. Military Academy their first event win of the weekend.
In diving, Bucknell took home a pair of gold. Connor Thurston won the men's 1 meter with a score of 270.30. Regina Frias won the women's 3 meter with a score of 280.05.
Day Two prelims are set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, with finals to follow at 6:00 p.m.