The team had been picked first by the league’s coaches.

On Feb. 20, Fordham lived up to its high billing by winning the league championship tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. The victory marks the first postseason Atlantic 10 championship title for any women’s sport at Fordham.

Over the last three days of the competition, Fordham and the University of Richmond were locked in a battle for first place, but it was the Rams—finishing with 676 points—who took home the crown.

Richmond took second with 596 points, followed by:

• Massachusetts (428)
• Duquesne (413)
• La Salle (382.5)
• St. Bonaventure (293)
• Rhode Island (255)
• Xavier (236)
• Saint Louis (198)
• George Washington (159.5)

The night of finals started in the 1650 freestyle, where the Rams had two scorers. Megan McGorry placed second overall with a school-record time of 16:58.64, breaking the old mark by close to 10 seconds. Giulia Kaftan also scored in the event, placing 16th with a time of 17:52.94.

Up next was the 200 backstroke, where Brienne Ryan earned All-Atlantic 10 honors for the fifth time during this championship. She placed second with a time of 1:59.56. Earlier in the preliminaries, she broke the school record in the event with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:58.42. Christina Cosentino also made her way into the “A” final, as she placed fifth with 2:02.63.

Despite the strong start in the first two events, Fordham found its lead dwindling; Richmond tied the Rams with 536 points following the 100 freestyle event.

Fordham still had a great showing in that event, however, with three swimmers in the “A” final and one in the “B.” Tressa Dunn led the charge as she placed second in the “AB final in a school record time of 51.04 seconds, followed by Kelly Bunster in seventh (52.03) and Alexandra Alessi in eighth (52.53). Rounding out the finals, Kellie Lyver was fourth in the “B” final (12th overall) in 52.42 seconds.

Fordham then regained the lead thanks to Nicole Marshall, who placed second in the 200 breaststroke in a school record time of 2:18.33, breaking her old mark of 2:19.25, set last year.

Leading by nine points, Fordham entered their strongest event with four finalists in the 200 butterfly. The “B” final saw Kim Bouton win the heat in a time of 2:08.78, while Katelynn Gray was third in 2:09.27.

In the “A” final, Fordham pulled off its second one-two finish of the championship, as Courtney Collyer defended her title in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:01.52, followed by Caitlin Napoli in second place with 2:02.17.

With the two heat wins, Fordham took a 48-point lead into the final two events—the three-meter dive and 400 freestyle relay.

In the three-meter dive, all three Ram divers: Andrea Krok, Elizabeth Dorger and Brittany Salas, made the finals of the event. Krok would finish fourth with a score of 238.15, followed by Dorger in seventh (213.60) and Salas in eighth (211.40).

The final event was the 400 freestyle relay, which Dunn, Bunster, Ryan and Napoli finished off in style, placing second in a school record and NCAA “B” cut time of 3:23.72, securing Fordham’s first Atlantic 10 title in a women’s sport.

In all, eight Fordham female athletes earned All-Atlantic 10 honors finishing in either first or second place in their respective events, while breaking 14 school records and one Atlantic 10 record. Fordham also posted a total of six NCAA “B” cut qualifiers. In addition to the team, head coach Steve Potsklan was named Atlantic 10 Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the second straight year.

– Joe DiBari

The Fordham women’s squad set 16 school records and the men’s side added five more at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships. The annual competition was held from Feb. 18-21 at the Flickinger Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

Leading the Fordham women was Courtney Collyer (FCRH ’12), who won two events and set one conference mark. She won the 400 individual medley in a school-record time of 4:22.16, snapping the old mark of 4:29.78 set in 1993.

On the final day of the meet, Collyer took gold in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.96, surpassing the former A-10 record of 2:01.01 set in 1993, as well as shattering the Fordham mark of 2:04.44, which was established two years ago.

Collyer was named the Atlantic 10 Female Rookie of the Meet—the first Fordham woman to earn the honor.

Head Coach Steve Potsklan was named the Women’s Coach of the Year, his first A-10 honor. Photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics

Her success in the pool was the leading edge of a total team effort that earned the Fordham women a second-place finish, their best showing at the Atlantic 10 Championships. Previously, their highest finish was third place in 2007.

For some icing on the cake, Head Coach Steve Potsklan was named the Women’s Coach of the Year, his first A-10 honor.

Collyer wasn’t the only Fordham woman to earn First Team All-Conference honors. Caitlin Napoli (CBA ’10) also won two events, placing first in the 200 and 500 freestyle and setting school records in both.

She won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.55, surpassing her own record of 1:49.97, which she set in a morning preliminary. In fact, her preliminary run broke the two-day-old record of Tressa Dunn (CBA ’10), who clocked in at 1:51.61 over the first 200 meters in the 800 freestyle relay.

Napoli won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.07, shattering the school mark of 4:57.75 set in 2004.

She also finished second in the 200 butterfly to earn Second Team All-Conference honors, finishing 0.83 second behind Collyer.

The 200 freestyle record wasn’t the only one to change hands several times at the championships. The Fordham 100 fly record was rewritten all day.

Katelynn Gray, (FCRH ’10) set the school mark by clocking 56.98 in the morning preliminaries. Kelly Bunster (FCRH ’12) snapped that time by swimming a 55.88 in another preliminary a few minutes later. Bunster then swam a 55.43 in the finals to reset the mark and earn Second Team All-Conference honors.

Courtney Collyer (FCRH ’12) was named the Atlantic 10 Female Rookie of the Meet Photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics

The women’s 800 freestyle relay team took home gold and set an Atlantic 10 record, winning the event in 7:24.25. It broke the record of 7:28.19 set by the Richmond Spiders in 2007 and destroyed the school mark by nearly 14 seconds.

Earning Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors for the women were Dunn, who finished second in the 100 and 200 freestyle; the 200 and 400 medley relays; and the 400 freestyle relay.

Christina Cosentino (CBA ’11) and the women’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays also got in on the record-breaking action. Cosentino set the 200 back mark with a 2:01.94, placing sixth, while the Fordham women combined to swim 1:35.85 in the 200 freestyle relay, taking sixth and breaking the record of 1:36.52 set in 2003.

The 400 freestyle relay earned Second Team All-Conference honors, placing second in a school record time of 3:24.56, bettering the former mark of 3:31.35 set in 2005.

Nicole Marshall (FCRH ’10) also had a strong championship meet, setting school records in the 100 (1:03.85) and 200 (2:19.21) breaststroke and the 200 individual medley (2:03.82); finishing third in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley; and fourth in the 200 breaststroke.

On the men’s side, Ryan Coombs (FCRH ’10), won the 200 fly with a season-best time of 1:50.03 on the final day of competition. He placed fourth in the 200 freestyle, with a season-best time of 1:40.17, and the 500 freestyle, taking eighth with a season-best time of 4:40.77.

Not to be outdone, twin brother Justin Coombs (CBA ’10) set a school record at the championship, swimming a 20.72 in 50 freestyle preliminaries, breaking the record of 20.73 set in 2003. He placed fourth in the finals.

Ryan Coombs (FCRH ’10) won the 200 fly on the final day of the competition.

The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams earned Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors by taking second in each race. The 200 freestyle relay finished in a school-record time of 1:22.21, surpassing the former record of 1:23.69, while the 400 free relay swam a school record time of 3:01.54, smashing the former record of 3:04.10 set in 1979.

There were two other record-setting relays. The 200 medley relay placed third with a time of 1:31.62, breaking the mark of 1:33.00 set in 1996. The 400 finished sixth with a time of 3:23.95, breaking the mark of 3:24.93 set in 1996.

Overall the Fordham men placed fourth at the championships with 415 points.