Kohen Rankin Likely Punches Return Ticket To NCAAs With 51.64 100 BR At Patriot League Champs

2025 Patriot League Championships 

• February 19-22, 2025
• Kinney Natatorium — Lewisburg, Penn. 
• SCY (25 Yards) 
• Start Times: prelims – 10 am ET/finals – 6 pm ET 
  • Day 1: finals only – 5 pm ET 
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Navy (13x)
  • Men: Navy (20x)
• Championship Central 
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results 
• Livestream 
• Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap

Back To NCAAs 

On Day Three of the 2024 Patriot League Championships, Army junior Kohen Rankin likely punched his ticket to men’s NCAA Championships for the second-straight year. Rankin came out swinging in prelims of the men’s 100 breaststroke, setting a meet record of 51.88. He blew past that mark in the final, resetting the record at 51.64 as he won his third consecutive 100 breast title. 

Rankin’s best stands at 51.62, which he swam last year at the ECAC Championships after the Patriot League Championships to qualify for NCAAs. Last year, the invitied time in the men’s 100 breaststroke was a 51.89 so unless the cut line drops dramatically this season, Rankin should be set for a second-straight NCAA appearance. 

Juan Mora earned silver for Navy behind Rankin’s record-setting swim, clocking 52.69. The Loyola breaststrokers have been on fire all season and got a chance to put their depth on display in the men’s 100 breaststroke final. Freshman Brennan Coyle took bronze with a lifetime best of 53.06 while his teammates Michael Gozdan (53.59), Michael Venit (53.96), and Zach Eisenmann (54.48) placed 4th, 5th, and 7th. 

League and Championship Records 

Last year, the versatile Lily Mead raced the 400 IM at the Patriot League Championships instead of the 100 backstroke, even though she was the defending champion at the time. This year, the 200 IM champion returned to the top of the podium in the women’s 100 backstroke in dominant fashion, setting a Patriot League record. 

Mead fired off a 52.51, torching the league record and breaking her lifetime best by .35 seconds. The swim marks Mead’s fourth 100 backstroke lifetime best of the season. She first fired off a 53.22 at the H2ounds Invitational, then clocked 53.11 in prelims of the U.S. Open. She broke 53 seconds for the first time in the U.S. Open final, swimming the 52.86 she bettered at this meet. 

Mead was a part of two conference record-setting swims on Day Three, as the Loyola Greyhounds defended their 200 freestyle relay title with a Patriot League record 1:30.83. Mead led off the relay in 22.62, and was followed by Avery Stimmel (23.07), Haley Robinson (22.62), and Charley Tulio (22.52). Tulio took bronze in the 50 freestyle and here almost matched the blisterin 22.3 she anchored the 200 medley relay with. 

Army and Navy earned silver and bronze in the relay. The Black Knights touched in 1:31.34, with Navy following almost a second behind in 1:32.31. 

Navy’s Lachlan Andrew (19.84), Simon Thompson (19.48), Ben Irwin (19.42), and Everet Andrew (19.43) lowered the Championship record in the men’s 200 freestyle relay with a 1:18.17. The men’s race was a much closer affair than the women’s side, as Navy earned the win by seven-hundredths ahead of Loyola’s Caleb Kelly (19.46), Patrick Hayburn (19.45), Coyle (19.61), and Joe Hayburn (19.72). Army was in the mix as well, clocking 1:18.31 for bronze.

Multi-Event Winners 

There was a photo finish in the women’s 100 butterfly to start the session, as American fifth-year Mimi Watts earned her second gold medal in as many days. Yesterday, Watts completed a three-peat in the 50 freestyle. Today, she held off a back-half surge from Army freshman Angie McKane for the win. Watts opened in 24.92 then came home in 28.30, withstanding McKane’s 27.75 closing 50 to win 53.22 to 53.26. Navy’s Caroline Irwin joined the top two swimmers under 54 seconds, taking bronze in 53.62. 

Molly Webber defended her 200 freestyle title from last season. Webber held a slight lead at the halfway point over teammate Clara Williams and Lehigh’s Willa Werwaiss. She built her lead during the back half of the race and clocked 1:47.74 for the title. 

Webber and Watts both completed three-peats on Day Two—Webber in the 500 freestyle and Watts in the 50 freestyle. 

Home Team Gets Their First Gold of the Championships 

Clara Renner won the women’s 400 IM, earning her first Patriot League title in her home pool. It’s also Bucknell’s first gold medal of the championships. The freshman took the lead during the butterfly leg and did not look back. Yesterday, she led the 500 freestyle until the halfway point when Webber, the eventual champion, took over. She didn’t let the same thing happen in this event and led from start to finish as she clocked 4:16.85 to win her title. 

BU’s Haley Newman, a former conference champion in this event, won silver with a 4:18.31.  She used a strong freestyle split to move ahead of Bucknell sophomore Virginia Hastings for the second step on the podium. Hastings touched in 4:18.65, giving the hosts a 1-3 finish.

More Day Three Highlights 

Freshman Johnny Crush won his first individual Patriot League title on Day Three, storming to the win in the men’s 100 backstroke. Crush earned his title in 45.32, more than a second ahead of silver medalist Ben Irwin, the defending champion (46.45) who also won this title as a freshman last season. Loyola’s Joe Hayburn earned bronze in 46.81 as all three clocked NCAA ‘B’ cuts. 

Crush owns a lifetime best of 44.53 from earlier this season which makes him the third-fastest mid-major swimmer in history. He broke 45 seconds again yesterday, leading off Army’s 400 medley relay in 44.96, which stands as the new championship record.

Catriona Gilmore, the women’s 200 IM runner-up, earned her first individual gold in the women’s 100 breaststroke. It was Navy’s Lauren Walsh who led the race at the halfway mark with a 28.66 opening 50. Gilmore was the only other swimmer in the race to go out in sub-29, then split 31.91 to pass Walsh and get the win in 1:00.71. Gilmore and Walsh both earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts, as Walsh moved up to silver after finishing fifth in 2024. 

The Navy women earned a 2-3-4-5 finish in the women’s 100 breaststroke, as Sydney Bare completed the podium in 1:02.12.

There was a close race in the men’s 200 freestyle, as Everet Andrew, Thomas Hadji, and Wes Tate hurtled towards the final touch together. Andrew, a Navy senior, earned the win ahead of the two Army athletes, clocking 1:35.36 to win his third career 200 freestyle conference title. He touched a tenth ahead of Hadji’s 1:35.46. Hadji and Tate had even less separating them, as Tate earned bronze a hundredth behind his sophomore teammate. 

After helping to set a Patriot League record last night in the men’s 400 medley relay, Army freshman Daniel Verdolaga soared ahead of the field to win the men’s 100 butterfly. Verdolaga was the lone swimmer under 47 seconds, clocking 46.88 to win his first individual Patriot League crown.

Behind him, Loyola earned silver and bronze. Senior Patrick Hayburn turned in a 25.06 back 50 (second only to Verdolaga’s 25.02 closing split) to come back from 7th at the halfway point and win silver. He was fifth in this event last year. Hans Van Lierop’s 47.66 marks a lifetime best for him as he earned bronze five hundredths ahead of Army’s Riley Groves. 

Alex Edwards was second in the men’s 200 IM and climbed atop the podium in the men’s 400 IM with a lifetime best and NCAA ‘B’ cut of 3:48.97. After finishing fifth in this event in 2022, Edwards chose to swim the 100 backstroke on Day Three of the last two conference championships. He’s back in the event this year and hit a lifetime best 3:50.50 in prelims before hacking another 1.53 seconds off his best in the final. 

This was a huge event for the Army Black Knights as they swept the podium. Edwards took gold, then sophomore Kalvin Hahn swam 3:50.31 and senior Clayton Bernauer clocked 3:50.91 for bronze. They were 1-2-4 after prelims, so this event marks a pickup of points for them as Bernauer beat Navy’s Luca Olivia. 

On the women’s 1-meter diving board, champion MacKenzie Kim (Navy) and silver-medalist Sophia Souza (BU) earned ‘A’ cuts. Kim earned her title in 296.30, while Souza scored 290.90 points for second. 

Team Standings Through Day 3 

Women: 

1. Navy — 1092.5
2. Army — 902.5
3. Bucknell — 736
4. Loyola — 569
5. BU — 516
6. Lehigh — 470
7. American — 413
8. Colgate — 345.5
9. Lafayette — 275
10. Holy Cross — 230.5

Men: 

1. Army — 1071.5
2. Navy — 1013.5
3. Loyola — 810
4. Bucknell — 608.5
5. BU — 391.5
6. Lehigh — 302
7. Lafayette — 255
8. American — 249
9. Holy Cross — 228
10. Colgate — 213