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
Patriot League Record Swims
Loyola’s Caleb Kelly put the field on notice yesterday when he anchored the Greyhounds’ league record-setting 200 medley relay in a blazing 18.89. He backed up his performance on day one in the men’s 50 freestyle final, breaking the Patriot League record with a 19.35. The swim takes .14 seconds off the mark Jonah Harm swam at the 2024 Patriot League Championships and is an NCAA ‘B’ cut.
The swim is his second lifetime best of the day. After entering the meet with a 19.65 lifetime best, Kelly swam 19.54 in prelims this morning before shedding even more time in the final. In total, he’s dropped two-tenths over the day. Kelly was the 50 freestyle runner-up the past two seasons—now, he is the Patriot League champion.
Army freshman Johnny Crush also earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut, clocking a lifetime best 19.61 for silver. He set his previous best at 19.68 earlier this season. Navy sophomore Lachlan Andrew took bronze in 19.80.
Crush helped another Patriot League record go down later in the men’s 400 medley relay. Crush (44.96), Kohen Rankin (51.22), Daniel Verdolaga (46.37), and Thomas Hadji (42.65) smashed the conference record by 2.12 seconds. The previous mark was 3:07.32, swum by Navy in 2022. The time was also an NCAA relay ‘B’ cut.
Army won the race by over three seconds, as Navy’s Ben Irwin (45.92), Juan Mora (52.13), Lachlan Andrew (47.52), and Everet Andrew (42.88) earned silver in 3:08.45. Though they touched well behind Army, the Midshipmen finished .61 seconds ahead of Loyola. Joe Hayburn (46.48), Michael Gozdan (52.76), and Patrick Hayburn (46.49) swam the first three legs for the Greyhounds. Kelly, fresh off his 50 freestyle title, anchored the team in 43.33.
Not One, But Two Three-Peats
Army junior Molly Webber secured a three-peat in the women’s 500 freestyle, getting the finals session started with a bang. Webber faced a challenge from Bucknell freshman Clara Renner early in the race. Webber took over the lead at the 300-meter mark, then continued to pull away. She stopped the clock at 4:46.20, shaving .18 seconds from her lifetime best and program record.
Renner soared to silver in her first individual event at the Patriot League Championships, touching a tenth off her personal best in 4:48.48. She and Webber were the only two swimmers to break 4:50, as Mairin Ludwig swam a lifetime best of 4:51.26 for bronze.
Speaking of three-peats, American fifth-year Mimi Watts completed one of her own in the women’s 50 freestyle. The 2023 Patriot League Female Swimmer of the Meet qualified second for the final, seven-hundredths behind Army senior Meghan Cole. In the final Watts edged out Cole by two-hundredths, 22.68 to 22.70. The times are season-best for both swimmers.
Loyola’s Charley Tulio was a hundredth off her lifetime best with a 23.02 for bronze. Tulio anchored the Greyhounds 200 medley relay with a blistering 22.43 split, eating away at Navy’s lead and stopping the clock just a hundredth behind them for silver.
More Day 2 Highlights
Lily Mead got back on top in the women’s 200 IM. She was the 2023 champion and took second in 2024. Mead grabbed the lead on the butterfly leg, splitting 26.20 to turn two-hundredths ahead of Army’s Catriona Gilmore. The Greyhound maintained her lead, swimming 1:59.38 and holding off charges from Gilmore and Navy’s Lauren Walsh. Gilmore closed her race in 28.76, clocking 1:59.81. She won silver, improving on her fourth-place finish in 2024 and breaking 2:00 for the first time.
Walsh’s specialty is breaststroke. She put it to good use in this championship final, as she moved from last after the backstroke leg into fourth with a field-best 33.98 breaststroke split. Then, she split 28.52 on the freestyle leg, again the fastest in the field, to earn bronze in 2:00.48. She was also a part of Navy’s dominant 400 medley relay. Ela Habjan (54.38), Walsh (1:00.59), Caroline Irwin (52.94), and Tiffany Shields (49.59) won the race by 1.98 seconds over Army’s quartet.
Last year, Army’s Wes Tate won his three individual events, sweeping the 200/500/1650 freestyle. His 2025 campaign is off to a strong start, as he defended his title in the 500 freestyle in 4:18.25. Though Tate won the race by 5.86 seconds, this was a huge event for Navy. The Midshipmen placed second through sixth in the championship final. That final alone put 130 points on the board for Navy as they aim to extend their impressive title-winning streak. Ben Mauldin and Zach Stump rounded out the podium. They were the two other swimmers in the final to break 4:25, clocking 4:24.11 and 4:24.75 for their respective medals. Dean Jones (4:25.27), Ben Stankovitch (4:25.94), and Everet Andrew (4:26.64) also contributed to Navy’s points haul in the championship final.
The Army men collected a 1-2 finish in the 200 IM for the second straight year as Joey Kling and Alex Edwards defended their finishes from last season. The pair were tied at the halfway point (50.16) and Kling out-split Edwards on the back half (29.96/25.30) to win the event in 1:45.42. In prelims, Kling set a program record 1:45.22, earning an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Edwards was a tenth off the personal best he swam at the Star Meet this season.
Navy’s Michael Phillips collected bronze in 1:46.96, leading a 3-5-6-7 finish for the Midshipmen.
The diving final tonight was the men’s 1-meter. Navy went 1-2 as Blake Shaw and Finnian Gelbach scored 350.70 and 345.70 points, respectively. It was a tight race at the top as David Manelis earned bronze for Army in 344.30, 1.40 points behind Gelbach.
Team Scores Through Day 2
Women:
- Navy — 523
- Army — 451
- Bucknell — 340
- Loyola — 318
- Lehigh — 263
- BU — 255
- American — 219
- Colgate — 213
- Holy Cross — 155
- Lafayette — 153
Men:
- Navy — 589.5
- Army — 580.5
- Loyola — 407
- Bucknell — 339
- BU — 192
- Lehigh — 177
- American — 160
- Lafayette — 149
- Holy Cross — 147
- Colgate — 137
