Feb. 21, 2008

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Bucknell men's swimming and diving picked up wins in two events on the opening day of the Patriot League Championships, claiming titles in the 500 free and the 400 medley relay. Through five events, the Bison sit second with 190 points, while Navy is first with 224 points.

Sophomore Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse) was first to the wall in the 500 free with a time of four minutes, 28.97 seconds, breaking the program record he set as a freshman at the championships in 2007. Also scoring points for the Orange and Blue in the "A" final was sophomore Ben Leboza (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) who placed fifth with a career-best time of 4:35.90, to improve to fifth on Bucknell's top-10 list.

In addition, three more Bison qualified for the "B" final as junior Patrick Stummer (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) finished 12th (4:40.35), sophomore David Iselin (Potomac, Md./ Churchill) was 13th (4:41.54) and senior Joseph Metcalf (Knoxville, Tenn./Philips Exeter Academy (N.H.)) claimed 14th (4:41.80).

Junior Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area), senior Bradford Bennett (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area), senior Grant Steadman (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) and senior John Peterman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) provided Bucknell with its second win of the night, combining for a school record time of 3:21.98 in the 400 medley relay.

Two Bison broke into the program's top-10 for the 200 IM with their times in the preliminaries. Sophomore Daniel Fletcher (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) qualified for the finals with the fifth-best time in school history, 1:53.99, while Bennett followed with the No. 6 time on the list, 1:54.15. Bennett then moved up to fourth all-time with his finals performance, taking fourth in 1:53.37 and Fletcher came in seventh with a time of 1:54.54. Freshman Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) qualified for the "B" final and finished 11th, clocking in at 1:55.81.

In the 200 free relay, Peterman, Kawczenski, Fletcher and Steadman teamed up to post a runner-up showing, recording the ninth-fastest time in Bucknell history, 1:23.42.

Peterman led the way for the Orange and Blue in the 50 free, placing third with a time of 21.11, Kawczenski was seventh (21.27) and Steadman won the "B" final with a time of 21.19.

Junior Jeffrey Manning (Bringhurst, Ind./Carroll Jr./Sr. High) advanced to Friday's one meter-diving final, taking sixth in the preliminaries with a score of 247.40.

The Bison will continue to compete in the Patriot League Championships, tomorrow, Feb. 22, with day two preliminaries that will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 400 IM.