Feb. 22, 2008

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Junior Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area) and the Bison 200 medley relay squad successfully defended their 2007 league titles as the Bucknell swimming and diving team competed on day two of the Patriot League Championships. With one day of competition remaining, the Bison are second with 444 points, while Navy is first with 565 points.

For a second consecutive season, Kawczenski, senior Bradford Bennett (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area), senior Grant Steadman (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) and senior John Peterman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) captured first in the 200 medley relay and set a school record in the event with a time of one minute, 31.18 seconds.

Kawczenski later won the 100 back as he was first to the wall in 49.99. Freshman Gonzalo DeLeon (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) followed in fourth with the ninth-fastest time in Bucknell history, 52.03, after first cracking the top-10 list in the preliminaries, finishing in 52.42. Sophomore David Iselin (Potomac, Md./ Churchill) took eighth (52.71) and junior Christopher Amato (East Norwich, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) was 12th (53.87).

In the 100 breast, senior Joseph Metcalf (Knoxville, Tenn./Philips Exeter Academy (N.H.)) finished as the runner-up with a time of 56.76, qualifying out of the preliminaries with the No. 4 time on the program's top-10, 56.71. Bennett's time in the preliminaries landed him third on Bucknell's all-time list (56.64) and he went on to finish fourth in the finals, clocking in at 57.10. Sophomore Brett Carey (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) also qualified for the finals and placed 12th (1:00.51).

Steadman recorded a third-place showing in the 100 fly final, finishing in 50.78 to rank seventh in the Bison record book. He advanced out of the preliminaries with a then personal-best time of 50.99. Freshman Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) placed seventh in the event, reaching the wall in 52.01, and in the "B" final, Amato came in 11th (52.16).

Sophomore Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse) led the Orange and Blue in the 400 IM as his time of 4:07.28 was good for sixth. Seniors Theo Leriotis (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional Senior High) and Matthew McGraw (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport) provided points as well, finishing 13th (4:13.03) and 14th (4:14.10), respectively.

In the 200 free, sophomore Daniel Fletcher (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) qualified out of the preliminaries with the No. 9 time in school history, 1:42.45, and placed sixth in the final (1:43.00). Also scoring for the Bison were sophomore Ben Leboza (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) (12th, 1:43.81) and Peterman (13th, 1:43.91).

Junior Jeffrey Manning (Bringhurst, Ind./Carroll Jr./Sr. High) was sixth in the one-meter diving final with a score of 246.15.

To close out the evening, Trafton, Fletcher, junior Patrick Stummer (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley), and Leboza combined for the third-place time in the 800 free relay, 6:51.24, which ranks sixth in program history.

The Bison will continue to compete in the Patriot League Championships, tomorrow, Feb. 23, with day three preliminaries that will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 200 backstroke.