Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Kick Off Season This Weekend
10/28/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 28, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 2004-05 swimming and diving seasons begin this weekend with the Bucknell men and women taking to the pool for the annual Blue vs. Orange intersquad meet on Friday at 6 p.m. at Kinney Natatorium. The Bucknell women are set to pursue Patriot League title number three as the men look to reclaim the supremacy taken from them by Navy last season.
The Bucknell women enter the season as the number-one ranked team in the Patriot League's preseason poll while the men were voted second behind Navy.
Not only will the Bucknell women's team's back-to-back run of league crowns be on the line, but its impressive run of 16-straight dual meets without a loss, dating back to 2001, will also be risked.
"The key this year will be having the right `attitude' in order to stay one step ahead. Other teams in the conference are looking to copy what we do. This year is also about uncharted waters, since there are many unknowns heading into the season," said head coach Jerry Foley. "There will be no predictions."
Creating one of those unknowns, Bucknell's men and women will have to deal with the loss of key seniors. Peter Garvin and Meghan Freese were the top Bison freestylers last season in the shorter events, their names entrenched in the Bucknell record book, but each has understudies looking to become team leaders this year.
Ian Rawhauser broke into Bucknell's top-10 in the 200 free last season at the Patriot League Championships, claiming the eighth spot. Todd Bauer and Brooks Steadman are Bucknell's only other returning top-10 all-time freestylers.
"Our senior class was huge between its leadership and athletic ability. We're going to have to develop in order to be in contention. That senior class was the cornerstone for our championships," said Foley.
Though three female members of that senior class, Freese, Jennifer Cancro and Daniela Faas, were three of the 11 women to make one of the two All-Patriot League teams in 2003-04, they are the only three not returning this season. First-teamers Lectie Altman, Jackie Feinthel and Laura Goeller will be back, as will second-team members Jamie Flick, Rebecca Scheffter, Nikki Woodward, Carlyn Donley and Katherine Munson.
On the men's side, three of the five all-league honorees will be back. With first-teamer Garvin and second-teamer Jack Sheehan graduated, the Bison men will return first-team honorees Mark Kretzer and William Schilling, and second-team member Bauer.
The women's freestyle corps will be anchored by Scheffter in the shorter events and Donley in the longer events. While learning from the examples of Freese and Faas last year, Scheffter claimed the third spot on Bucknell's 100 free and fourth on the 50 free all-time top-10 lists, while Donley appears on the 500, 1000, and 1650 lists. On the men's side, Bauer earned a silver medal at the league meet in the 1650.
Defending Patriot League 100 back champ Kretzer, who also won a silver in the 200 fly, returns, with Rawhauser and Matt Crandell providing depth in those strokes as fellow members of Bucknell's top-10 lists.
Altman, twice a Patriot League champion in the backstroke events, is back this season, as are fellow top-10 backstrokers Scheffter, Goeller, and Munson. At the 2004 Patriot League Championships, Altman won a gold in the 200 back, silver in 100 back and finished fourth in the 200 free. Goeller also medaled in the 200 back, earning a bronze. Feinthel, Lauren Reed, Mary Krakowski, and Woodward join Munson as proven flystrokers for the Bucknell women's squad. While Feinthel was the league champion in the 200 fly, Reed earned a bronze in the event.
Just as Altman is a Bucknell record holder twice over, teammate Flick is the reigning Bucknell leader in both breaststroke events, earning silver in both at the 2004 league meet, and returns for her senior season this year. Defending 100 breast league champion William Schilling, who also won a silver in the 200 breast, returns for the men. Clifton Cazes and D.J. Guba also had record book-altering performances at the league meet last year.
Woodward and Goeller appear on both the 200 IM and 400 IM lists for the Bison women, though the two underclassmen will have to help make up for the loss of 2004 Patriot League champion and 400 IM school record holder Faas. Woodward has already earned a medal in the 400 IM, taking a bronze in the event at last year's league meet. John Hoffman is the only returning member of the top-10 lists in the individual medley on the men's side.
Despite the losses of the 2004 graduates, Foley will have the parts necessary to assemble more successful relay squads this season to claim dozens of valuable points at the 2005 Patriot League Championships and at dual meets throughout the season. Flick, Krakowski, Altman, Scheffter, and Donley are all returning members of Bucknell women's all-time top-10 relay teams, while Kretzer, Schilling, Rawhauser, and Jake Thieman return for the men's relay teams.
After the Blue vs. Orange competition, the Bison host the Bucknell Sprint Invitational on Nov. 6, at Kinney Natatorium, with sessions at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The Bison are scheduled to host eight home competitions this season, including the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 24-26, 2005.
