Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Bucknell Men's Swimming & Diving Moves Into Third on Day Two of PL Championships
2/18/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 17, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's swimming and diving team posted wins in two events and moved into third in the team standings on day two of the Patriot League Championships in Kinney Natatorium on Saturday. Entering the final day of competition on Sunday, the Bison will have a total of 334 points, trailing only Navy and Army with 569 and 504 points, respectively.
The Orange and Blue started off the evening session with a gold-medal performance in the 200 medley relay as the team of sophomore Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area), junior Bradford Bennett (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area), junior Grant Steadman (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) and junior John Peterman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) set a new Bucknell record with the winning time of one minute, 31.93 seconds, becoming the first Bison squad to capture a victory in the event at the league meet since 2000.
Kawczenski later won an individual title as well, claiming first in the 100 back with a time of 49.90 after moving up to second on the school's top-10 list with a time of 50.32 in the preliminaries. His finals time broke the school record of 50.14, posted by Don Steenson in 1992. Also scoring for the Bison in the 100 back was freshman David Iselin (Potomac, Md./Churchill) who took 12th in 53.37.
Following his school record-performance in the 500 free on day one, freshman Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse) entered Bucknell's all-time list for the 400 IM after touching the wall in 4:02.18, which ranks second in program history. In the finals, Trafton was fifth with a time of 4:05.58 and junior Theo Leriotis (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional Senior High) placed 13th in 4:12.09.
The Bison rewrote the program top-10 list for the 100 breast during the day's action. Bennett moved up to fourth in Bucknell history with his trials time (57.37) and later improved to third on the list, taking third in the event in the finals with a time of 56.71. Junior Joseph Metcalf (Knoxville, Tenn./Phillips Exeter Academy) matched the fifth-best time on the all-time list during the morning session (57.49) and became the sole owner of the No. 5 mark in school history during the finals, where he came in fifth with a time of 57.42. Sophomore Michael Deighan (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) won the "B" final with the seventh-fastest mark in the record books, 58.13, and freshman Brett Carey (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) took 13th with a time of 59.47.
In the 200 free, the top finisher for the Bison, freshman Ben Leboza (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) was the first to the wall in the "B" final with the ninth-best time in school history, 1:42.51. Behind him, sophomore Christopher Amato (East Norwich, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) came in 11th (1:43.96), Peterman placed 12th (1:43.96), sophomore Patrick Stummer (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) took 14th (1:44.55) and freshman Daniel Fletcher (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) claimed the 15th spot (1:44.85).
Two individuals from Bucknell qualified for the finals in the 100 fly. Steadman posted the No. 9 time in the school's record books during the preliminaries (51.21) and went on to finish sixth overall with a time of 51.27. Senior Matt Crandell (Winchester, Va./John Handley) took 12th in the event in 52.18.
The Bison 800 free relay squad of Trafton, Amato, Leboza and Metcalf closed out the night with a third-place showing, recording the No. 10-time in Bison history, 6:54.25.
The Orange and Blue will wrap up competition at the 2007 Patriot League Championships tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 18, as the squad will begin its last trials session at 10:30 a.m., with the finals at 5 p.m.
