Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving in Third After Day One of PL Championships
2/19/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 19, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's swimming and diving team opened the 2009 Patriot League Championships Thursday at Kinney Natatorium with three school records in a pair of relays and the 500-yard freestyle and a first-place showing in the 50 free by Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area). The Bison are in third place in the team standings after the first of three days of competition.
Kawczenski was the only person from a team other than Navy to post a victory in a finals event on day one of the championships. The three-time All-Patriot League selection won a hotly contested final where the eight swimmers were divided by just .38 seconds. Kawczenski timed in at 20.26, less than one-tenth of a second behind Jim Harvey's school-record time, and .02 seconds ahead of second-place Alex Oldenkamp of Navy. Eric Sokolsky (Branford, Conn./Branford) was fifth in the same race in 20.53.
Kawczenski and Sokolosky were key parts to both the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay squads breaking school records on Thursday. Sokolosky swam his leg of the 200 in 19.79 seconds and he teamed with Kawczenski, Spencer Hallowell (Bath, Maine/Morse) and Daniel Fletcher (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) to finish second in 1:21.21, a full .80 ahead of the program standard.
In the 400 medley relay, Sokolosky was strong again, swimming his 100 free leg in 44.30. The foursome of Sokolosky, Kawczenski, Nathaniel Frye (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area) and Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) took second in a school-record time of 3:19.61. Navy, which leads the overall team standings, swept both relays and claimed at least the top four positions in two of the three individual races as well as the top three spots in three-meter diving Thursday.
Junior Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse), last year's Patriot League champion in the 500 free and the 2007 runner-up, got things started for Bucknell by setting a school record in the event in the preliminaries. The two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection won the prelims in 4:23.37, shaving 5.6 seconds off his own school standard and nearly two seconds off the Patriot League record. That time is nearly 10 seconds faster than Todd Bauer, who resided in second place on the Bucknell list entering Thursday's competition. Brendan Smith, who finished one spot behind Trafton in the finals, overtook Bauer for second in Bison history with a 4:32.25. In the finals, Trafton swam a 4:31.94 to finish sixth.
Navy, the five-time defending champion, holds the team lead with 346 points. Army is in second with 179, while Bucknell stands a close third with 176.
The three-day Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships will continue Friday at Kinney Natatorium with the prelims slated for 10:30 a.m. and the finals set for 6 p.m. Among the events to be contested on Friday are the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women's one-meter diving and a pair of relays.
Standings (after day 1 of 3)
1. Navy - 346
2. Army - 179
3. Bucknell - 176
4. Colgate - 98
5. Lehigh - 76
6. Lafayette - 71
7. American - 63
8. Holy Cross - 39
