Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Connecticut
Bison Men's Swimming and Diving Falls to UConn, 177.6-116.5, on Senior Night
1/28/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 28, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Freshman Mike Nicholson (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) won three events by a combined nearly 12 seconds and improved on a pair of his own top-10 times, but the Bucknell men's swimming and diving team lost to visiting Connecticut, 177.5-116.5, Friday evening at Kinney Natatorium. The loss dropped the Bison to 6-5 on the year.
Prior to the meet, Bucknell's six seniors (two men, four women) were honored as part of Senior Night festivities. The two Bison men seniors honored were Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and Brendan Wills (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./LaSalle College HS). Volpe posted a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and a seventh-place showing in the 200 fly. He was also on the winning 200 medley relay squad and swam as part of the fourth-place 200 free relay. Wills posted season-best times in the 50 free (22.01) and 100 fly (52.92) as he earned top-four showings in both events.
While Volpe and Wills took center stage prior to the meet, Nicholson shined during it. He won the 200 fly (by 2.76 seconds), the 200 breast (by 6.03) and 200 IM (by 3.10) by a combined 11.89 seconds. His time of 1:50.99 in the 200 fly puts him second on Bucknell's all-time list, behind only Hall of Famer Jim Harvey's 23-year-old mark. Nicholson previously listed seventh on that list with a 1:52.12.
Nicholson followed that performance with a career-best time of 2:05.00 in the 200 breast, bettering his previous best by .83 seconds and moving from eighth to fifth on the program's all-time list.
Entering his final event Nicholson had a chance to conclude the meet with three new top-10 marks, but his winning time of 1:53.26 was just over a second off his personal best that already stands fourth in program history.
Nicholson now has 23 first-place finishes this year with his trio of wins on Friday.
Christian Treat (Evergreen, Colo./Clear Creek) was the only other Bison to win an individual event as he claimed the 100 breast in 58.63.
Bucknell's first victory of the meet came in the 200 medley relay that timed in at 1:37.48. Bryce Suchomel (Aurora, Colo./Regis), Nathaniel Frye (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area), Volpe and Daniel Wallace (Massapequa, N.Y./Chaminade) teamed up for the victory.
While the Bison scored just five first-place finishes in the meet, they accumulated seven runner-up showings in individual events. Eric Sokolosky finished second in both the 50 free and 100 free, while Jonathan Podniesinski (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) recorded a season-best time of 9:45.04 in the 1,000 free to claim the silver. Diver David Magaro finished second off both boards.
Connecticut improved to 6-1 this year with its 61-point victory.
Bucknell will be back in the pool Saturday when it hosts the Bison Invitational. Connecticut and American will join Bucknell in the three-team event that begins at noon inside Kinney Natatorium.
