Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
UMBC
Men's Swim & Dive Hosts UMBC in 2018-19 Opener
9/26/2018 12:52:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Setting the Scene
What: UMBC (0-0) at Bucknell (0-0)
When: Saturday, September 29 – 1 p.m.
Where: Kinney Natatorium – Lewisburg, Pa.
Bucknell at a Glance
• In 2017-18, the Bison went 2-7 (2-4 Patriot League). They placed third (411 points) at the 10-team Patriot League Championships and ninth (177 points) at the 21-team ECAC Championships, a one spot improvement at both events from the 2016-17 campaign.
• Chris Devlin (1st) and Matt McGoey (2nd) were Bucknell's 2018 All-Patriot League honorees.
• The Bison return two school record holders: Chadd Cummings (100 breaststroke, 54.65) and McGoey (200 IM, 1:47.84). In addition, returnees Cummings (200 medley, 400 medley), Charlie McFarland (200 medley, 400 medley, 400 freestyle) and Jacob Lubinski (400 medley) were members of school record setting relay teams.
• Bucknell lost Devlin, a four-time All-Patriot League First Team selection and two-time Swimmer of the Patriot League Championships, to graduation. Devlin left Lewisburg as the school record holder in three events and as the owner of six Patriot League individual titles.
• The program welcomes eight newcomers in 2018-19. They hail from eight different states: Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
UMBC at a Glance/Series History
• This is the 12th-straight year the Bison will open their season against the Retrievers. Every year since 2007, the teams have met in the first weekend of the season for an unscored meet. Eight of those meetings occurred at Kinney Natatorium.
• In 2017-18, the Retrievers rejoined the American East after spending four years in the CCSA. They handily won the American East Championship with 1,113 points.
• UMBC finished one spot ahead of Bucknell at the 21-team ECAC Championships, totaling 226 points to place eighth.
• A year before, UMBC won its third-straight CCSA crown. The Retrievers totaled 1,522 points to take down seven other teams in their final campaign in the CCSA.
A Look Ahead
• The Bison next host Boston University in their Patriot League opener on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
Season Preview
The Bucknell men's swimming & diving team ended the 2017-18 campaign on a high note. After struggling through a difficult dual-meet season, the Bison finished third behind Navy and Army at the Patriot League Championships. Head coach Dan Schinnerer believes that his team is prepared to ride the momentum from its strong finish into the 2018-19 campaign.
"We ended the year on a high note by getting third at the Patriot League Championships," Schinnerer said. "That's certainly something we want to build on this year. Beating Boston University for the first time at the championship meet was a big step forward for our program."
While Bucknell only lost four seniors to graduation following the 2017-18 season, one can be counted among the program's finest swimmers. Chris Devlin left Lewisburg as the school record holder in three events and with top-10 times in three more. A two-time Swimmer of the Meet at the Patriot League Championships, he led all Patriot League swimmers in the class of 2018 with 206 career points, bolstered by six individual titles.
"Losing Chris is obviously big," Schinnerer said. "While we're not going to replace him on a one-for-one basis, I think the class we have coming in does balance out what we lost. As a team, we're in a position to be in a better spot, but so are some of the other teams. It's going to be competitive."
The Bison will be relatively young this year, but Schinnerer is confident they'll grow up quickly. He said that being able to host 10 home meets at Kinney Natatorium, including the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 20-23, will help with their development.
"We're fortunate to have an awesome facility," Schinnerer said. "Whenever we can race in our home pool, it's a great opportunity to swim fast. This is a year where we host the conference championships so all of our Patriot League duals are home. Then, because of some quirks in our schedule, we have a few more home duals. So it's one giant home stand this year. Being at home makes for a bit of a more controlled environment, which will help the younger athletes develop."
Below is a stroke group by stroke group breakdown of the 2018-19 Bison.
IM
Despite Devlin's loss, Schinnerer believes that IM will remain one of Bucknell's strongest events. The Bison return junior Matt McGoey, who captured Second Team All-Patriot League laurels after scoring 39 points at the 2018 Patriot League Championships.
McGoey became the first Bison to clear 1:48.00 in the 200 IM at that meet, placing fourth behind a time of 1:47.84. He also took fourth in the 400 IM by clocking Bucknell's fourth-fastest time (3:52.96).
"Matt swims basically everything under the sun," Schinnerer said, with a laugh. "Any category we talk about, he has the ability to have an impact. He does everything and anything for us; it's the nature of being a good IMer."
McGoey, who owns Bucknell's fourth-fastest time in the 200 butterfly (1:49.38), eighth-fastest times in the 100 backstroke (50.44) and 200 backstroke (1:49.75) and 10th-fastest time in the 100 butterfly (49.91), has also twice scored in the 200 butterfly at the Patriot League Championships. Schinnerer fully expects McGoey to contribute in every stroke group this season, not just the IM.
Behind McGoey, senior Mitch Buccalo, sophomore Matt Rakovec and freshmen Sean Quinn and Carter Weiland will also make an impact in IM events over the course of the season.
Freestyle
Schinnerer is confident with Bucknell's depth at freestyle. Leading the young, talented group are seniors Charlie McFarland and Vince Filippini.
"In the sprint freestyle events, we're excited to see what Charlie can do as a senior," Schinnerer said. "He's been a consistent point scorer at the Patriot League Championships, and we believe he can take a step up this year. As for Vince, he has the potential to put together a great senior year and become an even bigger contributor than he was a year ago."
McFarland, who owns the program's fifth-best time in the 50 freestyle (20.47) and sixth-best time in the 100 freestyle (45.34), has scored 50 career points at the Patriot League Championships. Beyond McFarland, Schinnerer expects sophomore Kevin Adams-Mardi and freshman Liam Pitt to contribute in the sprint freestyle events.
Filippini, who boasts the team's eighth-best time in the 200 freestyle (1:39.26), will likely be joined in the middle-distance events by senior Jack Rogers and sophomore Nate Romanowski.
In the distance events, the Bison return sophomores Mitch Gavars and Matt Rakovec, who were championship finalists in the 1,650 freestyle and scored in the 500 freestyle at the 2018 Patriot League Championships; each also ended his freshman campaign ranked in Bucknell's top 10 in the 1,000 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle. Gavars and Rakovec will be pushed by talented freshmen Quinn and Weiland.
"We have a strong core of young distance freestylers," Schinnerer said. "Mitch and Matt are obviously very talented, given the freshman year they both had. Sean and Quinn have the ability to contribute right away and will really bolster our distance group."
Backstroke
With Devlin's loss, Bucknell will lean heavily on underclassmen in the backstroke events. Â
"Chris was our stalwart at backstroke for four years," Schinnerer said. "We obviously don't replace him one for one. In our incoming freshman class, we emphasized the backstroke. So, this year, we'll have four or five young guys who contribute. It's a developmental group, but I mean that in a positive way."
The Bison return sophomores Kevin Flynn and Jacob Lubinski, who scored in the 200 backstroke and the 100 backstroke respectively at the 2018 Patriot League Championships. Behind them, Schinnerer expects freshmen Nick Haddad, Sam Miller, Jack Rose and Sam Sweeney to contribute right away.
"Kevin and Jacob showed promise as freshmen, and they'll look to build on what they've already accomplished," Schinnerer said. "Our four freshmen have a good deal of potential. They'll have a lot of learning to do, but I believe they will be able to step up and do well. By the end of the season, we should see some serious improvements from the whole group."
Breaststroke
At breaststroke, the Bison return a school record holder in senior Chadd Cummings. As a sophomore, he set the program standard in the 100 breaststroke (54.65) and clocked Bucknell's second-fastest time in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.19) at the Patriot League Championships. Over the course of his stalwart career, he has scored 76 points at the Patriot League Championships, each year exceeding 20; he has placed as high as fifth in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.
"Chadd has the potential to end his career with an exclamation mark," Schinnerer said. "As a school record holder, he's going to continue to anchor our breaststroke group. In the Patriot League, there have been a couple of outstanding breaststrokers during Chadd's time in our program, most notably Ben Cono from Loyola. Ben was in a league of his own in the 100 breaststroke. His graduation opens up some interesting opportunities for Chadd. It will be exciting to see what he can do with them."
Another senior, Tom Gannon, figures to be a key contributor during the 2018-19 campaign. Gannon, who owns Bucknell's 10th-fastest times in the 100 breaststroke (56.80) and 200 breaststroke (2:03.23), won the consolation final in the 100 breaststroke and also scored in the 200 breaststroke at the 2018 Patriot League Championships.
"Tom had a great junior year and is looking to end his career on a high note," Schinnerer said. "He and Chadd together provide great leadership and talent to our breaststroke group."
Beyond Cummings and Gannon, Schinnerer expects Nico Pagni to build on his solid freshman year.
Butterfly
Schinnerer is confident in his group of swimmers who compete in the 200 butterfly. Beyond McGoey, a two-time point scorer in this event at the Patriot League Championships, the Bison return Buccalo, Lubinski and junior Michael Park.
At the 2018 Patriot League Championships, the trio combined to score 21 points in the 200 butterfly, with Buccalo finishing eighth, McGoey winning the consolation final and Lubinski placing 16th. To reach the championship finals, Buccalo clocked Bucknell's third-fastest time (1:49.31) during the preliminaries.
"In the 200 butterfly, we have some great depth and strength," Schinnerer said. "Matt and Mitch have set the pace for us, and Jacob has the potential to take a big step forward as a sophomore."
Schinnerer admits that the Bison need to improve in the 100 butterfly this season.
"In the 100 butterfly, we haven't had a point scorer at the Patriot League Championships the past couple of years," Schinnerer said. "Jacob was strong last year, but that's going to be a place where we're going to need people to step up and develop."
Diving
As a freshman, Garrett Sommer posted Bucknell's seventh-best 1-meter dive score (259.73) and eighth-best 3-meter dive mark (249.08). Over the course of the season, he scored three victories and four runner-up finishes; he went on to register 18 points at the Patriot League Championships behind an eighth-place finish in the 1-meter dive and 10th-place showing in the 3-meter dive.
"Garrett had a really strong freshman campaign," Schinnerer said. "He was a championship finalist at the Patriot League Championships, and he's going to continue to develop and build off that year."
Freshman Will Cadwallader, a USA Diving Zones qualifier, will provide needed depth on both boards.
Relays
One place where Devlin's loss will be felt the most will be in the relays. Beyond his individual success, he was a member of a staggering 16 relays with top-10 times, including the record-holding 200 medley, 400 medley, 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle relay squads.
Bucknell does return a number of swimmers with relay experience, including Adams-Mardi, Cummings, Gavars, Lubinski, McFarland and McGoey. But Schinnerer said that many spots remain up for grabs entering the season.
"It'll be interesting to see how our relays evolve," Schinnerer said. "We had a stretch where a lot of pieces were just givens. With some of the graduations we've had, we have only two out of the four spots returning in a lot of cases. Right now, it's not obvious who will fill in those other spots. So we're going to see how they take shape over the course of the year. By the end of the year, I think all of our relays will be strong."
Players Mentioned
