Men’s swimming and diving springboards into 2011-12 season

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's swimming and diving team returns to the pool to open the 2011-12 season Saturday at the WNY Invitational.

The Bonnies will battle local western New York rivals Canisius College, Niagara University and the University at Buffalo, in addition to Binghamton University.

The meet will kick off with swimming and diving at 10 a.m., and following a brief intermission will resume at 3 p.m.

Last season at the WNY Invite, James Martin came in second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:45.82.

The club enters the 2011-12 campaign coming off its fifth straight second-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championships. The squad returns 17 members from last season and welcomes six freshmen.

The men commence the season after finishing last year ranked No. 23 in the CollegeSwimming.com/College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Mid-Major Division I poll.

Junior Mike Murphy returns looking to continue his dominance on the diving board. Last season, Murphy scored a St. Bonaventure meet record 340.28 points in the 3-meter dive against Penn State, and at the A-10 Championships he placed first in the 1-meter with a combined score of 300.60. He also earned a spot on the A-10 First-Team All-Conference for the 1-meter dive.

Following the WNY invite, the Brown and White returns to action when it opens the home portion of its schedule against Pittsburgh on Oct. 22.