Men swimmers hold fast to second

Feb. 20, 2009

Results

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The men's swimmers and divers gained some breathing room over third place Xavier, but slipped further from overall leader Massachusetts as the third day of competition concluded at the Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships Friday at the Flickinger Center.

In the 400-yard IM, junior Mariusz Michalik finished fourth overall with a time of 4:01.04. Sophomore Hunter Basketville and Freshman Yi Liu finished fifteenth and eleventh overall, respectively, in the event.

With three competitors in the 100-yard butterfly championship bracket, Bonas was poised to cut into the Minutemen lead. Sophomore David Kundzik built on an already impressive conference performance by taking silver with a time of 49.47. Seniors Pat Henahan and Chris Happel finished fifth (50.14) and sixth (50.30), respectively, for Bonas.

Next up in the 200-yard freestyle, freshman Mike Dansa placed sixth overall (1:40.91) while sophomores Chris Baker (1:42.13) and Jared Robinson (1:43.99) and freshmen Clayton Coleman (1:47.27) and Francisco Nieves (1:44.63) all placed in the consolation bracket to continue the team's push.

Sophomore Kevin Murphy, the lone Bona swimmer in the 100-yard breaststroke final, made the team's lone representation count, placing second with a time of 56.11. In the final individual race of the evening, freshman Peter Koenig touched in eighth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.86.

The Bona 400-yard medley relay team of Henahan, Murphy, Kundzik and Koenig ended the night with a bronze in a time of 3:21.03, breaking the ten-year school record of 3:21.38.

The Minutemen continue to lead on the men's side with a total of 453.5 points, 88.5 points ahead of second place St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies sit with 365 points in second place. Rounding out the rest of the men's standings are Xavier (310), Duquesne (302), Fordham (253.5), La Salle (214), George Washington (212) and Saint Louis (207).

The men's teams will return to the Flickinger Center on Saturday for the final day of competition. Preliminaries begin at 10:30 a.m. and finals are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. as Bonas make its final push.