Category: Swimming & Diving

Devan Schulte

Staff Writer

The men’s swimming and diving team successfully sank American, Lafayette, and top-ranked Navy on Nov. 9 at Kinney Natatorium to boost the team’s record to 4-1 overall (3-0 PL). Mike Nicholson ’14 and Louis Behnen ’17 both captured multiple wins to help the Bison hand Navy its first loss since becoming a member of the Patriot League 10 years ago.

The Orange and Blue racked up points from the start of the meet, taking nine first-place finishes to outshine Navy’s seven. Behnen secured the 1000 free and the 200 back, gaining himself a spot in the school’s record books with times of 9:32.41 and 1:51.60, respectively.

“Winning the 1000 was a good way to start off the meet. It built the momentum that carried throughout the meet and eventually allowed us to win,” Behnen said.

Nicholson maintained this momentum, capturing first-place finishes in the 200 IM, 200 fly and 200 breast. Steve Grune ’16, Jack Robinson ’17, and Ben Seketa ’15 finished first for the 50 free, 100 back, and 100 breast, respectively. Despite the caliber with which the team swam, the key to winning did not rest solely on the shoulders of these first-place victories. The rest of the Bison team captured a multitude of points with many second and third-place finishes as well.

“Our team energy is what made me successful. Everyone was positive, encouraging, and loud for every race throughout the meet. However, a big team goal of ours is to improve that energy on the pool deck every meet. We want to keep our energy up for every race throughout the meet no matter what,” Grune said.

Divers Tyler Wenzel ’16 and Patrick Alvermann ’16 utilized the team’s energy on the diving boards, with Wenzel competing in the one-meter and Alvermann in the three-meter event. Both secured points for the Orange and Blue through third and fourth-place finishes, respectively.

The Bison ended the day outscoring both American and Lafayette by at least 200 points each, and secured a hard-fought victory over Navy 152-148, marking the Midshipmen’s first loss in the 11-meet series between the two teams.

“We just need to carry this momentum through the rest of the season. We have a chance to have one of the best seasons in Bucknell swimming, and if everyone can continue swimming like we did on Saturday, then the future looks good,” Chris Ortiz ’16 said.

The Bison will return to the pool on Nov. 22 to host the three-day Bucknell Invitational.

Lauren Boone

Sports Editor

The men’s swimming and diving team won 165-91 in its first scored meet of the season against George Washington on Oct. 19. Louis Behnen ’17 led the Bison, winning three events. Teammate Mike Nicholson ’14 supported Behnen’s lead, claiming two more first-place finishes for the Orange and Blue.

The team claimed first place in every event during the meet. Eight Bison claimed individual titles, showing their strength across the board.

“GW is a competitive team, so to be able to win all 16 events against them was a real accomplishment,” Nicholson said. “We saw some of the younger guys really step up in some big spots and put up impressive times for this early in the season.” 

Behnen played a particularly strong role for the team, winning the 200 back, 500 free, and 1,000 free. He swam a time of 9:36.33 in the 1,000 freestyle, the third best time in program history. Behnen touched the wall a solid 16 seconds before the second-place finisher.

“I was more focused on race strategy and pace during this meet than my end time, because that’s the most important thing to focus on this early in the season,” Behnen said. “Other members of the team also stepped up and did well when we needed points.”

Nicholson also contributed to the Bison victory, claiming first in both the 200 fly and the 200 breast. Among the other first-place finishers were Chris Ortiz ’16 (200 free), Will Rappaport ’16 (100 back), Ben Seketa ’15 (100 breast), Steve Grune ’16 (50 free), Trevor Reitz ’14 (100 free), and Erik Heinemann ’15 (100 fly). The Orange and Blue also performed well in the relay events. 

“Our relays are showing a lot of depth which gives us some much needed flexibility for the dual meet season,” Nicholson said. “We also showed a lot of strength in the backstroke events, which has been a weak point for us in the past. While we are happy with our results, we’ve quickly moved on to focusing on our next meet this weekend against Pittsburgh. It’s our first meet against an ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference] team in a long time, which, in addition to being homecoming weekend, should be a great environment for us to really measure ourselves against top competition in an exciting environment.”

The Bison will return to the lanes of the Kinney Natatorium tomorrow at 1 p.m. where they will host Pittsburgh.

Emily Evancho

Contributing Writer

At the men’s swimming and diving meet, both teams brought home the gold for the Orange and the Blue with a victory of 175-118 over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Orange and the Blue also celebrated Senior Day by honoring the five senior men.

Among the most impressive competitors for the Bison was Ben Seketa ’15, who won first in the 100 breast and 200 breast, marking his third time championing in both events. Tim Perley ’15 and Sam Mackie ’16 also claimed top spots in both events. Mike Nicholson ’14 came in first for both the 100 fly and 200 fly. Will Rappaport ’16 continued to excel for the Bison as the first place finisher in both the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke.

“I think we dominated from beginning to end and were able to improve from our previous meet against Army,” Perley said.

The Bison diving team also performed well, with Tyler Wenzel ’16 claiming his own victory in the one-meter. Wenzel also took second off the three-meter.

“I was happy with how I dove, but there are still personal improvements to be made on the three-meter board,” Wenzel said. “I feel the team came together and performed well overall to show that we are where we need to be going into the post season.”

The Bison look to continue their winning ways Saturday at the Bison Invite.

Cooper Mead

Writer

The men’s swimming team finished third in the Bucknell Invitational in Kinney Natatorium on Nov. 16-18. The team was led by Mike Nicholson ’14, who won the 200 breast with a time of 2:01.71, which tallied second in Bison Swimming history.

Nicholson finished in one of the top three positions four times during the meet, as he also won the 400 IM, and placed third in the 200 fly and the 200 IM. Trevor Reitz ’14 also had a good showing, coming in first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.30, and was joined by five other Bison who finished in the top 16. Reitz was the only Bison in the “A” final and also won the prelims.

“The invite represented a great opportunity for us to step up. A three-day meet like that is long, but as a team we swam hard and put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the year,” Reitz said.

In addition, Bison first-years had an impressive weekend as Will Rappaport ’16 placed seventh in the 200 back with a time that was only .05 seconds shy of tying the 10th best time in Bison Swimming history. Brian Phillips ’16 also placed ninth in the 1,650 free.

In the end, the Bison finished with a score of 1191, behind Yale with a score of 1550 and Delaware with a score of 1265.5. The Bison placed ahead of La Salle (793), Binghamton (747), Georgetown (619) and Fordham (608.5).

“The Bucknell Invitational was a very exciting meet for both the men’s and women’s sides,” Daniel Wallace ’14 said. “Many season-best times were posted and this sets us up well as we move into the second half of our season, especially with our Florida training trip only a few weeks away.”

The Bison will prepare to compete against Binghamton at home tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Scott Padula

Staff Writer

In the first home meet of the year, the Orange and Blue men’s swimming and diving team defeated Lafayette 186-112. The Bison dominated the meet throughout, winning 14 of a total 16 events. Further demonstrating their dominance, the Orange and Blue swept the Leopards, maintaining all three top spots in six different events. With the win, the Bison are now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League on the season.

“It did not take much for the team to be ready; all week we were itching to race. By the time it was the start of the meet, it was full force by the Bison. I think this speaks a lot to the coaching staff and the work we have put in so far. We are determined and we do not plan on changing our attitude moving forward,” Billy Krause ’13 said.

Leading the charge was Mike Nicholson ’14 who captured three individual victories on the day. Nicholson first won the 1,000 freestyle by 22.46 seconds before taking the 100 breast and 200 backstroke. In the latter two events, Nicholson set personal bests with times of 58.22 and 1:56.05, respectively. In 12 individual races on the season, Nicholson now has 10 victories and two second place finishes.

Joining Nicholson with multiple victories on the day were teammates Christian Treat ’13 and Matt Hadley ’14. Treat defeated his competition in the 200 freestyle and 200 IM, while Hadley swam to victory in the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle. Other Bison winners included Krause, Bryce Suchomel ’13, Trevor Reitz ’14, Chris Ortiz ’16 and Tyler Wenzel ’16.

“The Lafayette meet was a great indicator of our energy level and enthusiasm for this upcoming season. Our men have displayed a level of confidence that was invigorated by the large support of the Bison fans this past Saturday. This is what we need to build off of and is especially important when we are going into a stretch of the year that will be particularly tough,” Treat said.

The Orange and Blue will swim in the Kinney Natatorium again this weekend when they host the Bucknell Invitational Nov. 16-18.

Billy Tyler

Contributing writer

The men’s swimming and diving team saw career-best performances from Tyler Wenzel ’16 and Mike Nicholson ’14 this past weekend as the team split its double dual meet against American and Navy, beating American 196-98 while falling to Navy 187-108.

The diving competition on Nov. 2 featured very tough competition from both Navy and American. Stepping up to the challenge was Wenzel, who set school top marks on both the one meter and three meter boards. Wenzel came into the event knowing he, and the team as a whole, would need a solid performance to be competitive.

“I was nervous in the beginning, as Navy has a good reputation for their ability in water athletics,” Wenzel said.

He was able to shake off his nerves and delivered a career best score of 245.3 on the one meter-board, earning him the sixth best performance in the school’s history. This was followed up by a score of 245.55 on the three-meter board, gaining him third in the heat and seventh in the school’s records.

“I just did what I could within my ability and was given confidence by the support of my family and my two teammates, who both dove very well this weekend,” Wenzel said.

The swimmers, who competed on Nov. 3, were led by Nicholson, who won three out of the four individual events captured by the Bison. He finished first in the 200 breast, the 200 fly and the 200 IM by a combined total time of 5.06 seconds. The two-time All Patriot League swimmer was pleased not only with his performance, but also those of his teammates who stepped up to the tough competition, especially from Navy.

“We won four events and the events we didn’t win we managed to get to the wall ahead of some of their other guys, which was what we had to do to prevent them from running away with the meet,” Nicholson said.

The other individual win for the men’s swimming team was earned by Ben Seketa ’15. In addition to his victory in the 100 breast, Seketa finished fourth in the 200 breast and second only to Nicholson in the 200 IM. Some of the other top finishers for the Bison included Chris Ortiz ’16 (third in 100 free, fifth in 200 free and seventh in 50 free) and Brian Phillips ’16 (fifth in 1000 free and eighth in 500 free).

“We really emphasize making improvement from week to week and meet to meet at this point in the season and we definitely saw improvement in a number of areas from a number of people,” head coach Dan Schinnerer said.

The next time the Bison take the water will be at the team’s home invitational event on Nov. 16-18 in Kinney Natatorium.