Bryant Men Defeat Boston College for the First Time in Program History

BRYANT VS BOSTON COLLEGE

  • Friday, October 6
  • Chace Athletic Center Pool
  • Smithfield, RI
  • Full Results

For the first time in program history, the Bryant Bulldog men’s swimming & diving team beat Boston College in a dual on Friday, October 6th.

Bryant got off to a strong start with a win in the 200 medley relay, then went three straight individual events without finding a win. Finally, Benjamin Schulte came through with a 57.72 100 breaststroke win, as Bryant went 1-3 in that event and Schulte broke the pool record. The Bulldogs continued to roll into the diving break, with Matthew Mays posting a pool record 1:52.94 200 fly win and Andrew Allen squeaking out a 22.01 to take the 50 free over BC’s Kevin Chandra (22.15).

Mays came up big in his two other individual events, earning clutch victories in the 200 back (1:54.63) and 100 fly (51.04), leading a Bryant 1-2-3 sweep in the latter. Schulte also doubled up with another win in the 200 breast (2:09.81), and Robert Davis contributed a win in the 500 free (4:50.96). In the final 400 free relay, Mays put down a 47.22 anchor leg to lift Bryant over BC, 3:12.93 to 3:13.14.

This is BC’s first full season under head coach Michael Stephens, who stepped in last semester after Tom Groden resigned mid-year following 45 years at the helm of the program.

PRESS RELEASE – BRYANT:

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men’s swimming and diving team took down Boston College in their season-opening meet on Friday night 161-137 at the Chace Athletic Center Pool.

Coach Cameron’s Comments

“I was obviously extremely happy. I was very proud of them. It was a big team effort. They came in with a high energy. That relay win really set the tempo and they ran with it all the way to the end.”

Key Moment

  • In an already-tight meet, the Bulldogs were able to seize all of the momentum in the Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly, the third-to-last event of the night. Matthew Mays (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) was able to secure the victory, but Cyrus Nabavi (Murray, Ky.) and Zach Digiaro (Middletown, N.J.) came in second and third in the race, giving the Bulldogs 16 of the available 19 points in the race.

How the Swimmers Did

  • The Bulldogs won nine of the 16 races on the night, including five of the last seven races, to give them the victory.
  • Ben Schulte (Tumon, Guam) won three of his four races tonight and added a second-place finish in his final event of the night.
  • Mays won the other three of his races on the night for a perfect 4-for-4 outing in his debut in the Black and Gold.
  • Andrew Allen (Bedford, N.H.) added an individual victory and played a part in two relay wins for Bryant.
  • Colin Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.) was also a part of two Bulldog relay victories.

How the Divers Did

  • Trevor Hazlewood (Corpus Christi, Texas) started with a bang in the Black and Gold, breaking the school 3-meter record by recording a score of 299.25.
  • Hazlewood also took home a victory in the 1-meter diving event, winning with a score of 272.40.
  • Kevin Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn.) finished in second in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter to add to the Bulldogs’ point haul.

Stats and Notables

  • The Bulldogs beat Boston College for the first time in program history. The meet was the 10th all-time meeting between the schools.
  • Bryant won the 200 Medley Relay, traditionally the first event of the night, for the first time since 2012.
  • Schulte has now won seven of his last eight races against the Eagles.
  • Both Mays and Schulte broke a pool record tonight. Mays wrote his name in the record books in the 200 fly, while Schulte broke the 100 breast pool record.

Up Next

The Bulldogs host Bucknell next Friday night at the Chace Athletic Center Pool. The first race begins at 6:00 p.m.

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Swimmer86
6 years ago

BC was also shorthanded without their top sprinter and top two flyers

DIIIer
6 years ago

This was incredibly slow. Both teams would have lost to the top half or more of the NESCAC not to mention every other D1 team in New England.

Brad Flood
Reply to  DIIIer
6 years ago

Good thing they were swimming each other, which was the meet on both team’s schedules, and not some NESCAC or any other DI team in New England, eh.

The oint if your post is…..what?

DIIIer
Reply to  Brad Flood
6 years ago

My point was that this was embarrassingly slow for an ACC team and that it would not have been competitive with DIII teams let alone DI teams. I thought that was pretty clear but I guess not.

Brad Flood
Reply to  DIIIer
6 years ago

No, that’s what your post “said”. The question about the “point” has to do with the “intent” of what you “said”….which seems to be to disparage the efforts of a number of NCAA swimming student-athletes, for no other reason than they are not as talented as other’s in the region, or conference.

These kids put in the same time, effort and commitment as most any other NCAA swimming student-athletes. Let’s celebrate THAT and not publicly demean them because they aren’t blessed with the talent of others.

Get my “point”?

Brad Flood
Reply to  DIIIer
6 years ago

point

Interesting
6 years ago

Interesting to see Bryant go near lifetime bests and some of the best dual meet times they’ve ever gone at a meet in October.

Oh my
6 years ago

It’s because the new BC Coach is actually working them instead of letting them mess around all season and suit up for taper meets

Markster
Reply to  Oh my
6 years ago

Did Bryant suit up?

North East
Reply to  Markster
6 years ago

I highly doubt they suited up, why in the world would they? I think the point is that BC is not fast, yet, because they want to be prepared to do well in the big meets, unlike in season’s past where they didn’t. Therefore, their first month was very intense training and the loss reflects their lack of rest. Bryant just has some new talent (ex. Mays) that came up big, and having off-site diving for the first time in their home meets probably helped with the score too.

Coach
Reply to  Markster
6 years ago

No they did not. And they had had a hard week of training going into the meet.

About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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