WOMEN
The St. Bonaventure women’s swimming and diving team took home a well-deserved victory on Saturday, defeating the Niagara University Purple Eagles by a score of 126-62 at the Oxy Aquatic Center in Niagara, NY.
The Bonnies received a big day from sophomore Shannon Haberman who took first place in three events. The Brown and White also received help from Tanja Kirmse, Lauren Caldwell, and Elizabeth Malone with first place finishes in their respective events.
Haberman started out the day in the 1000 freestyle, finishing in first place at 10:38.50. Haberman would repeat her previous performance with a first place finish in the 200 freestyle, finishing the race at 1:59.51, almost 2 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. In her final event, Haberman finished the 100 freestyle in 56.12, just edging out her teammateMaggie Woods who came in at 56.65 for second place.
In the 200 IM, Tanja Kirmse earned a first place finish with a time of 2:15.70, followed by teammate Rachel Bull who finished with a time of 2:16.51, good for second place. Junior Lauren Caldwell continues an impressive season, finishing first in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.44. To conclude the individual events, Sophomore Elizabeth Malone finished first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:22.92.
The St. Bonaventure relay teams continue to perform well, receiving first place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay. The team of Kirmse, Bull, Anderson, and Dietrich finished the 200 free in 1:41.56 while the team of McCann, Courtney, Malone, and Dietrich finished the 200 medley relay in 1:52.80.
The Bonnies will return to the pool next Saturday (Feb. 1) when they travel to Penn State. The meet is set to start at 1:00 P.M.
MEN
St. Bonaventure’s men’s swimming and diving team bounce back from a tough home lost to Buffalo, defeating Niagara 145-86 at the Oxy Aquatic Center.
For the day, the Bonnies Captured eight first places finishes out of 14 events.
The Brown and White started the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Michael Pilyugin, Matthew Schutt, David Paccapaniccia and Viacheslav Shchukin finished with a time of 1:36.31.
Over the course of the season, senior leader, Jimmy Martin has been a key role in the Bonnies success. Martin had two individual first place finishes on the day in the 200 freestyle touching in at 1:46.23 and in the 100 breaststroke he had a time of 1:00.70.
Shchukin’s dominance at the 50 freestyle continues as he pulled out a first place finish with a time of 21.50 only .29 seconds faster than Niagara’s Robert Brown who touched in at 21.79.
Ripley Danner pulled out another close victory for the Bonnies in the 100 free coming in at 48.15, just a half second faster than the second place finisher. Danner also had a third place win in the 50 free with a time of 22.41.
St. Bonaventure’s, Alex Marra scored 247.05 points in the 1-meter diving event clinching a first place victory for Marra. He also took first in the 3-meter with a score of 236.48.
Throughout the season the Bonnies have had a lot of success in long distance events and this afternoon was no different. Mike Hartwell came in with a time of 4:56.53, which earned him first place points. In the 1000 free Gregg Byrne had a third place finish with a time of 9:57.90.
In the final event of the day, the 200 freestyle relay, St. Bonaventure came up victorious. A team of Shchukin, Danner, Alex Szakelyhidi, and Michael White finished with a time of 1:28.81.
The Bonnies will be in action next week on February 1 when they take on Pennsylvania State University and Towson at the McCoy Natatorium.
This release was provided to SwimSwam courtesy of St. Bonaventure Swimming and Diving.
