LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania, October 6. THE Bucknell men and women's swimming and diving teams opened their 2007-08 season with strong performances at a non-scored dual meet against UMBC in Kinney Natatorium.
For the men, senior Joseph Metcalf (Knoxville, Tenn./Phillips Exeter Academy (N.H.)) won all three breastroke events. Metcalf took first in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 27.58, posted the top time of one minute, 0.30 seconds in the 100 breast and finished the 200 in 2:13.81 to claim victory in that event as well. Metcalf was also a part of the winning Bison 400 medley relay along with junior Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area), freshman Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and senior John Peterman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) as the team combined for a time of 3:34.46.
Senior Grant Steadman (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) was a double-winner on the afternoon, claiming the fastest times in the both the 50 free (21.85) and the 100 free (48.03). Junior Jeffrey Manning (Bringhurst, Ind./Carroll Jr./Sr. High) swept the diving events, taking first with a mark of 216.82 on the one-meter board and posting the top score of 249.37 in the three-meter competition.
Two additional members of the Orange and Blue recorded first-place finishes with Kawczenski winning the 50 back in 24.50 and sophomore Daniel Fletcher taking first in the second running of the 200 free with a time of 1:47.23. In the earlier running of the event, sophomore Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse) finished as the runner-up with a time of 1:45.77, while classmate Ben Leboza (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) followed in third (1:47.74).
Trafton recorded two additional top-three finishes on the day, placing second in the 500 free in 4:46.81 and third in the 1000 free with a time of 9:55.20.
Freshman Gonzalo DeLeon (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) took second both the 100 and 200 back with times of 54.07 and 1:55.10, respectively. Right behind DeLeon in the 200 was sophomore David Iselin (Potomac, Md./Churchill) with a time of 2:00.07, claiming third.
Peterman was the runner-up in three freestyle events, going 22.08 in the 50, 48.59 in the 100 and 1:48.82 in the latter running of the 200.
Other top Bison performances included Volpe's runner-up showing in the 100 fly (53.42) and third-place finish in the 50 fly (23.35), senior Bradford Bennett's (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) second-place time of 27.67 in the 50 breast and junior Steven Schmaltz's (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights) score of 213.97 in one-meter diving, good for second in the event.
On the women's side, sophomores Abigail Atkinson (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) and Megan Mongan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) were both double-winners for the Bison. Atkinson claimed the top spots in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke with times of one minute, 1.16 seconds, and 2:09.77, respectively, while Mongan won the 100 IM in 1:01.68 and the 200 IM in 2:11.51. Atkinson was the runner-up in the 50 back as well, with a time of 28.95.
In front of Atkinson in the 50 back was sophomore Courtney Warren (Montour Falls, N.Y./Watkins Glen) who won the event with a time of 28.51 and took second in the 100 back, reaching the wall in 1:01.53.
Senior Kristen Skroski (North Haven, Conn./Hopkins) was victorious in the first session of the 200 free, an event which was run twice in the meet, with a time of 1:57.83, and was the runner-up in both the 500 free (5:12.06) and the 1,000 free (10:42.50).
In her first collegiate meet, freshman Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) broke into Bucknell's record book as she posted a time of 24.52 in the 50 free to win the event and move into 10th in program history. Goebel also took third in the 100 free with a time of 54.83.
Two more freshmen performed well across several events in their college debuts as Macey Keath (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) was the runner-up in the 400 IM (4:44.43) and finished third in both the 100 IM (1:04.31) and the 200 IM (2:15.32). Katie John (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) collected three third-place showings on the afternoon, which came in the 200 free (2:00.42), the 500 free (5:18.52) and the 1,000 free (10:54.69).
Sophomore Sarah Pease (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin Senior High) placed in the top three across all three butterfly events, taking second in the 50 (27.82) and third in both the 100 (1:01.12) and the 200 (2:14.85).
On the boards, sophomore Rebecca Bersani (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) led the Bucknell contingent, claiming the runner-up spot in both one-meter and three-meter diving, with scores of 212.70 and 219.60, respectively.
In the relays, the Orange and Blue recorded one first-place finish as Mongan, Skroski, John and junior Susan Horstmann (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) teamed to post the winning time of 3:39.09.
Other top performances of the day included sophomore Abigail Paules (York, Pa./Baltimore Lutheran) taking the runner-up spot in the 200 back (2:13.31) and junior Kelly Morris (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) finishing second in the 50 breast (31.47).
Special thanks to Bucknell for contrbuting this report