Men still in second, women stuck in sixth on Day Three :: Kundzik, Jordan big winners for the Bonnies

Feb. 22, 2008

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The men's swimmers and divers bolstered their second place spot over third-place Duquesne, while the women's team couldn't gain ground on day three of the Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday evening.

After the third day of competition, the University of Richmond women continue to dominate the field with 465 points. Xavier is in a distant second (331), followed by Duquesne in third (304). Fordham (273) moved into fourth place, while Massachusetts (271) dropped to fifth. Despite improving their point total to over 200 total points, the Bona women remain in sixth place (222). La Salle (160), Rhode Island (158), George Washington (136) and St. Louis (133) rounded out the standings, taking places seven through ten.

On the women's side, senior Anneli Johnson denied Richmond junior Lauren Beaudreu her third-consecutive win in the 100-yard breaststroke by winning with a time of 1:03.47. Not only did Johnson set a school record, she swam fast enough to make the NCAA consideration (B) qualifying time. In the same event, junior Kaitlyn Heller finished in eighth-place with a personal best time of 1:06.74.

The Bona women continued to set their best times of the season on the evening. Sophomore Kara Small picked up her second seventh-place finish in two days, swimming a team season-best time of 4:38.35 in the 400-yard IM final. In the consolation finals of the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Allison Smith grabbed silver with a time of 1:53.94, setting the team's best time in that event this season.

Later, freshman Kathryne Valentine took eighth place in the 100-yard backstroke final, touching for a time of 58.24, eclipsing her team and personal best time of 59.42.

The women's 400-yard relay team of Valentine, Johnson, Smith, and junior Allison Whalen produced a fourth-place finish with a time of 3:52.34, the team's fastest time this year.

In men's action, freshman David Kundzik nearly set an Atlantic 10 record in the 100-yard butterfly final. Kundzik cruised to a first-place tie with Massachusetts junior Nate Bromage with a time of 48.88. Junior Pat Henahan garnered the fifth spot in the final, posting a time of 50.80.

Senior Scott Jordan added another win to the Brown and White's success. Jordan surged to gold for the third-consecutive year in the 100-yard breaststroke final with a time of 56.63, the team's top time this season. Freshman Kevin Murphy notched a sixth place finish in the same event, recording a time of 57.85.

In the 200-yard freestyle consolation final, Roman Margulis recorded a gold finish. The senior leader captured a winning time of 1:40.65, breaking his team season-best time by more than four seconds. In the 400-yard IM final, sophomore Mariusz Michalik nabbed fourth place, breaking his own team-season best time with a finish of 4:04.40. In the same race, senior James Wood provided support, recording a time of 4:09.33 for seventh place.

In the meet's last event, the men's 400-yard medley team took bronze (3:25.15) behind Henahan, Jordan, Kundzik and freshman Chris Baker. In three-meter diving, the men's divers took three spots in the event's top eight. Junior Jonathan Larson led the way, finishing fourth with 592.40 points. Coming off a fourth place finish on day one, senior CJ Maurer took over the sixth spot in day three's dive with 529.05 points. Junior Ryan Pietrzak secured the eighth spot by putting up 490.45 points.

At the close of day three, the Massachusetts Minutemen hold first place with 577.5 points. St. Bonaventure (421.5) is more than 100 points ahead of third-place Duquesne (292). The Xavier Musketeers (282.5) and the Fordham Rams (259) kept their positions at fourth and fifth, respectively. La Salle (243) is in sixth place, Rhode Island (205.5) is in seventh, St. Louis (152) occupies the eighth spot and George Washington (133) remains in ninth.

Both the men and women's teams will return to the Flickinger Center on Saturday for the final day of competition. As always, preliminaries begin at 10:30 a.m. and finals are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Comprehensive coverage as well as live streaming video of tomorrow's events can be found online at www.atlantic10.org.