Nicholson, Treat Earn Silver Medals to Help Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving Stay Second at PL Championships - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Nicholson, Treat Earn Silver Medals to Help Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving Stay Second at PL Championships

11 New Program Top-10 Marks Set

Mike Nicholson

Feb. 17, 2012

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two was the number of the day Friday at the Patriot League Championships for the Bucknell men's swimming and diving team. Sophomore Mike Nicholson (400 IM) and junior Christian Treat (100 breast) both earned silver medals in individual events, the 200 medley and 800 free relays posted second-place finishes and three other Bison recorded the second-best time in program history in three separate events.

Bucknell, which has finished second in the team standings at three of the last four Patriot League Championships, once again stands second to host Navy. The Bison have 438.5 points, nearly 100 more than third-place Army. The Mids lead the way with 677.5 points.

Nicholson, who finished second in the 200 IM on Thursday, was aiming for his second consecutive gold medal in the 400 IM, but he had to settle for second place after winning the prelims in an NCAA "B" cut time. He was one of three Bison to finish in the top six of the event, and one of six overall who scored. Billy Krause placed fifth, while freshman Erik Heinemann touched the wall sixth. His time of 4 minutes, 2.22 seconds moved him up from ninth to fifth on the program's all-time list.

Treat led the way for three Bison in the "A" final of the 100 breast as he recorded his second straight top-five finish in the event. He finished just .30 behind Navy's Sean Murphy after being listed 1.32 behind in the prelims. Treat's finals time of 56.00 was .36 faster than his previous best and kept him No. 2 on the program's all-time list.

Treat, Taylor Harris and Thomas Brown each solidified himself among the program's all-time best by recording the second-best time in school history in an event on Friday. Treat entered the day second on the 100 breast list and remained there, drawing to within .24 seconds of Michael Guskey's record. Harris trimmed 1.01 seconds off his best in the 100 fly and jumped from No. 8 to No. 2 and is just .15 shy of Hall of Famer Jim Harvey's record of 49.22. Brown improved upon his No. 2 time in the 100 back as he shaved .08 seconds off his previous best and became just the second swimmer in program history to break 50.00 seconds (49.96).

Brown and Harris led the way for the Bison in the 100 back as Brown touched the wall fourth, one spot ahead of Harris, who was Bucknell's top finisher in the 100 fly. Brown now has four career top-five finishes in his Patriot League career, while Harris posted his third and fourth top-seven finishes.

Gonzalo DeLeon and Bryce Suchomel joined Brown and Harris by scoring in the 100 back, while Suchomel and Trevor Reitz scored in the 100 fly. Suchomel's time of 50.63 in the 100 fly ranks 10th in school history, while DeLeon dropped .32 seconds off his previous best in the 100 back to remain seventh on that ledger.

Seniors Matthew Segar and Eric Sokolosky earned valuable points for Bucknell in the 200 free. Segar, who finished fourth in the 500 free on Thursday, placed third, while Sokolosky touched the wall sixth. Segar's time of 1:38.19 was the second-fastest in program annals, behind only his own school record (1:38.13) at last year's ECAC Championships.

Both Bison relays on Friday had tremendous success, especially the 800 free relay of Brown, Segar, Treat and Sokolosky. That quartet set a new school record (6:39.79) in the event, trimming more than two seconds off the previous mark. Brown swam a 1:41.35 first leg to rank ninth on the all-time list in that event.

Sokolosky and Treat teamed with Harris and Reitz to post the third-best time in program history in the 200 medley relay (1:31.40).

The three-day Patriot League Championships will wrap up Saturday. Prelims begin at 10:30 a.m., while the finals are slated for 6 p.m.

Team Scores
1. Navy - 677.5
2. Bucknell - 438.5
3. Army - 341.5
4. Lehigh - 291
5. American - 179.5
6. Colgate - 164
7. Lafayette - 129
8. Holy Cross - 96

New Top-10 Times
400 IM (5. Erik Heinemann - 4:02.22)
100 fly (2. Taylor Harris - 49.37; 10. Bryce Suchomel - 50.63)
100 breast (2. Christian Treat - 56.00; 7. Ben Seketa - 56.74)
100 back (2. Thomas Brown - 49.96; 4. Taylor Harris - 50.39; 7. Gonzalo DeLeon - 50.69)
200 free (9. Thomas Brown - 1:41.35 (part of relay))
200 medley relay (3. Harris, Treat, Reitz, Sokolosky - 1:31.40)
800 free relay (1. Brown, Segar, Treat, Sokolosky - 6:39.79)