Bucknell Swimming and Diving Sees Individual Success on Day Two of Big Al Open - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Bucknell Swimming and Diving Sees Individual Success on Day Two of Big Al Open

Bison Women Post Three Top-10 Times

Sophomore Abigail Atkinson set a Bucknell top-10 time in the 100 back and helped post another in the 800 free relay on Saturday at the Big Al Open.

Dec. 1, 2007

Results

PRINCETON, N.J. - The Bucknell swimming and diving teams continued their weekend at Princeton's Big Al Open on Saturday, seeing individual success on day two of the three-day meet as junior Mark Kawczenski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area) qualified for the "A" final in the 100-yard backstroke to lead the Bison men and three program top-10 marks were set by the Bison women. In the team standings for the men, Bucknell is currently seventh out of eight schools with 76 points and on the women's side the Bison are 10th out of 11 squads with 52 points. Penn State sits first in the scoring for both the men and the women with 691.5 points and 756 points, respectively.

Kawczenski finished fifth in the 100 back with a time of 51.80 seconds, while sophomore Daniel Fletcher (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) qualified for the "B" final and placed 15th with a time of 53.66.

Sophomore Luke Trafton (Bath, Maine/Morse) made the "B" final in two events, taking 13th in the 400 IM with a time of 4:07.73 and posting a time of 1:44.82 in the 200 free to finish 16th. Ben Leboza (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) also advanced to the finals in the 200 free and placed 22nd in 1:45.29.

Senior Joseph Metcalf (Knoxville, Tenn./Phillips Exeter Academy (N.H.)) captured 11th in the 100 breast with a time of 59.57 and freshman Michael Volpe (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) swam the 100 fly in 52.37 to place 22nd, competing in the "C" final.

On the women's side, sophomore Courtney Warren (Montour Falls, N.Y./Watkins Glen) qualified for the "B" final in the 100 back, taking 14th in 58.48. Sophomore Abigail Atkinson (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) was a finalist in the event as well. She finished 20th (59.50) after posting a career-best time of 59.20 in the preliminaries to move up to eighth in the Bison record book.

Two members of the Orange and Blue made the finals in the 100 breast. Junior Kelly Morris (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) placed 14th and freshman Macey Keath (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) came in 24th with times of 1:06.74 and 1:08.79, respectively. Keath also qualified for the "C" final in the 400 IM, placing 22nd with a time of 4:37.79.

Senior Kristen Skroski (North Haven, Conn./Hopkins) posted a career-best mark of 1:53.23 in the 200 free, the fourth-fastest time in Bucknell history, which was good for 19th in the meet.

The women's 800 free relay squad of freshman Molly Goebel (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan), Skroski, junior Susan Horstmann (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and Atkinson placed ninth, combining for a time of 7:45.80 that ranks seventh on the program's top-10 list.

The men's 800 free relay team of Fletcher, Trafton, Leboza and Metcalf finished eighth in 7:04.75.

The Bison close out their weekend at the Princeton Big Al Open tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 2, beginning with preliminaries at 10 a.m.