Men's And Women's Swimming & Diving Both In Eighth Place At Atlantic 10 Championships

Feb. 18, 2005

BUFFALO, N.Y. - For the third consecutive night, 2004 defending champions Massachusetts and Richmond topped the leader board at the 2005 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships and the Flickinger Aquatic Center. The Minutemen finished with 510 points, while the Lady Spiders finished with 618 points.

St. Bonaventure finished in second place (423.5), La Salle in third (301), George Washington in fourth (253), followed by Fordham in fifth (241), Xavier in sixth (220), Duquesne in seventh (198), and Rhode Island in eighth (189.5).

Freshman John Stoneburner of Fordham grabbed the first gold medal of the night for the men, touching in a time of 4:00.02 in the 400-yard individual medley.

Rookie Roman Margulis captured St. Bonaventure's first individual gold of the competition with a 49.59 finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Junior Michal Bogacki made his way to the top of the podium with a win the 200-yard freestyle event in a time of 1:38.70, which was good enough to qualify him for the NCAA b-cut. For the second year in a row, junior Adrian Blaszczak won the 100-yard breaststroke event in 57.07.

Duquesne sophomore Scott Darwin won the 100-yard backstroke in 51.07.

In the last event of the night, the Bonnies 400-yard medley relay team of Blaszczak, Margulis, Bogacki and freshman Tommy Nowakowski teamed to capture a gold medal with a time of 3:21.95.

On the women's side, St. Bonaventure finished the night in second place (388), George Washington in third (328), the University of Massachusetts in fourth (276), followed by Xavier in fifth (240), Fordham in sixth (238), Duquesne in seventh (223), Rhode Island in eighth (158), and La Salle in ninth (94).

Senior Mary Adams won the first gold-medal of the night and her second individual gold of the competition in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:18.70, which qualified her for the NCAA B-cut. She went on to win the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.01. Lady Spider Brooke Boncher set a new pool record and qualified for the NCAA B-cut with a 53.91finish in the 100-yard butterfly.

After breaking an A-10 record in the preliminary 100-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:04.23, St. Bonaventure freshman Anneli Johnson went on to break her own record and qualify for the NCAA B-cut with a 1:03.68 finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Fordham senior Erike Newell won the 100-yard backstroke and set a pool record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.33.

The night ended with Richmond's 400-yard medley relay team of Adams, Boncher, sophomore Michelle Coombs, and freshman Anastasia Lau touching first in a time of 3:47.29 and setting a new A-10 record.

The women's portion of the diving competition concluded with George Washington senior Katura Horton-Perinchief winning on the three-meter boards with a score of 449.80.