LEWISBURG, Pa. -- A strong effort out of the gate put the Towson University men's swimming and diving team on top of the team standings at the Bucknell Invitational, leading by 76 over second place after the first day at Kinney Natatorium.
The Tigers posted 454 total points after 12 events, out-pacing host Bucknell University's 378 points. Rider University is in third with 308.5 points, followed by Davidson (253), NJIT (250) Fordham (185) and La Salle (150.5).
Towson set a program record out of the gate with the 200-yard freestyle win as the Tigers picked up wins in both relays.
How it Happened
- The Tigers started off on the right foot, winning the 200-yard freestyle relay by over a second with the combination of Brian Benzing, Trey Adkins, Michael Fazio and Ryan Baldino. The group clocked in at a school-record 1 minute, 18.96 seconds over Bucknell's time of 1:20.63.
- Opening the distance events, Ryan Bookstein finished fifth overall with a 4:38.62 in the 500-yard freestyle in the A Finals.
- The A Finals of the 200-yard IM saw a second-place finish from Brian Benzing, who touched less than a second from first place with a 1:49.00, just out-pacing Bucknell's John Gehrig at 1:49.01. Patrick Flint clocked a 1:51.22 for fourth place.
- Towson dominated the sprint event for the day, taking first, third and fifth. Baldino won the event with a 20.27, his first trip below 21 seconds this year. Fazio took third in 20.30 while Luke Schward nabbed fifth with a 20.72.
- It was a big day for junior diver Ajani Dorner, who not only won the 1-meter diving event, hitting a 307.45, but grabbing an NCAA Zone Diving spot as well. Dorner won the event by over seven points and improved his qualifying total by over 30 points.
- Towson finished the day as it began - winning a relay event. The Tigers dominated the 400-yard medley relay, winning with a 3:14.08, over four seconds ahead of second place (3:18.27). Evan Bota, Benzing, Nick McClure and Baldino got the job done for Towson, dropping eight seconds from seed time.
Up Next for Towson
- It's right back to Kinney Natatorium on Saturday for day two of the Bucknell Invitational.
- Action begins with preliminary swims at 10 a.m., followed by 6 p.m. finals heats.
- The meet can be followed live on the Meet Mobile app.
