Men's Swimming & Diving Surges to Finish Second at Bucknell Open

Friday, December 4

Lewisburg, Pa.

11 a.m.

Columbia

Bucknell Invite

Powell Sets Two Pool Records, Pacing Men?s Swimming & Diving to Win Over Penn

Men's Swimming & Diving Surges to Finish Second at Bucknell Open

12/6/2009 11:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

By: Columbia University Athletics

NEW YORK – Heading into the last day of the Bucknell Open in Lewisburg, Pa., the Columbia men's swimming & diving team was in fourth overall, but the Lions surged to finish second behind Princeton, with 1,125.5 points. Host Bucknell finished third, followed by Brown and LaSalle.

Day One

The Lions opened the first day of championship-style competition with an eighth place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Joseph Jeffers, Mitchell Phillips, Johnny Bailey and Bruno Esquen completed the event in 1:28.21. Sophomore Alex Smith qualified for the finals of the 500 free, coming in seventh overall with a time of 4:45.96. First-year Sean MacKenzie took first in the second heat of finals, with a time of 4:44.54. And first-year Joseph Beutler also scored points for Columbia coming in 11th overall, with a time of 4:45.81. Senior captain Darren Pagan added more points to the Lions' total, with an 11th place finish in the 200 IM, with a time of 1:54.94. First-year Erik Mai also fared well, placing 15th with a time of 1:57.84.

Junior Adam Powell had the top performance of the day for Columbia, as he took first in the 50 free. Powell finished in 19.76 seconds, an NCAA 'B' qualifying time, and a new pool record.

In the 400 medley relay, the group of Patrick Dougherty, Ross Ramone, Bruno Esquen and Adam Powell finished second, with a time of 3:25.03. And the other Columbia squad of Bailey, Eric Tang, Nick Barron and Pagan came in sixth, with a time of 3:29.26. The first day of competition ended with the 1 meter diving competition, in which Columbia junior David Levkoff placed fifth overall, with a score of 281.75. At the end of day one, Columbia was in third, with 272 team points.

Day Two

Columbia opened day two with a win. In the 200 medley relay, Bailey, Tang, Esquen and Powell took first place with a time of 1:32.27, earning 52 points for the team.

Mackenzie had a top finish in the second heat of the 400 IM, as he took 9th overall, with a time of 4:07.95. Three other Columbia swimmers in the heat scored points for the team as well, with Beutler coming in 11th (4:13.20), Robert Eyckmans placing 12th (4:14.91), and Ramone taking 14th with a time of 4:16.47. The 100 fly saw two Columbia swimmers in the final heat, as sophomore Esquen took fourth place with a time of 50.95, and senior Pagan took eighth with a time of 51.60. Eric Tang was the top finisher for the Lions in the 100 breast, as he placed fifth with a time of 58.94.

Powell had another top finish for Columbia in the 100 back, as he won by over a second, with a time of 50.03. Bailey and Dougherty were both in the top finals heat as well, and placed sixth and seventh overall, with respective times of 52.89 and 52.91.The second day ended with the 3 meter diving competition, which saw first-tyear Jason Collazo place seventh overall, with a point total of 274.80.

Day Three

In the same fashion as day two, day three saw Columbia open with a strong start. The finals of the 1650 free saw first-year MacKenzie place second, with a time of 15:55.43, while sophomore Alex Smith took sixth in 16:30.21.

Powell had another top finish for Columbia, another NCAA cut time, and a second pool record in the 100 free. Powell took first in 43.91, an NCCA 'B' qualifying time, and a Bucknell pool record.

In the 200 breast, Tang was once again the top finisher for the Lions, as he took fourth in the final heat, with a time of 2:08.54. Senior captain Ross Ramone also scored points in the final heat, as he took sixth, in 2:08.81. The 200 fly saw Esquen take fourth, with a time of 1:56.38, while senior captain Nick Barron placed a close sixth, with a time of 1:56.62.

The last event of the day, the 400 free relay saw the squad of Pagan, Doughterty, Phillips and Powell take second with a time of 3:05.38. With those final points, the Lions vaulted ahead of host Bucknell to take second overall, with 1125.5 points. Bucknell finished with 1100 points, while Brown scored 1025, and LaSalle was right behind all three teams, with 1019.5 points overall.

Up next, the Lions return to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell in a dual meet, Sunday January 17, at 1 p.m.