Men set to open season Friday vs. Boston College

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After their third-place finish in the 2017 MAAC Championships, the Bryant University men's swimming and diving team returns hungry for another season.

"We are very excited for the 2017-18 season," head coach Katie Cameron said. "The first five weeks of training have proven that we are ready for a successful season."

The Bulldogs return three of their top swimmers from last season, with Ben Schulte (Tumon, Guam), Colin Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.) and Robert Davis (Glastonbury, Conn.) all back. The trio combined for 42 victories and 69 Top 3 finishes in the 2016-17 season. Schulte won his third individual gold medal at the championships last season, taking the 200-yard breaststroke for the third consecutive season.

Schulte also swam the sixth-best time in the MAAC last season in the 200 free, while finishing with the third-best time in the 100 breast and the fourth-best in the 200 free.

Curtin enters the 2017-18 campaign after registering the fourth-best time in the 100 backstroke at 51.45 and will also carry in the ninth-best time in the 200 back to this year.

On the diving circuit, Kevin Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn.) has returned with already history attached to his name as the first Bulldogs male diver to participate in the MAAC "A" Final at the conference championships last winter. He leads a crew of three divers and is joined by Zach Vogel (South Easton, Mass.) and newcomer Trevor Hazlewood(Corpus Christi, Texas).

"Sullivan is already looking better than last year," reigning NEC Diving Coach of the Year Chuck LoCurto said.

LoCurto also had high praise for his freshman out of Corpus Christi, Texas.

"Trevor is already bringing a new level of excitement and excellence to our team," LoCurto said. "It's going to be great to watch the Bulldog divers compete this year."

In all, the Bulldogs graduated six seniors from last season's squad and welcome in the same number of freshman newcomers. Andrew Allen(Bedford, N.H.) , Colby Dixon (Summit, N.J.) , Matthew Mastroianni (Glastonbury, Conn.) , Matthew Mays (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) and Chris McHeffey (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) all join head coach Katie Cameron's club in the pool and Hazlewood joins the divers, who will call Brown University their home for the 2017-18 season.

The season begins on Friday evening when the Bulldogs take on Boston College starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center Pool. The entire schedule is listed here.