Bulldogs poised for next step at MAACs
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – For two straight seasons, the Bryant University men's swimming and diving team has finished third at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, looking up at Rider and Marist on the leaderboard. During the 2017-18 season, the Bulldogs fell in dual meets with the Broncs (183-115) and the Red Foxes (187-111). But that will not stop this Bryant team from believing that they can compete for an even better finish at this year's championships, one that would improve on the program-best third that they've placed the last two seasons.
"As a team, we've really been pushing this year," senior Colin Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.) said. "This year we had a great recruiting class that came in. We have a great culture. Everybody is looking to swim fast and we have been working our butts off this year to get to this point.
Swimmers
It's a senior/freshman duo that leads the Bulldogs into the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center at Erie Community College starting Wednesday night. Senior Ben Schulte (Tumon, Guam) and freshman Matthew Mays (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) were ranked highest on the psych sheets, released over the weekend by the conference.
Schulte enters the meet ranked first in the 100 breast (55.02) and 200 breast (2:05.02), looking to defend his title in both. The senior is 1.94 ahead of his closest competitor in the 200, while sitting 2.19 ahead of second in the 100. He also sits third in the 200 IM (1:53.16), behind Rider's Justin Carey and Niagara's Andreas Rintel.
Mays has been a great addition to the Bulldog program this season, leading Bryant in the back and fly and ranks well in the conference heading into MAACs. The freshman enters the 100 back (50.86) and 200 back (1:49.20) second in the league, while coming in third in the 200 fly (1:52.23) this season. Mays also ranks sixth in the 100 fly, but swimmers are limited to three individual events over the three-day meet.
Junior Tavish Boyle (Springfield, N.J.) also is ranked well in preparation for the conference meet, ranking seventh in the 100 breast (58.69) and tenth in the 200 breast (2:09.70), setting him up for contention for multiple "A" finals. Curtin has a pair of top 12 rankings, sitting sixth in the 100 back (51.54) and 12th in the 200 back (1:55.07).
The Bulldog swimmers will also be looking to defend their relay title from a season ago, with Curtin and Schulte teaming up with now-seniors Benon Boyadjian (Middlebury, Conn.) and George Sommerville (Pittsfield, Mass.) to take home gold in the 200 medley relay (1:29.88). They currently sit second with a time of 1:33.49, behind Rider who clocks in at 1:32.18.
Divers
It's another story of freshman when it comes to the Bulldog divers, with Trevor Hazlewood (Corpus Christi, Texas) inking his name into the Bryant record books after just one dual meet. Hazlewood dove to a 3-meter school record of 299.25 against Boston College, his highest mark of the season. Later in the season, he would set the 1-meter school record and then re-set it 12 days later. His mark of 279.60 against Holy Cross bested his score of 278.60 he dove against Rider.
Junior Kevin Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn.) has also bested 260 with both of his scores this season, diving to a 262.41 in the 1-meter and 272.25 in the 3-meter. He will be looking to qualify for both "A" finals this season, after qualifying for the 3-meter last season, diving to an ECAC "A" cut score of 263.40.
"We're excited about MAAC Championships this year," diving coach Chuck LoCurto said. "I believe competition will be even tougher than last year. Our men's team is ready as they have won 14 of 18 events this year."