Bulldogs entertain Friars Wednesday
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In search of much needed victories, the Bryant University men's swimming team and the women's swimming and diving teams return to the Chace Athletic Center Pool to host Providence College on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 5:00 p.m.
Fans that can't make it to the Chace Athletic Center on Wednesday will be able to watch a free webcast of the swim meet on www.bryantbulldogs.tv.
Wednesday's meet against the Friars will mark the first home meet in nearly a month for the women's team. The Bulldogs (1-4) opened the season with a victory over Boston College on Oct. 14 but have dropped their last four meets. Most recently, the Black and Gold dropped a pair of decisions over the weekend in a tri-meet with the University of New Hampshire and Central Connecticut State University.
Junior Casey Ostrander (Yarmouthport, Mass.) earned the only first-place finish in the meet, winning the 100 back with a season-best time of 58.44. She also finished second in the 50 free and fourth in the 200 back. A host of other Bulldogs also put together solid swims against the Wildcats and Blue Devils. Nearly every swimmer that competed recorded season-best marks. Sophomore Taylor DeBever (Denver, Colo.) earned a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 and 200 free, setting a season-best in the 200. Senior Abby Whittaker (Salisbury, Mass.) also swam her fastest 200 fly of the year, finishing fourth with a time of 2:16.43.
On the men's side, the Bulldogs (2-2) will look to shake off the rust after having over two weeks off. The last time the men competed was on Oct. 23 when they hosted the University of Maine in a dual meet. The Black Bears out-touched the Bulldogs at the wall in the final relay of the meet by three hundredths of a second and the meet, 135-127.
Bryant received several outstanding performances against Maine, including senior Alex Kosenski's (Lavallette, N.J.) three first-place finishes. Swimming in his first meet of the season, Kosenski won the 50, 100 and 200 free. Freshman Graham Beck (Danvers, Mass.) won the 1000 free and the 100 breast, sophomore Cameron Hessler (Southbury, Conn.) won the 100 back, freshman John Lawson (Bernardsville, N.J.) won the 200 fly and senior Timothy McGrath (Hyannis, Mass.) won the 200 IM.
Last season, the men dropped a one-point decision to the Friars, 110.5-109.5, in Providence. Bryant's 200m free relay team of Kosenski, Karadimas, Logan Hammerstein (Fairfield Township, Ohio) and Derek Hawkes (Westbrook, Maine) touched the wall nearly three seconds faster than the next closest team.
The women fared much better against Providence, defeating the Friars, 133-86. Ostrander earned the Bulldogs' only first-place finish as she won the 100m free, but DeBever earned a third-place finishes in the 100m and 200m free.
Wednesday's matchup with the Friars is also the final home meet of the first semester for the Bulldogs. Both the men and the women will head to Loudonville, N.Y., on Saturday to compete against Siena University and Niagara University. The Black and Gold do not return home until Jan. 20, 2012, when they host the University of Massachusetts.