Black Bears a paw quicker than Bryant

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In the blink of an eye, the Bryant University men's swimming team went from victory to defeat on Sunday afternoon, as the University of Maine's 200 free relay team out-touched the Bulldogs, winning the race by three hundreths of a second, and the meet, 135-127.

The Bulldogs (2-2) held a slim one-point lead heading into the final event of the afternoon, and held the lead the entire event until the last three yards. Anchoring the Black Bears' (1-0) relay team, Danny Duvall caught Bryant's Nicholas Karadimas (New Milford, Conn.) in the final 25 yards, and then out-touched him by a hair to give his team the victory.

Prior to the final event, Bryant had led for the entire meet until Andrew Meehan's first-place finish in the 100 fly gave the Black Bears their first lead going into the final break of the afternoon. That lead was short-lived, however, as senior Tim McGrath (Hyannis, Mass.) gave the Bulldogs the lead right back, winning the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.66.

Bryant also received strong performances from senior Alex Kosenski (Lavallette, N.J.) and freshmen Graham Beck (Danvers, Mass.) and John Lawson (Bernardsville, N.J.). Competing in his first meet of the season, Kosenski won all three individual events he swam in, claiming the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free.

Beck nearly matched his captain, winning two events and finishing second in another. He started his afternoon by winning the 1000 free and then set a pool record on his way to a victory in the 100 breast. Beck swam the four lengths in 59.59. His only blemish came in the 200 breast, as he finished just under two seconds behind the winner.

Already contributing heavily as a freshman, Lawson won the 200 fly by over three seconds and swam stroke-for-stroke with Maine's Yuri Chornobil over the course of the 500 free, finishing just under a second behind Chornobil. The Bulldogs other first-place finish came from sophomore Cameron Hessler (Southbury, Conn.), as he won the 100 back with a time of 55.87.

The Bulldogs are off until Wednesday, Nov. 9, when they host Providence College in a dual meet at the Chace Athletic Center Pool.