Bonnies Hope to Improve on Last Year's 4th-Place Finish at A-10's

St. Bonaventure University Athletic News

February 21, 2012   The St, Bonaventure men's and women's swimming and diving teams heads to the Atlantic-10 Championships February 22-25 at the Flickinger Athletic Center in Buffalo, NY. The Bonnies are coming off their fifth consecutive second-place finish (621 points). They hope to finally knock off five-time defending champion UMass. During the last year's Championships, Mike Murphy and Dominic Butts-Ealy took first and third, respectively in the men's 1-meter dive event. Murphy earned 300.60 points for the gold while Butts-Ealy nabbed the bronze, posting a score of 287.10. Other highlights included Elias Homerin third-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle, toughing in at 15:50.48. The Lady Bonnies hope to keep up the momentum of tying for fourth-place with LaSalle with 343 points last season.   During the Championships, Jeanette Dietrich finished in 10th-place in the 50-yard freestyle consolation final, with a time of 23.83. Lanae Petty finished in 12th-place with a time of 23.97. In the 100-yard freestyle finals, Dietrich finished in sixth-place, touching the wall at 51.99. St. Bonaventure is hosting the event for the 17th consecutive year. This could be the last year that the Bonnies host. A decision will come after a meeting with the A-10 in the near future. The Championships begin at 4:30pm on Wednesday, Feb. 22, with the trials of the men's One-Meter Diving competition, followed by the finals of the men's and women's 200-yard Medley and 800-yard Freestyle relays at 6:30pm, along with the finals of the men's One-Meter Diving competition. The Championship continues at 10:30am on Thursday with time trials, followed by the finals at 6:30pm. The same schedule will be followed on Friday and Saturday. The Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships will be broadcasted live via web stream from Wednesday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 25. The web stream will be free of charge for all viewers. Tickets for each session of competition will be $8 for adults and $5 for students. All-Session passes will be $25 for adults and $20 for students and Family Packs that include two adults and three children will be $65. College students who have a valid school ID will receive the discounted price. Children under 12 years old are free.  For complete coverage of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships log on to www.atlantic10.com.