MS&D Set for BIG EAST Championships

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Returning to competition almost three weeks after the conclusion of the regular season,the Seton Hall men's swimming & diving team is set to begin the 2013 BIG EAST Championships later today at the IUPUI Natatorium.

The meet will begin today, Wednesday, February 27 and continue over four consecutive days until team champions are crowned on Saturday, March 2.

The men's team completed its dual meet slate with a 4-5 final record and saw 18 of 19 team members qualify for the conference meet.

Senior captain Austin Acheson (Olathe, Kan.) finished first on the squad with automatic qualifying times in seven different events while co-captain Ryan O'Shaughnessy (Coral Springs, Fla.) secured an automatic spot in four events. Together, the two tested veterans will lead a SHU squad aiming at bettering last year's eight-place team finish.

Last season, current team members Matt Benson (Overland Park, Kan.) and Joey Lacus (Wethersfield, Conn.) were part of a 400-yard freestyle relay team that set a new school record on the final day of the championships. 

Seton Hall's best finish in program history is seventh, a feat the Pirates have repeated three times, two of which have occurred in the last eight years. The SHU men have claimed seven individual BIG EAST championships over the years. The most recent three belong to Kevin Webster '11, who as a senior was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the championship meet after prevailing in both the 400-yard IM and 200-yard backstroke. 

With the conference championships ready to kick-off, SHUPirates.com is here to set the table with a snapshot of the accomplishments from each of the Pirates' 18 qualifiers in 2012-13.

QUALIFIERS (18):

Note: All distances referenced are measured in yards.

AUSTIN ACHESON
Senior - Distance/IM
Standards Met: 500-free, 1,650-free, 200-fly, 100-back, 200-back, 200-IM, 400-IM, 200-Free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Started the season with a qualifying time in the 100-back against Montclair State and picked up AQ marks in six more events prior to the end of the fall, punctuated by three new qualifications at the Patriot Invitational...200-free provisional time came in only time he entered the event this season, a runner-up finish against Providence

Season Highlights: Swam fastest time on team in the 1,000-free (9:50.17), 200-back (1:56.20) and 400-IM (4:03.79)...Also ranked among the top-three on the squad in the 500-free, 1,650-free, 100-back, and 200-IM...Collected six first-place finishes and finished as a runner-up seven times...Anchor of Pirates' top 800-free relay effort (7:02.28)...Met automatic qualifying standards in all but seven of 23 eligible swims, posting provisional marks in the others

MATT BENSON
Junior - Back/IM
Standards Met: 100-back, 200-back, 200-IM, 200-free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Secured a berth with automatic qualifying times in each of his first seven 100-back appearances, a streak that began in the second meet of the season...Ran off six-straight qualifying performances in the 200-back after originally surpassing standards at the Loyola Quad Meet...Earned a spot in the 200-IM at the Patriot Invitational and clocked a provisional time in the 200-free at the same meet

Season Highlights: Holds the Pirates' fastest 100-back time (53.10) of the season and his top time of 1:56.75 in the 200-back is second on the squad...Led off for the quickest 200 and 400 medley relay teams SHU has fielded in 2012-13...Three second-place showings highlight his nine top-three performances heading into the conference meet

GREG BLACK
Junior - Butterfly
Standards Met: 100-fly, 200-fly, 50-free, 200-free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Three automatic qualifying performances were staggered over three meets in the fall, beginning with the 200-fly in an individual win at Rider...Provisional cut in the 200-free preliminaries at the Patriot Invitational

Season Highlights: Second-fastest Pirate in both butterfly events and ranks third on the team in the 50-free...Began the season with victories in his first three 200-fly appearances and finished with four total wins...Accumulated 11 top-four finishes...Member of team's fastest 200-free (1:26.14) and 400-medley (3:31.34) relay squads of the season

TIM BOSSE
Freshman - Back/Free
Standards Met: 100-free, 200-free, 500-free, 100-back, 200-back, 200-IM, 50-free (B-Cut), 100-breast (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: First qualified in 200-free at Rider....Added an AQ time in the 100-free at the Loyola Quad Meet...Met standards in both backstroke events against Providence....Concluded the fall by earning a spot in the 500-free at the Patriot Invitational....Added a late qualifying time in the 200-IM at the Bison Invitational in February...Met provisional standards in the 50-free four times, including a season-best time at the Bison Invitational, where he also made the secondary cut in the 100-breast

Season Highlights: Turned in the fastest 100 and 200-free times of the year for The Hall...Ranks third on the team in the 100-back...Part of SHU's best performance in three of five relay events...Took home five victories in four different events...18 top-four finishes

ERIC DAVIDSON
Freshman - Diving
Standards Met: 1-meter dive

Path to Indianapolis: Carded a season-best 256.95 at the Rutgers Tri-Meet to close the regular season as the 18^th Pirate to book a spot in the 2013 conference championship

Season Highlights: Scored a personal-best 227.90 from the three-meter board at Saint Peter's, one of three top-two efforts on the year...Finished among the top-four overall seven different time

IAN DeLISIO
Junior - Breaststroke
Standards Met: 100-breast, 200-breast, 200-IM, 100-fly (B-Cut), 200-fly (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Qualified in both breaststroke events at Rider...Added the 200-IM to his conference championship program with his performance at the Patriot Invitational, surpassing standards in both swims...Provisional times in butterfly events first recorded in the fall as well

Season Highlights: Ranks second on the squad in the 200-breast and 200-IM...Stands third on the team in the 100-breast and 100-fly...Ten top-five finishes include three second-place performances, two of which came against BIG EAST counterpart Providence

EVAN FORBES
Junior - Back/IM
Standards Met: 100-back, 200-back (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: 15-of-20 eligible swims came in backstroke events...Qualified via a 55.79 performance in the 100-back preliminaries at the Patriot Invitational...Twice met provisional standards in the 200-back, the first also coming at the Patriot Invitational

Season Highlights: Eight top-five performances between swimming and diving...Season-best times in three different events at the Patriot Invitational

JOEY GIOVINE
Freshman - Breast/IM
Standards Met: 200-breast, 100-breast (B-Cut), 400-IM (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Earned automatic qualifier status with a 2:12.15 in the 200-breast at February's Bison Invitational...Posted original provisional times in 100-breast and 400-IM at the Patriot Invitational

Season Highlights: 200-breast time is the third-fastest on the team in 2012-13...Won his first collegiate race, taking first in the 1,000-free against Montclair State...Finished third in the 1,000-free vs. Providence

STEVE HAUSMANN
Freshman - Distance/Breast
Standards Met: 200-breast, 1,650-free (B-Cut), 400-IM (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Qualified in the 200-breast during the home finale against Marist in late January...Added two provisional times next time out at the Bison Invitational

Season Highlights: Clocked the second-fastest 1,000-free time on the team this season, finishing third against Connecticut...AQ time in 200-breast (2:12.34) vs. Marist doubled as first-career victory, a seven-plus second improvement from his previous best time...Finished with nine top-five finishes in the regular season

IAN KEYSER
Senior - Distance/Back
Standards Met: 500-free, 1,650-free, 200-back, 400-IM

Path to Indianapolis: All four automatic qualifying times originate from a three-day span at the Patriot Invitational...Surpassed conference standards in each of the final three times he swam the 400-IM in the regular season

Season Highlights: Team-leading times in the 500-free and 1,650-free...Ranks second in the 400-IM and third in the 200-back and 1,000-free...19 top-five performances...Finished third in the 1,650-free at the eight-team Patriot Invitational, one of three top-10's he recorded that weekend...Won the 1,000-free against Providence and finished fourth in the event at Connecticut

JOEY LACUS
Junior - Sprint/Breast
Standards Met: 50-free, 100-breast, 100-free (B-Cut), 200-free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Registered two automatic qualifying times at the Patriot Invitational...Surpassed standards in the 50-free on four occasions...Clocked a provisional time in the 100-free 11 different times, the first at Rider...Met secondary standards in the 200-free at the Patriot Invitational, his only appearance in the event this season

Season Highlights: Pirates' top sprinter with a season-best mark of 21.77 in the 50-free...Ranks third on the team in the 100-free...First in the water for the quickest 200 and 400 relay performances of the season...Anchored the fastest 200-medley relay effort (1:36.78) during the regular season...Victories in both the 50 and 100-free against Providence...Nine top-three times in individual swims

JAMES LOGAN
Sophomore - Breaststroke
Standards Met: 50-free, 100-free, 100-breast, 200-breast, 200-IM (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Clocked automatic qualifying times in both breaststroke events in first appearance of the season at Rider...Registered an AQ time in all 12 of his breaststroke swims during the regular season...Added 50 and 100-free to list of qualifying times at the Patriot Invitational...Made provisional cut in only 200-IM swim of the season at the Bison Invitational

Season Highlights: Second-fastest time on team in three different events (50-free, 100-free, 100-breast)...Part of Pirates' best time of the season in three of five relay events...Four second-place finishes, including runner-up showings in his final two 200-breast outings of the regular season headline 13 top-five finishes

BEN MITCHELL
Sophomore - Diving
Standards Met: 1-meter dive, 3-meter dive

Path to Indianapolis: Qualified with ease from one-meter, twice breaking the previous school record in the opener against Montclair State while also qualifying to compete at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships...Added a three-meter qualification in his first attempt at Rider...Exceeded conference standards in 20-of-21 appearances

Season Highlights: Broke the school record from one-meter and three-meters twice respectively...Became the first Pirate to exceed 300 points from both distances, clinching a spot in the NCAA Zones...His school records stand at 322.88 (vs. Montclair State) from the one-meter board and 325.05 from three-meters (vs. Marist)...Finished outside the top-two only three times all season

TYLER NAUMANN
Junior - Free/Fly
Standards Met: 200-free, 500-free, 200-fly, 100-free (B-Cut), 100-fly (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Clinched all three automatic qualifying slots by virtue of his performances at the Patriot Invitational...Also added a provisional time in the 100-free at the Patriot before picking up another in the 100-fly at the Bison Invitational

Season Highlights: Recorded fastest 200-fly (1:55.98) by a Pirate this season and ranked second on the team in the 200-free...Part of the fastest 800-free relay team that SHU has fielded to this point in the year...Advanced to "A" finals in 200-fly at the Patriot Invitational and earned a second swim in three events at the meet...Five top-five finishes on the season including two against Providence

RYAN O'SHAUGHNESSY
Senior - Breast/IM
Standards Met: 100-breast, 200-breast, 100-fly, 200-IM, 50-free (B-Cut), 100-free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Qualified in both breaststroke events in season debut at Rider...Touched the wall under conference standards in the 100-fly for the first time at the Loyola Quad Meet...Added the 200-IM on day one at the Patriot Invitational...Recorded multiple provisional times in both the 50 and 100-free

Season Highlights: Set the team standard in four events this season, ranking first on the squad in the 100-breast (58.30), 200-breast (2:09.08), 100-fly (51.42) and 200-IM (1:53.63)...Member of the Pirates' top relay squad in four of five events...Came out victorious in his first three 200-breast races of the year and finished with eight total wins...20 individual top-three performances...Exceeded conference standards in 14-of-15 breaststroke races

BRIAN PAULING
Senior - Fly/Free
Standards Met: 200-free, 50-free (B-Cut), 100-free (B-Cut), 500-free (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Assured himself a spot at the BIG EAST Championships early in the season with an AQ time in the 200-free at Rider, a feat he repeated two more times...Turned in a provisional time in the 50-free in opener vs. Montclair State, two days before recording the first of six such times in the 500-free against the Broncs...100-free provisional time came during preliminaries at Patriot Invitational

Season Highlights: Set a new personal record in the 500-free (4:47.87) in his second swim at the Patriot Invitational...Established another personal-best in the 200-free (1:45.39) during an individual victory against Marist in his final home meet...Finished senior campaign with three wins...Totaled 13 top-five performances

JON ROPSON
Junior - Free/Fly
Standards Met: 200-free, 500-free, 1,650-free, 200-fly, 100-fly (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: All four automatic qualifying times stem from the Patriot Invitational where he recorded at least one such time on each day of the three-day meet...Top 100-fly time of the season came at Rider and met provisional standards

Season Highlights: Ranked second on the team in the 1,650-free and posted the squad's third-fastest time in three other events (200-free, 500-free, 200-fly)....Swam on Pirates' top 200-medley relay squad of the season...Five runner-up finishes as part of eight total top-four performances on the year...Advanced to "A" final of 500-free at the Patriot Invitational...Set new personal-bests in the 200-free (1:45.18) and 200-fly (1:57.37) at the Patriot Invitational as well

ANDREW WILLIAM
Freshman - Fly/IM
Standards Met: 200-free, 200-IM, 400-IM, 200-fly (B-Cut)

Path to Indianapolis: Posted all three of his original automatic qualifying times at the Patriot Invitational...Provisional time in the 200-fly also occurred at the Patriot Invitational

Season Highlights: Holds the Pirates' third-best 400-IM time of the season (4:14.31)...Registered top time of season in four events at the Patriot Invitational...Seven top-five finishes include third-place points in the 100-fly at Connecticut

The 2013 BIG EAST Championship will get underway with diving events at noon. Action will continue through the night as will be the case throughout the four-day meet.

To visit BIG EAST Championship Central, CLICK HERE

To view a live webcast of the events in progress, visit www.bigeastswimming.com

Live updates will also be available via twitter through @SHUSwim