Koncz, DuBois Star as Pirates Sweep Bucknell Fall Invite

LEWISBURG, PA. – Aided by a standout performances from under and upperclassmen, the Seton Hall men's swimming and diving team won both dual meets at the Bucknell Fall Invite tri-meet inside Kinney Natatorium. The Hall beat the Howard Bison 217-80, while also beating Bucknell 183-114.

HOW IT HAPPENED - DIVING
Like clockwork, Nick Graham continued his regular season domination at the Bucknell Fall Invite. Thr junior logged his third sweep of the season, winning the one meter (298.15) and three-meter boards (298.10) with relative ease.

Behind Graham, each of the other divers produced strong weekends. Freshman Adam Klinger earned a second-place in the one-meter board with a score of 260.90. On the three-meter, Henry Summers earned second place with a score of 275.75. Lastly, Mason Case notched a fourth-place finish on the one-meter board and a third-place finish on the three-meter board, the latter of which came on a season-best score of 256.10.

HOW IT HAPPENED - SWIMMING
In the team's first attempt at the 1650 freestyle all year, the Pirates' dominance in distance events held true. In his first attempt, freshman Drew DuBois made a statement in Lewisburg. Among all four swimmers in the heat, he was the only swimmer to have all of 33 50-yard splits register under 30 seconds. As he sailed into the wall, DuBois won the event with a time of 15:48.75, 14 seconds clear of his teammate Zach McLeod.

McLeod would notch a win on the day, however. After falling behind in the first half of the 500 freestyle, McLeod unleashed blistering pace in the second half of the race. The sophomore pulled back nearly two seconds in the final 100 yards to pass Bucknell's top swimmer to win the event with a time of 4:35.58.

In the 200 freestyle, the Pirates unleashed a blistering 1-2-3 finish to sweep the event. Jaden Bunt took his first win of the season with a time of 1:41.48. Just behind him, Wesley Schlachter came in 0.04 seconds behind Bunt with a time of 1:41.52. Junior Balint Marosi rounded out the trio with a time of 1:41.81. Overall, the three Seton Hall finishers were separated by 0.38 seconds.

With the swimmers spread across this sprawling tri-meet format, it allowed the opportunity to collect their first wins of the season. For example, Chris Jackson notched his first victory of the season in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.41. Similarly, Kale Duong notched his first win of the season in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:50.26.

However, two Pirates continued to produce dominant showings this week in their signature events this season. Nimrod Koncz notched his first victory of the day in the 200 butterfly, scoring a mark of 1:47.16, a mark over three seconds clear of the next closest swimmer. However, when faced with a new challenge, Koncz passed with flying colors. In the 400 IM, the freshman blitzed the field in the opening 100 yards to open a massive lead. The gap would shrink thanks to a stellar back half from Drew DuBois, but Koncz went on to secure the win with a time of 3:57.06.

Alongside Koncz, fellow Romanian Toma Adam continued his dominant run of form in the sprint events. Adam won the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.32, nearly half a second clear of the next closest swimmer. However, the Romanian Rocket was not done there. In the 100 freestyle, after a dominant first 50 yards, he cruised into the wall with a time of 45.68.

What's Next
The Pirates will return to the pool next on Friday, November 6, when they travel out to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The meet is slated to begin at 5 p.m.