SWIMMING AND DIVING AMERICA EAST PREVIEW

After months of rigorous training and dual meets, it all comes down to the America East Championships at Wallace Pool in Orono, Maine this weekend for the Binghamton swimming and diving teams. The three-and-a-half day meet begins on Thursday, February 14 and runs through Sunday, February 17.

"We are looking forward to it," second-year head swim coach Sean Clark said. "We are too focused and have put in too much hard work to not swim fast. We are going to swim fast. The team is excited and ready to give the best they have. IT'S TAPER TIME!"

MEN
On the men's side, the Bearcats boast an impressive 7-4 dual meet record and enter the league championship having won a Division-I record seven consecutive dual meets.

Junior Brenno Varanda (St. Petersburg, Fla.) leads a strong cast of Bearcat breaststrokers and IM swimmers. Varanda is the two-time reigning America East Champion in the 200 breast and 400 IM after swimming school-record times in both events at last year's conference meet.

He enters this year's meet with a team-high 21 individual wins and as the top seed in both the 200-breast (2:06.48) and 400-IM (4:03.16) events. The two-time America East Swimmer of the week recipient also holds the number two slot in the 100-breast (58.35) and 200-IM (1:53.64).

Varanda has claimed silver behind one of his Bearcat teammates in the 200-IM at each of the last two championships. Former BU standouts and 2007 graduates David Holmes and Brian Koizim won the event in 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively.

"We will rely on Brenno for some big performances," Clark said. "He has met every challenge thrown his way this season and we fully expect him to deliver for us again this weekend."

Juniors Andrew Palumbo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Brian Koralewski (Floral Park, N.Y.) both are expected to contend for individual crowns and land major points for the Bearcats in multiple events.

Palumbo is a frontrunner in both breaststroke events, where he enters the meet seeded third in the 200 and fourth in the 100. On the season, Palumbo is second on the team with nine individual wins.

As a sophomore, Koralewski was a three-event finalist with top-six finishes in the 50-, 100-, and 200-free events at the conference meet. He also swam on a pair of relays where he should once again be a big factor for BU.

Freshman Jason Chen (Livingston, N.J.) leads a talented group of Bearcat underclassmen. Chen has enjoyed a strong freshman campaign recording eight individual victories - highlighted by a three-win effort against a strong UMass program on November 11.

The versatile first-year swimmer is a tremendous asset for Clark's Bearcat squad headed into the championship format meet. Chen has won a team-high seven different events over the course of the season and can be placed in a number of disciplines and be expected to not only contribute, but also contend for an individual crown.

Joining Chen is another of BU's talented youngsters, sophomore sprinter Philip Dzieniszewski (Bayside, N.Y.). Dzieniszewski is the returning champion in the 50-free and once again figures to be a big point-scorer for the Bearcats.

He is seeded eighth in the event, while junior teammate Joe Rogan (Ithaca, N.Y.) occupies the seventh spot. Rogan collected the first three victories of his collegiate career this season and is determined to leave his mark in his second AE meet.

Sophomores John Blatchford (Amsterdam, N.Y.), Brian Jacobs (Bloomingburg, N.Y.) and Craig Juergens (Boylston, Mass.) were all key factors as first-year swimmers in the Bearcats' second-place finish in 2007.

At last year's meet, Blatchford earned a fifth place finish in the 200-fly, Jacobs was a triple-event point-scorer in the middle-distance and distance events, while Juergens added a pair of 12th place finishes

The Bearcats will also look to the freshman trio of Cole Courtemanche (Gardner, Mass.), Kevin Kearney (Latham, N.Y.), and Matthew McCort (Commack, N.Y.) to make immediate contributions in their first America East Championship.

Entering the championship, Courtemanche holds the 11th seed in the mile, Kearney is 10th in the 100-back and 11th in the 200-back, while McCort is seeded ninth in the 200-fly.

Jason Lapp (Linwood, N.Y.) heads the list of BU seniors headed into their final AE championship. Lapp recorded two top-10 finishes at the 2007 competition, grabbing ninth place in 200-fly and 10th place in the 400-IM.

Classmates Dylan Hobe (New Windsor, N.Y.) and Michael Britvan (Pleasantville, N.Y.) will provide additional depth with scoring potential in a number of events. Hobe placed eighth in the 100 breast in 2007, while Britvan scored in three events, finishing as high as 10th in the 100-back.

Juniors Sean Lorenz (Norwich, N.Y.) and Peter Rodrick (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) each scored big for the Bearcats at last year's meet, registering multiple top-10 finishes.

On the diving boards, the Bearcats are hoping to excel in what figures to be a very competitive field this weekend in Maine.

Junior Ryan Graham (Vestal, N.Y.) leads a trio of returning divers that figure to score for the Bearcats. A two-time America East Diver of the Week honoree, Graham has enjoyed a breakout season.

The third-year diver set new school records in both the 1-meter (318.07) and 3-meter events (348.00) and has become the first Bearcat to qualify for the NCAA Zones Championship. Graham will compete at the NCAA Zone 'A' Championships on March 14-16 at the University at Buffalo.

"Ryan has really been rolling," Clark said. "He is the new school record holder on both boards and has made it clear that he belongs among the top divers in the conference."

Senior Matt Russo (Manhattan, N.Y.) and sophomore Bob Nolte (Schenectady, N.Y.) reached the finals of both the one- and three-meter championships in 2007 and again will be counted on to contribute on both boards for the men.

Russo ended the dual meet season with a bang, claiming the 1-meter dive with a score of 282.30 - the second highest mark in school history behind Graham.

"The diving points will be highly contested this year," Clark said. "All three divers have had lifetime bests on both boards this year. They will have to be sharp. It will be a total team effort."

At the top of the league, UMBC vies for its 11th consecutive conference championship and fifth straight since joining the America East. The Retrievers topped the Bearcat men in dual meet action earlier this season by a 170-127 margin.

While the remainder of the conference may have its hands full trying to derail the defending champs, there figures to be plenty of competition this week in Orono.

"Our men are going up against some really tough competition," Clark said. "It is shaping up to be a battle of the BU's. Boston is vastly improved and is bringing one of its best teams it has in a decade into this year's championship."

Boston defeated the Bearcats 123-120 in dual meet action back on October 27. The closely-contested meet was decided in the next-to-last event, the 200-breast, where four swimmers finished within seven tenths of a second of each other.

Clark once again expects the competition to be just as fierce.

"It's going to be a three-and-a-half day battle," Clark said. "Every swim will count."