By Zach Waltz
Contributing Writer
The men’s swimming team (3-2) lost (132-111) to the Cleveland State Vikings (5-1-1) in its home opener last Saturday. The Bonnies travel to Pittsburgh for the Pitt Invite, beginning today and ending Sunday.
The teams competing in the Invite are Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, Fairmont State and West Virginia Wesleyan. Coach McNamee said the team has a tough meet ahead of it in its second trip to Pittsburgh this season.
“We’re going into this to train through it,” McNamee said. “We’re going to be in some discomfort going into the meet this weekend.” “We’ll see what kind of toughness we can have because we’re in those dog days. I want to see how they can handle the test that will come at them this weekend with some quality competition.”
Senior backstroker David Erickson said the team should be competitive in some areas, especially the relays.
“I think we’ll have some good races,” Erickson said. “Our relays have been pretty fast thus far throughout the season, so that’s a highlight and something we’re looking forward to. I think coach and the rest of the guys expect to show up there swimming fast and be competitive against some of the Big East teams.”
McNamee said the team performed well in the Cleveland State meet, but couldn’t close the deal against the Vikings.
“It wasn’t as sharp as we have been in the other meets, which was a point of concern for me,” McNamee said. “I figured we were probably going to have a letdown, but that’s going to be had. We were hoping that we were going to have a serious shot at taking down Cleveland State here since we have so few home meets.”
Despite the loss, senior diver Mike Murphy won both diving events, breaking the school record in the 3-meter board with a score of 379.73. Murphy was recognized as the A-10 Performer of the Week thanks to his performance.
Erickson said Murphy is a big asset for the Bonnies.
“Ever since he came in as a freshman, he’s been dominant on the boards, not only on our team but in the conference in general,” Erickson said. “He’s won multiple titles ever since he showed up, and he’s a huge advantage for the team in February for the Atlantic 10 Championships.”
McNamee also praised Murphy as a large contributor to the team’s success.
“He’s been a fantastic representative of the program for four years,” McNamee said. “Many times, diving kind of gets left behind because it’s only two events. Mike has been a huge asset to our program and has given us the opportunity to have a lot of success because of what he’s done on the boards over his four years.”
