This past weekend marked the 2018-19 season opener for the Bloomsburg men’s swim team. The weekend was not a perfect one as they were not able to beat their longtime rival, West Chester University, on Friday. But the Huskies were successful in their meet at Susquehanna University for their first win of the season.

The Huskies hosted the Golden Rams at the Nelson Field House this past Friday night for their opening meet, there was a palpable energy as these two rivals would square off yet again. This meet marked the return of redshirt junior Kyle Dix, as he would go on to take three first place wins in the meet. Winning the 50-yard freestyle at 21 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle at 46.33 seconds, he showed he could still swim just as hard after missing last season due to injury.

More victories came when junior Jordan Wyant emerged victorious in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:45.20. Junior Matt Rocci had a fantastic 100-yard breaststroke as he just barely beat a West Chester swimmer with a time of 56.60. The 200-yard freestyle relay was also a success for the men as the team of freshman Logan Baker, junior Colin Bauer, sophomore Colin Hummel and Dix took the win with a time of 89 seconds.

Despite all these individual victories, the team was just not able to overcome the Golden Rams as the Huskies would be defeated by a score of 115-90. It was not a total loss, as the men sported 20 qualifying marks for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) by the end of the meet.

The Huskies would rally hard from this loss however, as their journey to Susquehanna University proved to be more prosperous.

The meet began with a decisive victory in the 200-yard medley relay as the team of Rocci, Dix, senior Matt Schulz, and freshman Pat Agnew took first with a time of 1:38.98. Only a 15-hundredth of a second behind was the team of junior Corey Smith, freshman Matt Marvin, freshman Jace Fry, and Wyant for second place.

The victories continued to pile on for the Huskies as first and second were taken in the 500-yard freestyle by Dix and Bauer, who both made PSAC marks. Wyant took the 50-yard breaststroke who was followed by sophomore Noah Cancro. Wyant would go on to take another victory with his 100-yard butterfly time of 54.68.

Colin Hummel would take first in the 50-yard freestyle followed by Fry, who both swam times qualifying them for conference championships. After taking second and third, the pair also qualified for the conference championships in the 100-yard freestyle. Rocci again won the 100-yard breaststroke, Dix the 50-yard butterfly, and Wyant the 100-yard individual medley, making it his third win of the day.

The Huskies would again take first and second in the 200-yard freestyle relay as their “A” and “B” teams were too much for Susquehanna.

BU will be on the road this weekend as they face off against Edinboro and Gannon this Friday and Saturday.