Jan. 5, 2011

Boca Raton, FL - Sophomore diver Maegan Butler rang in the new year with victories in the one- and three-meter diving competitions to highlight the Florida Atlantic University women's swimming and diving team's performance in the FAU Invitational, the first meet of the 2011 portion of the winter season, on Wednesday at the FAU Aquatic Center in Boca Raton.

The Owls hosted nationally ranked Louisiana State University and Purdue University while also battling strong Ivy League teams Brown University and University of Pennsylvania.

FAU tallied three top-five efforts and six top-10 performances in the invitational.

Butler had a consistent day, earning top honors with 252.50 points from the judges on her three-meter dives. She also scored 248.75 points on the one-meter board.

"I'm glad the day went as good as it did," stated Butler in a post-event interview. "This is a strong start after the holiday break. I know that I have still have work to do and can always get better. However, I am beginning to show more consistency in my performances."

Standout sophomore Eszter Bucz had another strong day in the pool with three top-10 efforts against some of nation's best NCAA Division I swimmers. She had her best showing in the 200-yard breaststroke, with a fourth-place finish (2:23.50). The Hungary native came in sixth place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.05) and concluded her day with a seven-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.30).

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Michala Nowak and freshmen Kristen LeGro, Kaitlin Smits and Emily Scraggs earned a ninth-place finish in 1:41.73.

The Owls will return to the pool on Saturday, January 15 when they travel to Gainesville for a meet against nationally ranked University of Florida.

*********************************** (Men's Swimming and Diving Recap)

The Florida Atlantic University men's swimming and diving team posted eight top-five and 23 top-10 efforts to lead a balanced effort against nationally ranked competition at the FAU Invitational on Wednesday at the FAU Aquatic Center.

While the Owls fell in all four dual meets, they were competitive throughout the invitational, losing to Brown University, 164-130, University of Pennsylvania, 170.50-128.50; and No. 22-ranked Louisiana State University, 173-107. The meet also featured Purdue University, ranked 21st in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America national poll.

FAU was led by junior Mikolaj Czarnecki, a winner in the 200-yard butterfly - one of four top-10 efforts on the day. The Poland native led wire-to-wire in the 200-yard butterfly to pick up a one-second victory in 1:52.05. He later posted a season-best time while finishing fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (50.76 seconds).

"We have been training hard during the holiday period. It felt good to get back into the pool in a competitive situation," said Czarnecki. "The entire team stepped up its performances today against quality competition."

Czarnecki also contributed to the seventh place 200-yard individual medley relay team and swam the anchor leg of the eighth place 200-yard freestyle relay. The medley relay team featured seniors Tyler Griffith and Adam Corbin, and sophomore Eric Williams. The freestyle relay team also consisted of freshman John Walsh, sophomore Alan Forbes and junior Jonathan Van Zee.

Corbin had a runner-up showing in the 200-yard freestyle (1:42.33) to go along with a fifth place in the 500-yard freestyle (4:41.62) and sixth place in the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.76).

Three seniors were key contributors to FAU's effort: David Rudolf had a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (1:53.69) to go along with a fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke (53.40); Tyler Griffith finished seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (53.87); Rafael Pena was seventh in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:44.55); and Michael Shimansky placed seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (4:44.47). Another key member was junior Csaba Pek, who had seventh-place efforts in the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.90) and 200-yard IM (1:57.97).

In diving, junior Ryan King paced the Owls' efforts with two top-five performances: a third-place effort on the three-meter board, with 251.10 points, and fifth in one-meter dives, with 218.65 points.

The Owls will return to the pool on January 15 when they travel to Gainesville to face nationally ranked University of Florida.