ST BONAVENTURE, NY – The St. Bonaventure men's swimming and diving team returns to the pool Friday Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. with diving starting at 5:00 p.m. to host Niagara University for their final home meet of the season in the Reilly Center Pool. This will be the final home meet of the season for the seniors, more information about the seniors will be at the end of this release.

St. Bonaventure is coming off of a 152-88 win over the Binghamton Bearcats on Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Reilly Center Pool.

In last week's meet, Jimmy Martin led the way with two individual first-place finishes along with being part of a first-place relay team. Martin took first in the 50 free and the 100-yard freestyle with times of 21.75 and 47.25, respectively. He then teamed up with Nathan Earl, Nathan Destree and David Erickson to take gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:13.35.

In diving action, Mike Murphy took first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter board with scores of 302.85 and 338.18. Alex Marra took third place in the 3-meter board with a score of 265.95.

Michael Pilyugin, Ripley Danner and Erickson all had first-place finishes. Pilyugin finished with a time of 1:43.53 in the 200-yard freestyle, Danner came in at 1:56.11 in the 200 IM and Erickson touched in at 1:59.32 in the 200-yard back. 

The Niagara Eagles recently fell to Canisius on Jan. 19 with a score of 72.5-168.5.

The Bonnies return to the pool on Feb 2 when they travel to Buffalo, N.Y. for the last regular meet of the season to take on the University at Buffalo.

Prior to Friday's 6 p.m. start to the swimming portion of the meet, St. Bonaventure will honor its one senior – Nathan Destree, David Erickson, Elias Homerin and Mike Murphy.

Nathan Destree
As a freshman, the Virginia Beach, Va. native finished 10th in 100-yard butterfly at the Atlantic 10 Championships with season-best time of 51.03.  As a sophomore, he grabbed a win for the Bonnies in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.13 and was part of a 200-yard freestyle relay team that took 1st place with a combined time of 1:29.00 during the win against Niagara. He also finished 2nd in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.05 in the defeat against Canisius. He posted a season-best time of 50.67 in the 100-yard butterfly at the Virginia Senior Club Championships. As a junior, Destree held the second fastest time on the team for the 50-yard freestyle, touching in at 21.19. At the A-10 Championships he clinched the top spots on the team in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly with times of 46.58 and 50.46. Also during Atlantic 10 Championships, Destree participated in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay that placed top times for the St. Bonaventure men. As a senior he took eighth place in the 50-yard freestyle and took 14th place in the 100 yard freestyle at the WNY Invite. He was also part of the 200-yard medley relay that took gold at the LaSalle/Xavier Quad-Meet. At the Zippy Invite he placed 10th in the 100 free. He was also part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that took gold at last week's meet against Binghamton. 

David Erickson
As a freshman, David Erickson, an Elma, N.Y. native, swam in the 200-yard backstroke at the Atlantic 10 Championships, posting a season-best time of 1:53.53. As a sophomore, he finished in 12th-place in both the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.1 and the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:52.70 at the A-10 Championships. As a junior, after the regular season, Erickson held the 22nd fastest time in the Atlantic 10 in the 200-yard backstroke, touching in at 1:58.11 during the 2011 Zippy Invitational. He went on to break this personal-best time during the Atlantic 10 Championships, coming in at 1:52.45 and placing him fourth fastest on the St. Bonaventure team. Also during the A-10 Championships, Erickson posted two more personal-best times; he touched in at 1:43.61 in the 200-yard freestyle and 4:42.63 in the 500-yard freestyle. As a senior, Erickson took 10th place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:58.47 at the Zippy Invite. He was also part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that took gold at last week's meet against Binghamton. 

Elias Homerin
As a freshman, Elias Homerin, the Rochester, N.Y., native placed fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle at the Atlantic 10 Championships and took first place in the 1000-yard freestyle in a win over Little Three rival Canisius, touching in at 10:03.72. As a sophomore at the A-10 Championships he finished 3rd in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:50.48  and he placed 4th in both the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34.86 and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:51.81. As a junior, Homerin swam his personal-best in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:41.99 during the Cleveland State meet and broke his other three personal-best times at the A-10 Championships where he swam a 4:36.01 in the 500 free, a 1:50.79 in the 200-yard fly and touched in at 15.55.31 in the 1650-yard freestyle, which was also good for the top spot on the St. Bonaventure team. As a senior, Homerin broke the Canisius pool record in the 200-yard fly, touching in 24 seconds prior to his closest Canisus competitor and was named A-10 Performer of the Week. He took gold in the 1000 free at the Canisus meet and Binghamton meet. He took first place in the 1650 yard free at the Quad-Meet 
and had three top-three finishes for the Bonnies at the Cleveland State meet. He placed second in the 1000 free (9:44.67), earned a silver finish in the 200 butterfly (1:56.90) and swam in for a third-place finish in the 500-yard free (4:51.12). 

Mike Murphy
As a freshman, the Sayville, N.Y. native was recognized as Co-Rookie of the Week and Diver of the Week by the Atlantic 10 Conference for his efforts against Binghamton and Canisius. He qualified for the NCAA Zone A Qualifying meet and earned a season-best 303.53 points in the 1-meter dive against Penn State. As a sophomore at the A-10 Championships he placed 1st in the 1 meter for diving with a combined score of 300.60 He earned a spot on the A-10 First-Team All-Conference for  1-meter diving. As a junior, he was named Men's Diver of the Year by the Atlantic 10 Conference at the A-10 Swimming and Diving Championships. At the Championships he finished first in the finals in the 1-meter with a score of 302.70 and placed first in the 3-meter competition with a score of 341.40,  beating out the defending champion from UMass. He went on to compete in one of five regional NCAA Zone Diving Meets at UB where he finished in 23rd in the prelims of the 3-meter and finished in 13th in the finals of the 1-meter. He was also named Performer of the Week by the Atlantic 10 Conference for his performance at the University at Buffalo meet when he broke his previous personal best for the 3-meter and scored a 350.70. Hewas named to the A-10 All Academic team for the second year in a row. As a senior, Murphy led the team during the Cleveland State meet, winning both the 1- and 3-meter boards. Murphy had a score of 379.73 in the 3-meter board that shattered the pool record. He also had a score of 332.25 in the 1-meter board.