STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The St. Bonaventure men's swimming and diving team made its season debut at Penn State on Thursday afternoon, highlighted by performances from sophomore Mark Mizsei and junior Joseph Pyon.
 
The Nittany Lions scored the team victory over the Bonnies by a score of 228-72 in both squads' opening meet.
 
Mizsei posted his highest finish of the day in the 200-fly, placing second with a time of 1:49.16. He also found the podium in the 100-fly, touching the wall in 49.40 to secure third place.
 
Bona also claimed silver in the 100-fly as Pyon edged out Mizsei at the line. The BYU transfer finished in 49.07, just ahead of Mizei's 49.40. 
 
Senior Mark Polos captured a second-place finish in the 200-breast, logging a time of 2:08.57.
 
Senior diver Ben O'Neill collected silver on the 3-meter board, tabbing a score of 272.55.
 
Freshman David Mutter earned his first podium finish at the collegiate level, grabbing third place in the 200-free with a time of 1:41.51, beating out teammate Kevyn Collazo Torres (1:41.64) for a podium spot. Fellow first-year Bonnie Blaise Sadowski also collected his first medal after touching the wall in 58.22 during the 100-breast, which was good enough for bronze.

In the 1000-free, Matheus Rinaldi clocked in at 9:32.83 to place third as well. 

Collazo Torres was also Bona's top finisher in the 200-IM with a mark of 1:52.83, good for fourth overall. 
 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MIKE SMIECHOWSKI
"We saw some great races today and put up many top-five Atlantic 10 times. We have the talent to compete for a championship but today was a reflection that we need to take steps mentally and culturally as a program. In order for us to win an A-10 title, we must beat one of the best mid-major programs in the country. We need to do a better job of responding to challenges and competing.

"Ultimately, today was a very positive sign performance-wise. Now we need to work on improving how we compete. Penn State were great hosts, and they are a very talented and well-coached team. I'm proud that we were able to hang with them in many races."
 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies have a second meet rapidly approaching as they will travel to face Fordham on Saturday at 1 p.m. on campus at Rutgers.

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