ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior diver Ben O'Neill paced the St. Bonaventure men's swimming and diving team in a 143-99 dual meet loss at Cornell on Saturday afternoon, earning podium placement from both boards.
 
The Royal Oak, Mich. native posted a winning score of 320.85 points on the 1-meter board before placing second on the 3-meter board with 319.28 points, ending the session as the Bonnies' best finisher and the only SBU representative to secure two individual podium finishes on the day.
 
Freshman Brady Huettl had a strong day as well and placed fourth on both the 1-meter (267.23) and 3-meter boards (222.15).
 
The Bonnies followed a positive showing in diving with multiple strong swimming performances.
 
Sophomore Mark Mizsei captured victory in the 200-fly (1:46.80) and was followed by freshman David Mutter in second place (1:50.01). In the very next men's event, first-year Bonnie Emanuele Zingaro earned a win in the 100-free (45.25).
 
Junior Johnny Edwards posted a winning time of 4:34.67 in the 500-free as well, being joined by freshman Matheus Rinaldi on the podium in third place (4:38.64).
 
Bonaventure's juniors also shined in sprints as Joseph Pyon and Carlos Hidalgo earned second (20.92) and third place (21.17), respectively.
 
Sophomore Connor Peck earned a second-place finish in the 400-IM (4:03.83). Later, fellow second-year Bonnie Grant Chapa supported the individual medley success by finishing third in the 100-IM (52.47). He was closely trailed by senior Boray Goren in fourth (52.52).
 
The Bonnies also locked down two podium placements in relay action.
 
Zingaro, Chapa, Mizsei and freshman Marcos Bravo posted a time of 3:20.67 which was good for third place in the 400-medley relay. Zingaro, Pyon, Hidalgo and junior Paul Wissel then combined for second place in the 200-free relay, which closed out the meet.
 
Other strong Bona performances included Mark Polos' third-place finish in the 200-breast (2:04.69) and a second-place finish in the 200-back by Henry Wilkes (1:50.87). Luigi Termine followed Wilkes in third place with a time of 1:52.81.
 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MIKE SMIECHOWSKI
"I'm really excited about how we swam and dove today. This is the toughest training block of the year, but the guys showed up and competed against one of the best mid-majors in the country. This was a good building block heading into the final month."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies return to the RC Pool to host Colgate for their Senior Meet on Saturday, Jan. 24.

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