By Harrison Leone
Staff Writer
The Reilly Center hosts its first women’s swim meet of the season tomorrow when the Bonnies welcome Cleveland State. The meet will be a rematch of last year’s contest in which the Vikings bested the Bonnies 141-96.
Coach Seth Johnson said his team is working hard to prepare for the meet.
“We’re having a tough week of training,” Johnson said. “We’re getting after it pretty good to prepare. Cleveland State’s always competitive.”
Johnson said he hopes his team takes advantage of hosting the meet.
“There’s definitely an advantage with our own pool,” Johnson said. “Teams don’t like coming into the Reilly Center, and that’s just the way we like it.”
The home opener comes after the team’s victories in last weekend’s quad meet in Geneva, Ohio. The meet was an Atlantic 10 only event, which was attended by Duquesne, LaSalle, Xavier and Butler. St. Bonaventure beat Duquesne 213-108, LaSalle 182-151, Xavier 224-97 and Butler 292-29. The meet was the first conference match of the season for St. Bonaventure.
Both LaSalle and Duquesne finished above St. Bonaventure in the conference standings last season, coming in 3rd and 6th respectively. Xavier came in one spot behind SBU last season, finishing 8th.
Johnson praised his team after a gutty victory.
“It’s huge,” Johnson said. “It shows where we’re at as a team. We’re really beginning to see the fruits of our labor.”
The underclassmen of the team came up strong for the Bonnies. Adelyn Graf, a freshman from Wilton, Conn. came in first in both the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM. Sophomore Lauren Caldwell was able to score second and third place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200 butterfly, respectively.
Freshmen Laura O’Beirne and Sarah Baker also swam strongly for SBU as both logged first place finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 100-meter, respectively.
Caldwell said the meet boosted the Bonnies’ confidence.
“It really showed what our team is capable of, but we still have a lot of work to do before the A-10s in February,” Caldwell said.
Having such a young team, Johnson said it’s important to get them the experience of winning on the road, particularly in the same pool that hosts the conference championships next spring.
“We always want to get our newer kids some good experience, especially at that facility,” Johnson said. “We swam well against good competition, and our ultimate goal is still the championships.”
Johnson also said he hopes to keep his team focused going forward coming off last weekend’s performance.
“This could turn out to be the perfect letdown weekend,” Johnson said. “If you swim well, you might get too content. It’s tough to come out strong with two difficult match-ups two weeks in a row.”
Caldwell agreed, St. Bonaventure cannot afford to become too complacent.
“Even with the victory, we’re still trying to remain focused and buckle down in practice.” Caldwell said.
Johnson stressed there is still work to be done for the Bonnies. This early on in the season, the focus of the team is on training and being mentally prepared to swim, according to Johnson.
“It was a good sign for our team, but we still have to show up in February.” Johnson said. “That’s when it really counts.”
