BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg University men's and women's swimming teams are coming off one of their greatest starts to a season in recent memory in 2012, and look forward to getting a shot at a perennial top team in the conference as they host West Chester on Friday, Oct. 26 at the Nelson Field House Pool.  The meet is set to start at 5 p.m.
 
Both teams swam to historic swims two weeks ago at Shippensburg.  The men earned a 115-90 victory over the Raiders, their first win at Shippensburg in program history.  On the women's side, Bloomsburg won seven of the 11 events contested to post a 116-87 win, it's first at Shippensburg since the 2004-05 season.
 
“The teams were very excited to come out of Shippensburg with two wins,” head coach Stu Marvin said.  “It's the greatest start to a season I've been around, and both teams are really excited for each other.”
 
Looking at the men, nine Huskies qualified for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships in February. 
 
Last year's team MVP Brandon Sherbo (Etters/Red Land) swam a top-10 mark in the 1000-free to get his season off to a great start for the Huskies. 
 
A significant factor to BU's win over Shippensburg was the team's performance in the 100-back.  Freshman Nick Angeny (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) competed in his first event in the maroon and gold and finished second in 55.10 seconds to help lift BU to victory.
 
The dual meet season is expected to be an exciting one for Bloomsburg.  Already matching its win total from a season ago, the Huskies depth can not only get more swimmers to the postseason in February, but can give the team more chances for celebration through the season by competing for some solid dual meet victories.
 
“We have the depth to win some dual meets this season, and that's not something we've really had before,” Marvin said.  “We try just to focus on good swims and good performances, but winning makes things much sweeter.”
 
On the women's side, the Huskies could not have been prouder of their efforts in their season-opening meet at Shippensburg.  It placed numerous first-place victories and turned in 11 PSAC-qualifying times to get the season started off on the right note.
 
Returning All-American Bridget Hilferty (Royersford/Perkiomen Valley) had a pair of individual victories in distance freestyle. The senior has become one of the top distance swimmers in the conference after finishing sixth in the 1650-free last season.
 
The Huskies welcomed a talented freshman class this season and it showed two weeks ago.  Kaci McIlmoyle (Landenberg/Avon Grove) and Morgan Johnston (Shippensburg/Shippensburg) earned first-place finishes in their respective events as four other freshmen swam to top-three finishes.
 
Senior Mel Redican (Dresher/Upper Dublin) sealed her spot at the PSAC Championships with a first-place swim in the 100-fly.  She posted a mark of 1:01.71 and is part of an experienced returning class for the Huskies.  Going through the season with the slogan of, “You have to swim the best to be the best,” look for Bloomsburg to give the Golden Rams a run for their money Friday night.
 
“We have a real energetic group who has worked hard in practice this week, and I expect the same type of results this weekend,” Marvin said.  “It's early in the season still, and we're going to find out a lot of things Friday night.”
 
Looking at West Chester, both teams won the PSAC Championship last season and have for a number of years.  It was the men's 14th in a row and the women's sixth in a row.  The men are coming off a narrow victory over D-I program Lehigh last Friday as the men hold a 3-0 record to start their season.  The women also picked up a victory over the Mountain Hawks to move to a similar 3-0 record in the early going.
 
After the meet with West Chester, Bloomsburg travels out to Western Pennsylvania to take on Gannon and Edinboro on Nov. 2 and 3, respectively.  Start time set for 5 p.m. against Gannon and 1 p.m. against Edinboro.