Men's Swimming | 4/22/2021 6:09:00 PM

YORK, Pa. – It's been 62 years in the making, but the Bloomsburg University men's swimming team can now call itself Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champions!

For the first time in program history, the Huskies took down the competition at the Graham Aquatic Center to claim its first-ever conference title as they finished with 945 points – nearly 400 points ahead of second-place Shippensburg, which ended with 560 points over the two-day event. Gannon was third, followed by IUP, Clarion, and Edinboro in the overall team standings.

Of the 19 events at the two-day championships, Bloomsburg had a winning time in ten races - five individual and five relays.

Sophomore Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) joined former Huskies' great, Sam Feiser, by winning seven titles in seven events at the championships. Feiser accomplished the feat at the 2018 conference meet. Thomas won four individual titles - the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke, and the 100-yard backstroke - and was a part of three relay-winning foursomes - the 200-yard medley relay, the 800-yard freestyle relay, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. He broke two meet records and one conference record in the process.

On Wednesday, Thomas won the 50-yard freestyle (20.08) by nearly a full second and then shattered the meet record and the school record in winning the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:35.53. The previous meet record was 1:37.36, which was established in 2014, and the previous school record was 1:37.28 he set earlier in the year. Thomas picked up his third win on day one, anchoring the 200-yard medley relay team that captured gold with a time of 1:31.05. The sophomore sprinter swam a ridiculous time of 19.34 in the final leg to lift the team to a come-from-behind win over Gannon.

Then, on Thursday, Thomas opened the morning with his third individual victory with a time of 54.42 in the 100-yard breaststroke – nearly two seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Blake Nesbitt (Wind Gap, Pa./Nazareth), who finished with a time of 56.20. He concluded the morning session by leading off the 800-yard freestyle relay team that won with a time of 6:49.67. His opening leg of 1:37.53 gave the Huskies a four-second lead through 200 yards as Bloomsburg cruised to the win. He joined sophomore Luke Scoboria (Birdsboro, Pa./Exeter), junior Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove), and senior Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) for the gold.

In the evening session, Thomas won the 100-yard freestyle, shattering his own conference record in the process with a time of 43.35. His previous conference record came earlier this season when he posted 44.20 at the PSAC Invitational. He then anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay team that touched the wall first in 3:01.27 to complete the historic seven-for-seven effort. It was a close race until Thomas jumped in the pool and swam a 42.73 over the final 100 yards to give Bloomsburg a three-and-a-half second win over second-place Gannon. Joining Thomas for the last gold medal of the meet were Agnew, sophomore Gabe Deiderick (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), and Cancro.

As for the relays, it was another program first for Bloomsburg as the Huskies won all five races throughout the two-day event.

Bloomsburg's foursome of senior Colton Schnars (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte), Nesbitt, junior Jace Fry (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin), and Thomas won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:31.05 in the only relay event on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday evening, Schnars, sophomore Dan Mueser (Mount Joy, Pa./Elizabethtown), Deiderick, and Cancro won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:23.08, and then Schnars, Nesbitt, Mueser, and Agnew teamed for a winning time of 3:20.25 in the 400-yard medley relay. On Thursday, the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay teams completed the five-for-five sweep.

Senior Colton Schnars (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) added the other individual title for the Huskies on Thursday evening as he took home the gold in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.39. He touched the wall nearly two-and-half seconds faster than Shippensburg's Michael Salvatori, who finished second with a time of 1:52.77. It was the second consecutive year that Schnars won the event at the conference championships.

Bloomsburg opened day two of competition with a comfortable 199-point lead on Shippensburg in the team standings and continued to pull away throughout the final two sessions.

In the morning, the Huskies had three swimmers finish in the top eleven in the 500-yard freestyle as Scoboria led the way with a ninth-place finish after touching the wall in 4:48.58. Sophomore Jimmy Greek (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) was tenth with a time of 4:50.39, while sophomore Connor Empie (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) was eleventh with a time of 4:51.53. Bloomsburg then had five swimmers in the top eleven in the 100-yard backstroke, with Schnars taking second with a time of 50.45. Fry took fourth with a time of 51.40. Sophomores Luke Emig (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Tucker Ball (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) tied for eighth in 52.49, while sophomore Brian Harrell (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) was eleventh with a time of 53.39.

Thomas and Nesbitt followed with their 1-2 finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, followed closely by senior Chris Gleason (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) and junior Nicholas Madey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth), who were fourth and fifth, respectively. Agnew was seventh, Deiderick took ninth, junior Cameron Junk (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) was tenth, and junior Matt Marvin (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) placed thirteenth.

In the final individual event on Thursday morning, Cancro took second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:50.49, while Mueser placed sixth with a time of 1:57.61.

Greek gave the Huskies a solid showing in the 1650-yard freestyle to open the evening session as he placed fifth overall after touching the wall in 17:05.31. Thomas followed with his conference record in the 100-yard freestyle. Agnew placed fifth overall in the event, and Deiderick took eighth. Three others scored for the Huskies - Emig was tenth, Fry was fifteenth, and Harrell was sixteenth.

Schnars then defended his title in the 200-yard backstroke, with Ball finishing eleventh and Scoboria taking twelfth. Then, in the final individual event of the meet, the Huskies had six of the top ten in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Nesbitt leading the way with a second-place finish after finishing in a time of 2:04.44. Madey, Cancro, Gleason, Junk, and Marvin finished fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, and tenth, respectively.

Bloomsburg's program started in the 1959-60 season under head coach Don Heilman. The Huskies had never finished higher than second over the first 61 years of the program, with their first runner-up finish coming in the 1967-68 season under head coach Cecil Tuberville. Bloomsburg didn't have another runner-up finish under current head coach Stu Marvin guided the Huskies to seven second-place finishes in the last eight seasons, including the last five conference championships. The program's first-ever conference title comes in Marvin's thirteenth season as the head coach of the Huskies.

The women's team will begin its quest for its first-ever conference title on Friday morning from the Graham Aquatic Center.

BLOOMSBURG RESULTS (THURSDAY)

500 FREE
9. Luke Scoboria (Birdsboro, Pa./Exeter) (4:48.58)
10. Jimmy Greek (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) (4:50.39)
11. Connor Empie (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) (4:51.53)
Logan Baker (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) X(5:06.75)

100 BACK
2. Colton Schnars (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) (50.45)
4. Jace Fry (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin) (51.40)
8t. Luke Emig (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (52.49)
8t. Tucker Ball (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) (52.49)
11. Brian Harrell (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) (53.39)

100 BREAST
1. Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (54.42) - PSAC CHAMPION
2. Blake Nesbitt (Wind Gap, Pa./Nazareth) (56.20)
4. Chris Gleason (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) (57.14)
5. Nicholas Madey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) (57.63)
7. Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) (57.85)
9. Gabe Deiderick (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (58.75)
10. Cameron Junk (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) (58.82)
13. Matt Marvin (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) (59.81)

200 FLY
2. Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) (1:50.96)
6. Dan Mueser (Mount Joy, Pa./Elizabethtown) (1:57.61)

800 FREE RELAY
1. Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) / Luke Scoboria (Birdsboro, Pa./Exeter) / Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) / Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) (6:49.67) - PSAC CHAMPION

1650 FREE
5. Jimmy Greek (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) (17:05.31)

100 FREE
1. Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (43.35) - PSAC CHAMPION / PSAC RECORD / SCHOOL RECORD
5. Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) (46.18)
8. Gabe Deiderick (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (46.59)
10. Luke Emig (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (46.98)
15. Jace Fry (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin) (47.52)
16. Brian Harrell (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) (47.66)
17. Dan Mueser (Mount Joy, Pa./Elizabethtown) (47.89)
19. Connor Empie (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) (47.99)
Logan Baker (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) X(47.56)
Reese Kurian (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) X(51.24)

200 BACK
1. Colton Schnars (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) (1:50.39) - PSAC CHAMPION
11. Tucker Ball (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) (1:57.39)
12. Luke Scoboria (Birdsboro, Pa./Exeter) (1:57.98)

200 BREAST
2. Blake Nesbitt (Wind Gap, Pa./Nazareth) (2:04.44)
4. Nicholas Madey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) (2:04.73)
5. Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) (2:07.36)
7. Chris Gleason (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) (2:08.83)
9. Cameron Junk (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) (2:11.95)
10. Matt Marvin (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) (2:12.53)

400 FREE RELAY
1. Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) / Gabe Deiderick (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) / Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) / Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (3:01.27) - PSAC CHAMPION