Jan. 18, 2002

PITTSBURGH-The first day of a tri-meet with Maryland and Big East rival Villanova concluded with the No. 18 Pittsburgh men's swimming and diving team holding a big advantage.

The Panthers won all nine events to build a 132-35 lead over Maryland and a 137-27 cushion over Villanova. Not only did Pittsburgh have every first-place finisher but every second-place one as well.

Sophomore Eric Limkemann (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) got things started for the Panthers with a convincing victory in the 1650 freestyle. His time of 15:52.45 topped teammate Hannes Kohnke (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan) by over 19 seconds. Maryland's Brad Schertle came in third place with a time of 16:16.81.

Pittsburgh then took a close 200 medley relay race with the team of Steve Siler (Chicago, Ill./Westmont), Raymond Brush (Katy, Texas/Katy/Nebraska), Brian Bonczek (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Michael Demos (McKeesport, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) swimming it in 1:33.92 for the win.

The Panthers had five of the top seven finishers in the 100 butterfly with senior Max Von Bodungen (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan) taking first place with a time of 49.73 seconds. Miah Heath (Estes Park, Colo./Estes Park) was a close second, just eight tenths of a second behind.

Siler then secured an individual victory in the 100 backstroke in 50.71 seconds. Ken Shelhorse (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) followed Siler in 52.07 seconds with Maryland's Erik Weinberg touching the wall third in 52.25 seconds.

Limkemann won his second event of the evening in the 400 individual medley, edging teammate Will Eden (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) by just 0.32 seconds. Limkemann won the event in 4:08.79.

Panther junior Mike Grube (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) was competing in his first home dual meet of the season and won the 100 yard freestyle in 45.19 seconds. It topped his previous performance at West Virginia by 0.04 seconds and he remains the second-ranked swimmer in the Big East in that event. Von Bodungen touched in second with a time of 45.88 seconds.

Brush won the 100 breaststroke for the Panthers in 57.54 seconds, topping Randy Gertenbach (El Centro, Calif./Paradise Valley) by just over a second. Justin Buland of Villanova finished in third place with a time of 59.09 seconds.

Grube, Von Bodungen and Heath teamed up with Adam Webber (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) to record the top time in the 200 freestyle relay. Their time of 1:23.46 topped Pittsburgh's 'b' team by 2.56 seconds.

In the only diving event on Friday night's men's schedule, the 3-meter board competition was won by senior Blair Beal (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills). Beal's 305.10 points topped fellow senior teammate Michael Wells (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) by 7.95.

In the third dual competition, Maryland leads Villanova, 109-51. The meet will conclude tomorrow at 9 a.m. on Senior Recognition Day at Trees Pool.