Bryant University men's swimming and diving freshman Ben Schulte (Mermaid Beach, Australia) made history on Thursday night at the MAAC Championships, winning gold in the 200 IM and becoming the first male swimmer in program history to qualify for the NCAA "B" cut.
After two days, the Bulldogs find themselves in sixth place with 106.50 points. Rider leads the way with 259.50.
In what has been one of the greatest rookie seasons in Bryant history, Schulte continued to turn heads on day two in Buffalo, N.Y. Already the school record holder in the event, Schulte broke his own record and qualified for the NCAAs with a time of 1:48.62. He won the event by less than a second over last year's champion Johnatan Gomez from Saint Peter's. In qualifying for the NCAA "B" cut, Schulte joins former women's standout Casey Ostrander as the only two to complete the feat in Bryant history.
Thursday's finals also saw another school record from a freshman as Colin Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.) broke the mark in the 500 free. He originally broke the record during the prelims and then went on to top his own time in the finals, finishing 11th with a time of 4:37.71.
Bryant also had finals appearances from Graham Beck (Danvers, Mass.), Pierre Le Guyader (East Islip, N.Y.), Ian Miller (Meriden, Conn.), and Adam Gauthier (Middletown, Conn.). Beck finished 16th in the 500 free with a time of 4:44.33 and Le Guyader matched his place from last spring, finishing fourth in the 50 free with a time of 21.00. Miller and Gauthier finished 14-15 in the 3 meter dive with totals of 184.40 and 178.70, respectively.
Day three of the MAAC Championships kicks off on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.
