SELINSGROVE, PA – The Susquehanna University men’s and women’s swimming teams will compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships at the Wilkes-Barre Catholic Youth Center beginning at noon on Friday, February 13 through Sunday, February 15.

A total of 13 individual and five relay champions will be crowned in both men’s and women’s competition. Preliminaries will be held during the afternoon session while finals will be contested during the evening sessions.

The Susquehanna men (4-5 overall, 4-3 MAC) and women (3-7 overall, 3-5 MAC) each finished seventh at the 2003 MAC championships at the Garrett Sports Complex. It was the men’s second straight seventh-place finish in the field of nine schools while the women improved one spot among the 11 teams in the meet.

Performance lists were released on Wednesday morning with final scratches and heat assignments to be announced late Thursday.

MEN’S PREVIEW

The Crusaders return three individual placewinners from last year’s championship meet, led by senior Jonathan Illuzzi (Boothwyn, PA/Chichester H.S.). Illuzzi is seeded sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:51.34), eighth in the 500 freestyle (5:07.95) and 10th in both the 100 backstroke (1:00.27) and 100 freestyle (50.39 seconds).

His time in the 500 freestyle was set against Lebanon Valley on Nov. 22 and is the second-fastest time in the event in program history behind Mike Mauriello, who swam 5:06.13 in 1995.

Last year, Illuzzi finished eighth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.57 and was 12th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.73.

Fellow senior Trevor Reeder (Hopewell, NJ/Hopewell Valley Regional H.S.) will also contend for the Crusaders, as he is seeded eighth in the 50 freestyle (22.73 seconds) and ninth in the 100 freestyle (50.37 seconds). Reeder’s time in the 50 freestyle is the fourth-fastest in program history and his 100 freestyle time ranks fifth.

Sophomore Nick Hoover (Langhorne, PA/Notre Dame, NJ H.S.) is a strong candidate to qualify for finals after his solid performance at last year’s championships. He is seeded sixth in the 100 butterfly (55.37), eighth in the 100 backstroke (58.65), and ninth in both the 200 individual medley (2:07.59) and 200 backstroke (2:09.60).

Like Illuzzi in the 500 freestyle, Hoover’s time of 2:07.59 in the 200 IM which he set against Widener on Jan. 31 is the second-best in program history, behind Steve Fischer’s 2:05.07 in 1998. Meanwhile, his 100 freestyle time is fourth-fastest and his 200 backstroke time is the fifth-fastest in Crusader history.

As a freshman, Hoover took eighth in the 100 backstroke (56.70), 11th in the 100 butterfly (55.98) and 12th in the 200 butterfly (2:11.58) at the MAC championship meet.

Senior Wade Znosko (Natrona Heights, PA/Highlands H.S.) returns in 2004 after he scored in a pair of events last season, taking 12th in both the 200 freestyle (1:53.19) and the 500 freestyle (5:11.87).

WOMEN’S PREVIEW

A pair of 2003 placewinners are back for the Crusaders in 2004 in sophomore Kelly Chamberlain and senior Christina Myers.

Chamberlain (Kingston, PA/Wyoming Valley West H.S.) placed in the top 10 in three events last season and is seeded 13th or higher in six events, but is allowed to compete in a maximum of three.

Last season, Chamberlain took sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:17.63), seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:03.64) and ninth in the 200 individual medley (2:19.80). Her best seed this season is a tenth-place standing in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.48.

She stands among the top10 in program history in eight different events, with her time in the 100 backstroke at last year’s MAC championships ranking second.

Myers (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield H.S.) ranks eighth in both the 100 backstroke (1:04.80) and 200 backstroke (2:20.32). She finished 9th in the 100 backstroke (1:04.42) and 11th in the 200 backstroke (2:22.11) at last year’s championships and ranks in the top 10 in program history in both events.

Junior Jennifer Roth (Columbia, MD/Riverhill H.S.) is seeded 11th in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:31.63 set against Elizabethtown on Jan. 29, the fifth-best time in the event in program history and the fastest since 1999.