January 16, 2010

Bulls Barrel Over Niagara

NIAGARA, NY – The University at Buffalo men's and women's swimming and diving team was back in action this afternoon at Niagara with the men's team defeating the Purple Eagles, 120-105, while the women's team took their meet by a score of 129-105.


The women's team started strong with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay as Jessica Ballard, Alex Sweis, Logan Mason and Caroline Simmons took first in a time of 1:51.22, while the foursome of Karly Moore, Ashley Schaffert, Emily Day and Amanda Reall picked up second-place points in a time of 1:54.87. The women took first-place finishes in the next six events, as six different swimmers earned first-place points for Buffalo. Alie Schirmers placed first in the 1,000 freestyle, swimming to a time of 10:41.82, more than 30 seconds ahead of the closest Purple Eagles competition. Senior Sam Palmatook home the 200 freestyle event in a season-best time of 1:57.83, while senior Sam Eckert won the 50 freestyle in a time of 25.66. Alisa Koopman touched out the Niagara competition in the 200 IM, finishing first in a time 2:15.26, with Day taking first in the 100 butterfly (1:00.03) and Jordan Deren finishing first in the 100 freestyle in a season-best time of 53.38.

The men started in similar fashion, taking first and second in the 200 medley relay to jump out to an early lead. Matt Schwippert, Jordan Matthews, Chad Miller and Matt Hogan took away first-place points, finishing in a time of 1:36.49, while the team of Cory Zorsch, Kevin Song, Sterling Gell and Chris Berloth followed close behind in a time of 1:40.28. The men's team also saw a handful of individual winners, starting off with freshman Zach Rice finishing the 1,000 freestyle in a season-best time of 10:10.17, and senior Zach Ruske taking the 200 freestyle with a season-best of 1:51.44. Freshman Josh Meints took care of the 50 freestyle, taking first in a time of 21.91 and Jared Heineplaced first in the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.18. Zorsch and Schwippert also took individual first-place finishes with Zorsch taking the 100 backstroke (53.62) and Schwippert winning the 500 freestyle (4:46.95). 

 

"It was a good meet for us. I was very pleased with how the team raced," said head coach Andy Bashor.


The Buffalo divers saw their share of success with Meili Carpenterearning a first-place finish on the one-meter board with a score of 298.27, keeping her undefeated in the one-meter event so far this season. Colin Patrican also took first in the men's one-meter event with a score of 215.92, while teammate Kenny Rhoades finished in a close second with a score of 212.62. 

 

"It was good to get back into competition and I'm very pleased with where we are at this point in the season," said Bashor. "We're looking forward to getting faster in the upcoming weeks."

 

The Bulls will travel to Binghamton for a Martin Luther King Day matchup with the Bearcats on Monday, January 18. The meet is set to begin at 2:00 pm.