Swimmers Set to Open Season With WNY Invite
BUFFALO, NY – The 2012-13 swimming and diving seasons for the University at Buffalo men's and women's teams opens on Saturday, October 13 as the Bulls play host to Big Four rivals Niagara, Canisius and St. Bonaventure at the WNY Invite. The meet, at UB's Alumni Arena Natatorium, is slated to begin at 10:00 am.
A total of 18 men and 23 women return to the UB lineup from the 2011-12 season. The Bulls finished last season with 22 new school records as the men's squad placed second and the women finished fourth, their highest showing, at the 2012 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Headlining the list of women's returnees is senior Brittney Kuras, a first-team All-MAC and Collegeswimming.com Mid-Major All-American. Kuras became the first UB women's swimmer to compete at the NCAA Division I National Championships last March as she set two school records in her three events at the national competition. Also back for the Bulls are All-MAC honorees Mallory Morrell and Taylor Steffl, both of whom were also named to the honorable mention Mid-Major All-American list by Collegeswimming.com.
The men's team returns five individuals who earned All-MAC and Mid-Major All-American accolades last season. Senior Matt Hogan set three individual and four relay records to lead the Bulls at last season's MAC Championships. Also back are All-MAC First Teamers Mike Dugan, Josh Meints and Matt Schwippert as well as second-team honoree Cory Zorsch.
"We are excited for our first meet of the season. It's been a while since our last meet so it is good to get back into racing before we compete in dual meets," said men's and women's head coach Andy Bashor. "The team has been practicing well with a lot of effort over the past six weeks and now we get to see where we are at. Our goals for the meet are to race and have a lot of fun doing it."
The meet begins at 10:00 am with eight events (200-yard medley relay, 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard freestyle). The second session, beginning at 3:00 pm will feature seven events (100-yard freestyle, 1,000-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard freestyle relay). One- and three-meter diving events will also be contested on Saturday.