Akron Invite
Bulls Complete Zippy Invitational
12/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo's men's and women's swimming and diving teams completed competition on Sunday at the University of Akron's Zippy Invitational at Ocasek Natatorium. The UB men placed second with 1,550 points while the women finished third with 960.5 points.
The UB men claimed three first-place finishes on Sunday, bringing the team's total to 11 over the three-day meet, including four of the five relays.
Matt Hogan won his third individual event in as many nights with his victory in the 100-yard freestyle. Hogan set a meet and pool record to win the event in 44.60 as the Bulls posted three championship finalists. Mike Dugan finished fourth in 45.55 while Jared Heine took fifth in 46.31. Tommy Steele competed in the B final placing seventh (15th overall) in 47.18.
Matt Schwippert won his second event of the meet with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke taking the race in 1:48.73. He won Saturday's 100-yard backstroke in 49.66. Phil Aronica led the Bulls to the top three places in the B final, winning the race in 1:51.56 and placing ninth overall. Travis Bohn (1:53.04) and Eric Forrester (1:55.73) were right behind Aronica.
UB closed out the meet with a first-place showing in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay breaking another meet record. The foursome of Heine, Dugan, Cory Zorsch and Hogan touched the wall in 3:02.02, cutting their top time by nearly a second. The Bulls won four of the meet's five relays, finishing second in last night's 800-yard freestyle relay to Army as both teams bettered the meet record.
The Bulls also had a pair of top finishers in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. Freshman Colin McAllister took third in 16:12.33 while sophomore Eric Culver was eighth in 16:24.77. Culver also placed eighth in the 200-yard butterfly final in 2:03.43. Freshman John Nord finished fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:06.91.
The UB women were paced by a pair of championship finalists in the 100-yard freestyle. Brittney Kuras placed second in the A final in a season-best 50.40 with Mallory Morrell taking fourth in 51.32, also a season best.
Brynn Marecki finished fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:21.35 while Alie Schirmers raced in the B final to finish third (11th overall) in 2:24.22.
The Bulls also pair of scorers in the B final of the women's 200-yard butterfly as Dani Adank finished fourth (12th overall) in 2:08.16 with Taylor Lansing fifth (13th overall) in a season-best 2:08.20.
The UB women ended the meet with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the foursome of Kuras, Marissa Murphy, Taylor Steffl and Morrell turned in a season-best mark of 3:27.80, cutting a second and a half off the previous top time.
UB's men, last season's defending champions, finished second to first-time invitee Army as the Bulls scored 1,550 points to the Cadets' 1,832 in the nine-team men's competition. The UB women finished third among 14 schools with 960.5 points trailing only Mid-American Conference foes Ohio (1,442) and Toledo (1,343) in the final standings. The UB women finished the meet with two event championships, the 200-yard freestyle relay and Morrell's win in the 50-yard freestyle on Friday night.
Head coach Andy Bashor commented on his team's successes following the meet. "I am so proud of this team. Their effort and preparation was outstanding," said Bashor. "We need to continue to work better at practice so we can peak at the end of the year. All in all, I'm very happy and encouraged for our conference meet at the end of the year."
Men's final scores: Army 1,832; Buffalo 1,550; Xavier 1,292; Clarion 1,087; St. Bonaventure 863; Indiana (PA) 603; Niagara 548; Bloomsburg 358; Shippensburg 335.
Women's final scores: 1. Ohio 1,442; Toledo 1,343; Buffalo 960.5; Illinois State 908.5; Army 734; Clarion 680.5; Akron 605; Xavier 496.5; Duquesne 438; Indiana (PA) 395.5; Bloomsburg 359.5; St. Bonaventure 271; Shippensburg 208; Niagara 173.
