Akron Invite
Men's Swimmers Win Zippy Invitational; Women Place Fourth
12/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving team claimed the team championship of University of Akron's Zippy Invitational while the UB women finished fourth as action concluded Sunday evening at Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
The Bulls won a pair of individual events and the swept the final relay on Sunday. UB also posted four second-place finishes on the day.
Brittney Kuras took the women's 100-yard freestyle in a season-best 50.32. Mallory Morrell placed fourth in the final in 51.48, also a season-best.
Kuras also anchored the victorious women's 400-yard freestyle relay. The foursome of Morrell, Marissa Murphy, Becky Evangelista and Kuras finished in 3:25.04, nearly eight seconds ahead of the relay squad's previous best from last month.
Eric Culver claimed the men's 200-yard butterfly in a season-best 1:49.63 while also breaking the meet record by three-quarters of a second. Billy Patrum finished fifth in the final in 1:54.92, a season-best for the freshman.
The UB men closed out the meet with a victory in the men's 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event of competition. Antonio Lanzi, Tommy Steele, Matt Hogan and Mike Dugan combined to finish the timed final in a season-best 3:03.89, cutting 2.5 seconds from the relay's previous top mark for the season. The B squad of Cory Zorsch, Ryan Smrekar, Paul Garman and Austin Kowalsky finished fifth in 3:08.95.
Scoring second-place finishes for the Bulls were Jessica Powers in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle (17:10.87), Patrum in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle (16:07.80), Matt Schwippert in the men's 200-yard backstroke (1:49.62) and John Nord in the men's 200-yard breaststroke (2:03.73).
The UB men scored a three-day total of 2,112 points to easily claim the team victory over second-place Clarion (1,341.5) in the six-team men's event. The UB women finished fourth with 1,084 points. They trailed MAC rivals Toledo (1,697) and Ohio (1,211) as well as Illinois State (1,188.5) in the 10-team women's division.
"I am happy with the way we ended the meet. I felt that we were a little flat this morning but we did a much better job tonight," said head coach Andy Bashor. "Now that this meet is over, we need to focus on academics and training to become better."
The Bulls will take the remainder of December off for final exams. UB hosts Niagara on January 12, 2013 at Alumni Arena Natatorium in its next action.
Men's team scores: Buffalo 2,112, Clarion 1,341.5, St. Bonaventure 1,262.5, Bloomsburg 1,198, Indiana (PA) 986, Niagara 749.
Women's team scores: Toledo 1,697, Ohio 1,211, Illinois State 1,188.5, Buffalo 1,084, Akron 999, Clarion 729, St. Bonaventure 698, Indiana (PA) 548, Bloomsburg 439.5, Niagara 255.
