Swim Teams Post Ten to Mid-Major All-America Lists
4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
BUFFALO, NY – A total of ten members of the University at Buffalo men's and women's swimming and diving teams were named to the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major All-American Teams this week.
Women's swimmer Brittney Kuras was one of 32 named to the Mid-Major All-American First Team. Named to the honorable mention squads were men's swimmers Mike Dugan, Jared Heine, Matt Hogan, Josh Meints, Matt Schwippert and Cory Zorsch. Brynn Marecki, Mallory Morrell and Taylor Steffl were selected to the women's honorable mention list. This is the second time in their careers that Heine and Schwippert were named to the list while Marecki has now made the list for the third consecutive season.
Kuras set three individual records and four relay records at the MAC Championships en route to earning the league's Most Outstanding Swimmer award. At the NCAA National Championships in Auburn, AL, she broke her own records in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.87) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.67) while also turning in a 49.15 in the 100-yard freestyle, a quarter-second off her record time (48.90) from the MAC Championships. At the MAC meet, she helped the Bulls to first-place finishes in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Dugan was a first-team All-MAC honoree at the men's league championship meet as part of two relay winners (400- and 800-yard freestyle relays) and also had three second-place individual finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and the 100-yard butterfly.
Heine, a second-team All-MAC selection, was part of three winning relays (200-yard medley relay, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays) and finished third in the 50-yard freestyle at the MAC Championships.
Hogan won the 100-yard freestyle in a UB, MAC and pool record time of 43.45 to garner first-team All-MAC honors. Hogan also was part of UB's victorious 800-yard freestyle relay, setting UB's 200-yard freestyle record in swimming the opening leg. He also anchored the 400-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relays to victories.
Meints won the 100-yard breaststroke at the MAC Championships in a school record 54.94, earning an NCAA B cut and helped the 200-yard medley relay to a first-place finish and a B cut. Meints earned first-team All-MAC honors at the meet.
Schwippert earned first-team All-MAC at the league championships as part of three victorious relays (200- and 400-yard medley relays and 800-yard freestyle relay) and was second in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke races.
Zorsch picked up second-team All-MAC honors. He was a member of two relays (the 200-yard medley and the 400-yard freestyle relays) and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly.
Marecki established her NCAA B standard during the regular season as she posted a 1:02.89 clocking in the 100-yard breaststroke at the University of Akron's Zippy Invitational. At the MAC Championships, she was part of UB's record-setting 400-yard medley relay and finished sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Morrell earned first-team All-MAC honors at the league championships as she won the 50-yard freestyle (22.59) and and was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle final (50.07). She was also part of UB's victorious 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Steffl picked up second-team All-MAC honors as part of the winning 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays. She was sixth in the 100-yard butterfly final in 55.14 after lowering her school record in prelims with a 54.39 clocking and was seventh in the 50-yard freestyle final (23.29).
"It's a great honor being named a Mid-Major All-American. They have put a lot of time and energy to getting faster and they are getting recognized for it," said UB head coach Andy Bashor. "Next year, we would like to get more on the list and add a couple of NCAA All-Americans, which you earn by placing in the top 16 at NCAAs."
A total of 130 male and 121 female swimmers were awarded Honorable Mention status. Honorable mention selections are swimmers who were entered with NCAA B standards, but not selected for the 2012 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Fourteen collegiate swim conferences are designated as Mid-Majors: America East, Atlantic 10, Colonial Athletic Association, Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mountain Pacific, Missouri Valley, Patriot, Sun Belt, Summit, and Western Athletic. Institutions are also eligible by awarding fewer than half of the maximum-allowable scholarships (seven for women, five for men).
