Eastern Michigan
Swimmers Put Together Valiant Effort But Fall Short to Eastern Michigan
1/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's and women's swimming and diving teams dropped dual meets to Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena Natatorium. The men (3-3, 1-1 MAC) fell to the Eagles, 151.5-148.5 while the women's team (5-3, 2-2 MAC) was defeated, 169-131.
The men's meet came down to the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay with the Bulls needing a victory and either a second- or third-place finish to clinch the meet and break Eastern Michigan's 61-meet MAC winning streak. The A squad won the race for the Bulls as the foursome of Cory Zorsch, Tommy Steele, Antonio Lanzi and Mike Dugan touched the wall in a season-best 3:03.68, however EMU's relayers captured the other two spots to hold off the UB B squad which finished .86 seconds behind the third-place relayers.
UB's men got off to quick start as they won the opening relay. Matt Schwippert, Josh Meints, Zorsch and Dugan combined to take the 200-yard medley relay in a season-best 1:30.75. Colin McAllister then posted a season-best 9:34.37 in winning the 1,000-yard freestyle as he passed EMU's Franco Petrone three-quarters of the way through the race and held on for the victory.
Dugan was a double-winner taking the sprint freestyle races. He won the 50-yard freestyle in 20.79 and then posted a season-best time in taking the 100-yard freestyle in 45.34. Meints and Zorsch also had individual wins. Meints set a season-best in taking the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.78 while Zorsch claimed the 100-yard butterfly in 49.13.
The UB women claimed eight of the 16 events against the Eagles as Brittney Kuras won all three of her individual races for the fourth consecutive dual meet. The senior opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.78. She then posted a season-best in winning the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:19.96. Kuras finished her day with a win in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:04.22.
Mallory Morrell swept the sprint freestyle races with victories in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.32 and the 100-yard freestyle in 52.49. Morrell also anchored both of UB's winning relays. She helped the 200-yard medley relay squad which also included Marissa Murphy, Spencer Rodriguez and Kuras to a season-best finish of 1:44.77. The 400-yard freestyle relay of Murphy, Jessica Powers, Karly Moore and Morrell won in 3:31.37.
Kelsey Barbour won the 100-yard breaststroke for the Bulls in 1:05.79, setting a season-best in the event and slicing a half-second from her previous top mark.
Commenting after the meet about the final race head coach Andy Bashor said, "They [Eastern Michigan] got us. Both the men and the women have to step up to the challenge." He continued, "These are both very good teams. Excitement, the thrill. Let this fuel the fire for the final five weeks as we prepare for the MAC Championships. We competed better as a team than we have all year."
The Bulls host St. Bonaventure in the final regular season dual meet next Saturday at 1:00 pm at Alunni Arena Natatorium.
