Niagara
Swimming and Diving Soars Past Purple Eagles
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
BUFFALO, NY - After a three-week hiatus, the University at Buffalo men's and women's swimming and diving teams showed little rust as the Bulls easily defeated Niagara at the Alumni Arena Natatorium on Saturday afternoon. The men defeated the Purple Eagles, 140.5-81.5, while the women were victorious, 147.5-88.5.
The Bulls won every event on the afternoon in both the pool and diving well. It was a balanced effort for UB as eight different men and nine different women won events.
Scott Huang won a pair of races to pace the men. The UB sophomore won the 1,000 freestyle in 9:42.31. He also won the 200 individual medley in 1:55.20.
The men's team took first, second and third in a number of events, including the 200 freestyle, where Oliver Patrouch took first, Martin Leigh finished second and Andrew Cole-Goins was third. The Bulls also swept the top three spots in the 50 freestyle (Antonio Lanzi, Itai De La Vega, Eric Jenson) and the 100 freestyle (Cole-Goins, Jonathan Ekas, Eric Forrester).
Other winners on the men's side were Jenson (100 backstroke), Billy Patrum (100 butterfly), Reid Zyniecki (500 freestyle) and Garrett Clarke (100 breastroke).
The men were also victorious in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
Individually, on the women's side, Paula Stoddard kicked things off by winning the 1,000 freestyle in 10:29.77. She finished ahead of teammates Hannah Miller and Spencer Rodriguez, respectively.
Megan Burns won the 200 freestyle in 1:54.43, edging out teammate Jessica Powers who finished in 1:54.91.
Powers stayed perfect on the season in the 500 freestyle, winning with a time of 5:08.41. Saoirse Palu-Benson took second and Claudia Casale finished third.
Newcomer Sharne Tiller, who recently joined the team and was swimming in her first meet for the Bulls, made a good first impression as she won the 200 individual medley and finished a close second to teammate Alexis Valedon in the 100 breaststroke.
Other winners on the women's side were Taylor Steffl (50 freestyle), Rachael Bertini (100 butterfly), Spencer Rodriguez (100 freestyle) and Nicole Rodriguez (100 backstroke).
The women also won both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
In the diving well, Daniel Roche (329.85), Cade Bennett (308.63) and Derek Linebaugh (305.85) took the top three spots, respectively, on the three-meter board and all three posted scores that qualified them for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships.
Linebaugh (344.70), Kristian Santos (300.60) and Bennett also took the top three spots on the one-meter board as well.
The UB women also swept the top three spots on the one-meter board as Mackenzie Moss (273.90), Valerie Lortie (264.60), Abbey Croce (258.45), finished first, second and third, respectively.
The Bulls will open Mid-American Conference action on Friday when they travel to Miami (OH).
