University at Buffalo
Bucknell Invite
Julia Box Breaks 200 Yard Butterfly School Record at Bucknell Invite
11/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
LEWISBURG, PA - The final day of the Bucknell Invite will be a memorable one for the Bulls when they look back on their 2015-16 season. While the Bulls had many memorable performances on the final day of the Bucknell Invite, Julia Box's performance in the 200 yard butterfly heads into the UB athletics history for breaking the school's record the event. Even more impressive, she broke the previous top-time in school history by more than one second.
Her record-setting time of 2:00.36 was good enough for a third-place finish and beat the former record holder, Brittney Walters, time of 2:01.38, which she set last season on the final day of the MAC Championships.
"Julia has been working very hard in the pool and getting stronger," head swimming and diving coach Andy Bashor said reacting to Box's accomplishment on Sunday. "Breaking the school record in the 200 fly is a direct result from the work she has put in. I am very happy for her."
Two other Bulls finished in the top-eight of the 200 yard butterfly. The aforementioned Walters finished sixth in the event with a time of 2:03.72, while Saoire Palu-Benson finished fourth with a time of 2:01.64.
Megan Burns capped off a successful performance at the three-day Bucknell Invite by hitting an NCAA "B Cut" in the 100 yard freestyle. Her time of 49.02 beat out fellow UB swimmer Sarah Baxter by more than a second for first place. Burns win in the 100 yard freestyle capped off a weekend that included two individual and two relay wins for the Rochester, NY native.
Scott Huang won the 200 yard breaststroke and achieved an NCAA "B Cut" with his time of 1:59.43. Garrett Clarke finished third by swimming the event in a time of 2:00.68.
Three Bulls finished in the top-eight of the men's 100 yard freestyle. Mason Miller finished second with a time of 45.33, while Eric Jensen and Antonio Lanzi finished in sixth and eighth place.
Jessica Powers won the 1650 yard freestyle. She swam the event in 16:38.59 and 11 seconds faster than her closest competitor. Hannah Miller raced to a sixth-place finish with a time of 16:58.48.
Charles Barry, Reid Zyniecki, and Bill Caffee finished second, third, and fourth in the men's 1650 freestyle with times of 15:37.14, 15:47.00, and 15:55.22, respectively.
Billy Patrum placed fifth in the 200 yard butterfly, while Barry finished eighth.
UB's men's diving team were successful in the well on Sunday in the three-meter dive. Troy Birdsall and Nicholad Rodriquez finished first and second with scores of 328.50 and 327.10, respectively. Derek Linebaugh and Daniel Roche also finished in the top-eight by placing fifth and seventh.
Coach Bashor was pleasantly pleased with how the UB swimming and diving program competed at the Bucknell Invite over the three days of competition.
"I am proud of the way the team competed this weekend. It was a great, competitive meet and we rose to the challenge. The team has been committed to the training and it showed this weekend."
The men finished second at the Bucknell Invite with 1476 points, while the women placed third as a team with 1073.5 points. William and Mary men's and women's teams both won the BucknellInvite with 1597 and 1315.5 points, respectively.
UB will next compete in January when the Bulls travel to take on Niagara on the 15th. The men's team will then host MAC rivals Miami (OH) on the 16th. Both matches are set to start at 1:00 pm.
