Bulls Take Home Silver at the MAC Championships

Saturday, February 29

Buffalo, NY

Session 1 - 10:30 AM / Session 2 - 4:30 PM

MAC Championships

Bulls Take Home Silver at the MAC Championships

2/29/2020 10:55:00 PM | Swimming and Diving

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team earned 738.5 points through the completion of the 2020 Mid-American Conference Championships to earn the silver medal. Their second place finish marks the team's best finish at the MAC Championships. The Bulls had a firm grasp on second place throughout the course of the championships as they couldn't catch the seven consecutive champion Akron Zips.

Day 4 Recap
Brittney Beetcher had a banner championship as she added yet another medal to her collection this year. She claimed the silver medal in the 1650 freestyle with a season-best time of 16:32.49. Her time is now third on UB's all-time results.

Antonia Naccarella finished in third place in the 100 freestyle in 49.52 which is fourth on UB's all-time list. In the final event of the day, the Bulls took the silver medal in the 400 freestyle relay. Naccarella, Jillian Lawton, Andrea Ernst and Katelyn Burns finished in a new school record time of 3:17.42.

In the 3-meter dive, Victoria Franz took home the bronze medal with a score of 287.85. Journi Northorp and Patricia Arceri also made it to the finals podium as Northorp claimed sixth place with and Arceri placed eighth.

Head coach Andy Bashor got in on the awards as he was voted this year's MAC Coach of the Year. This honor was voted on by opposing head coaches. This marks his second Coach of the Year honor as he previously won it in 2011.

Also receiving recognition were nine Bulls that made the All-MAC team list, the most in any season in program history. Freshmen Antonia Naccarella and Katie Pollock earned First Team All-MAC honors along with Brittney Beetcher, Olivia Sapio and Nicole Roitenberg. Beetcher and Sapio made the First Team All-MAC in back-to-back seasons. Katelyn Burns, Andrea Ernst, Victoria Franz and Jillian Lawton earned Second Team All-MAC honors.

"This season has been special and I owe it all to the ladies on this team and the coaches," stated head coach Andy Bashor. "We knew going into the season that we would be good, but to come out and finish in second is unbelievable."

FINAL STANDINGS

Akron – 811.5
BUFFALO – 738.5
Eastern Michigan – 485.0
Miami (OH) – 408.0
Bowling Green – 293.5
Toledo – 283.0
Ohio – 262.5
Ball State – 223.0

For complete championship results, click here.

Day 3 Recap
The Bulls medaled in five of the six events held on Friday night, including the 100 butterfly, 400 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay. In addition, the Bulls broke three school records and a pool record on the night.

In the first event of the evening, Andrea Ernst finished third in the 100 butterfly. The senior finished with a time of 53.91. Clarice Fisher (54.58) and Jillian Lawton (54.92) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, to earn valuable points for the Bulls.

The Bulls took gold and silver in the 400 individual medley. Brittney Beetcher won the race with a time of 4:14.40 – setting a new pool record. Olivia Sapio also swam a strong race, finishing a close second with a time of 4:14.45.

Katie Pollock set a new school record en route to winning silver in the 100-yard breaststroke. The sophomore finished with a time of 1:00.78.

Nicole Roitenberg followed with a school record of her own in the 100-yard backstroke. The junior won the silver medal with a time of 53.37.

It was another silver medal for the Bulls in the 400-yard medley relay in another school-record time. Roitenberg, Pollack, Ernst and Toni Naccarella finished with a time of 3:38.33 – breaking the previous school record by over two seconds.

Naccarella placed fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.45.

Day 2 Recap
The events that took place on the second day of championships were the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and the 1-meter dive.

In the 500 freestyle, Brittney Beetcher claimed the silver medal with a finals time of 4:46.23.

Sophomore Katie Pollock and junior Olivia Sapio made the 200 IM finals. Sapio finished in fifth place with a time of 2:01.28, this time marks a season-best time. Pollock finished in a time of 2:01.35 for sixth place. Her time now moves her to fourth all-time in the event in UB's history.

A whopping five Bulls competed in the 50 freestyle out of the possible eight positions. Of those, Antonia Naccarella took gold in a season-best time of 22.48 seconds. Jillian Lawton was right behind as she claimed the silver medal just .16 seconds behind her teammate for a time of 22.64 seconds. Andrea Ernst (fifth place – 22.83), Katelyn Burns (sixth place – 22.87) and Elinor Duley (eighth place – 23.03) all had competitive races.

In the final swimming event of the day, the Bulls placed second in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Burns, Lawton, Ernst and Naccarella finished with a new program record time of 1:29.89. They earned the silver medal in a heated contest.

In the diving well, freshman Victoria Franz made her MAC Championship debut. She went on to receive the silver medal with a total score of 296.58 in the 1-meter dive.

Day 1 Recap
The Bulls shot out of a canon to start the championship festivities as the team captured the silver medal in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Andrea Ernst, Katie Pollock, Jillian Lawton and Katelyn Burns finished with a new school record time of 1:38.82, passing the 2017 time by .68 seconds.

The second event of the day was the 800-yard freestyle relay. This marked the first time this season the Bulls competed in the event. Brittney Beetcher, Antonia Naccarella, Jenna Krull and Nicole Roitenberg finished in a time of 7:15.38, the time ranks fifth in UB team history. This time captured the silver medal for the Bulls.