March 4, 2010

Bulls See Success In Day One

YPSILANTI, MI - The University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving team started off the 2010 MAC Championships tonight at Eastern Michigan University. The Bulls broke three school records in the first day of competition.

 

The Bulls kicked off the meet with a second-place finish and a new school record in the 200 freestyle as Simon Proudfoot, Jared Heine, Andrew Tamchyna and Ryan Smrekarfinished in a time of 1:21.93, bettering the time of 1:22.33 set last year. In the individual events, Connor Vander Zalm picked up eighth-place points in the 500 freestyle, finishing in a time of 4:35.70. Vander Zalm's prelim time of 4:32.94 was a lifetime-best time. Zach Ricealso picked up points in the 500 freestyle, finishing 15th in a time of 4:37.58. Rice's prelim time of 4:33.28 was a lifetime best by nearly six seconds.


Buffalo had a successful 200 IM event, as senior Zach Ruske broke the school record in the preliminary round, swimming to a time of 1:50.02, bettering his own record of 1:51.06 set last season. In the finals, Ruske finished fourth in a time of 1:51.41. Freshman Josh Meints finished second in the 200 IM, swimming to a lifetime-best time of 1:51.28. Chris Berloth finished 15th in a time of 1:54.84, as well. 

The Bulls had a handful of contenders in the 50 freestyle event, with Heine finishing fifth in a time of 20.66, after swimming to a lifetime-best time of 20.52 in the preliminary event. Proudfoot took eighth place in a lifetime-best time of 20.86. In the "B" heat of the 50 freestyle, freshman Matt Hogan picked up a ninth-place finish in a lifetime-best time of 20.95. Tamchyna (20.99) and Smrekar (21.16) finished 10th and 12th, respectively. Finally, the young 400 medley relay team ofMatt Schwippert, Meints, Cory Zorsch and Heine broke the school record by more than four seconds, finishing in the third-place spot with a time of 3:17.16. The time betters the record of 3:21.18 set last season. 

 

In diving, Colin Patrican and Kenny Rhoades finished third and fourth respectively, on the one-meter board. Patrican finished with a lifetime-high score of 312.00, while Rhoades finished with a lifetime-high score of 307.10.

 

The Bulls finish day one in third place out of seven teams with 189.5 points. Host team, Eastern Michigan leads the way with 214 points, followed by Miami (Ohio) with 197.5 points. Missouri State sits in fourth (179), followed by Southern Illinois (129), Ball State (89) and Evansville (50) who finish the first day in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.Competition continues through Saturday.