With a packed natatorium on hand, the UB men's swimming and diving team came up short on Saturday afternoon against Miami (OH), falling in what was both their Mid-American Conference and home opener by a score of 135-107. Despite the loss, UB swimmers turned in a handful of outstanding performances.
The Bulls immediately used the sizeable crowd to their advantage, scoring a victory in the first race, winning the 400-medley relay. The quartet of sophomore Jeff Hurst, junior Aviv Oren, sophomore Kevin Gatley and junior Jon Yarger finished the race, recording a time of 3:29.70.
Many UB swimmers also turned in strong individual performances as well. Mark Sy won the 200-butterfly with a time of 1:52.56, breaking the previous record of 1:52.68, which was set in 1992.
Hurst also had a big day for the Bulls. The sophomore captured two individual victories in addition to swimming the opening leg of the 400-medley relay. Hurst came up big in the 200-individual-medley with a time of 1:54.86 and followed with a win in the 200-backstroke finishing in 1:55.04.
Despite being extremely competitive throughout the meet, the Bulls only recorded one other event winner on the afternoon with Oren winning the 50-freestyle in 22.29.
In the deep end of the pool, sophomore Patrick Lee was competitive in both of his events, finishing second in both the one-meter and the three-meter diving competitions.
The Bulls look to move up in the MAC standings and register their first win on the young season next Saturday when they travel to Athens, Ohio to take on the Ohio University Bobcats in a 1 p.m. meet.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
