"UB swims to eighth, Brankovsky takes top honors"

Broken records, a repeat champion and top honors only meant one thing this weekend: UB was well represented at the Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Buffalo was led by senior swimmer Jennefer Brankovsky, who returaned to UB from Ohio University with a slew of honors.

Brankovsky captured her second-straight victory in the 400-yard individual medley on Friday night with a time of 4:22.41, touching the wall three-tenths of a second ahead of Miami's Laura Armbruster.

UB's top swimmer was also victorious the night before in the 200-yard individual medley, swimming her way to a first place finish in 2:02.94, a second slower than her record time when she won the event in 2003.

Brankovsky won an additional event for the second time in three years on Saturday. However, this time Brankovsky was able to beat her own school record in the 200-yard breaststroke, making her way to the wall in 2:17.26 over her 2003 first place MAC Championship time of 2:17.98.

In addition to her three first-place finishes, Brankovsky left the Ohio Aquatics Center with three NCAA "B" cuts, a spot on the All-MAC first team for the fourth year in a row, her second title in three years as Most Outstanding Swimmer, and the title Senior Swimmer of the Year.

"Obviously it's been an outstanding career for her and finishing it with three MAC titles is something we're proud of for her and the University," stated Bulls' head coach Dorsi Raynolds in a press release. "Earning MAC Outstanding Swimmer of the Year for two of the last three years shows that her hard work and dedication paid off."

While Brankovsky set records and won titles, her teammates had their chance to shine in their events.

Sophomore Kahla Walkinshaw set two season bests in the pool, placing fourth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:05.43 and swimming the 100-yard butterfly in 57.22 in the preliminary round. Walkinshaw would place seventh in the championship round of the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.58.

Senior Janet Reynolds posted a season-best 2:06.91 in the preliminary round of the 200-yard butterfly. Reynolds went on to place eighth in the championship round with a score of 2:07.64.

UB's relay teams were also successful in posting season bests in both the 400- and 800-yard events. Buffalo's 400-yard medley team, comprised of Brankovsky, Walkinshaw, Danielle Gervais and Frances Stephenson, completed the event in a season-best time of 3:56.12, good for a seventh place finish. Brankovsky, Stephenson, and Walkinshaw would also team up with Jennifer Raimondi for the 800-yard freestyle relay. The women swam the event in 7:38.70, a season-best time, to earn them an eighth-place finish.

In addition to the championship round success stories, Buffalo was able to win in the consolation round of the 200-yard breaststroke. Gervais swam in at first in the consolation round with a time of 2:22.39 for the win. Overall, Gervais placed ninth behind two swimmers who posted lower times in the championship round of the event.

UB also had success on the diving board. Junior Ashlee Burton competed in the finals of both the one- and three-meter events. Burton was the only Buffalo diver in the championship round of the one-meter event and finished fifth with a six dive total of 254.40. Burton also competed in the three-meter event, finishing seventh, right above teammate Kimberly LaHaye. LaHaye finished with a score of 407.05, qualifying her for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships.

"As a team, we swam very well in a much-improved MAC field," stated Raynolds. "I'm very pleased with the individual performances on the diving board and in the pool."

UB finished the meet with a cumulative score of 277, earning eighth place out of the nine-team field. For the first two days of the competition, Buffalo was in last place, but on the final day of competition, the Bulls were able to come together and finish 27 points ahead of Akron.

Miami (OH) dominated the competition with a final score of 562.50, giving the RedHawks their fourth straight title. Ohio University came in second with Eastern Michigan rounding out the top three.

Next on the docket for the women's swimming and diving team is the NCAA zone diving tournament, which starts on March 12. This is followed by the NCAA championships the following week.