Cassidy Lynch of the men's swimming and diving team is breaking records early.
Lynch, a freshman, set UB and pool records this weekend at the SummaCare Invitational that was hosted by the University of Akron, where the Bulls finished last out of six teams.
Lynch began his assault on the record books at the Ocasek Natatorium on Friday. In the finals of the three-meter diving event, Lynch posted a career-best 316.35, destroying the old pool and meet record of 286.90. Lynch's preliminary total was almost as impressive. He posted a total of 290, outscoring the nearest competition by 105 points. The freshman diver's marks in the finals also surpassed a UB record of 314.10 set by Patrick Lee in 2004.
Senior Jeff Hurst also impressed, as he posted a season-best time of 1:56.21 in the 200-yard individual medley. The time earned Hurst a fourth-place finish out of a field of 24. Hurst's younger brother, Mike Hurst, also represented the family well. The freshman notched a season-best as well, with a time of 1:59.45 and placed 12th in the event.
On Saturday, Lynch continued his attack on history. The freshman diver won the one-meter title with a six-dive total of 296.90. In the process, Lynch broke two more records to add to his collection from the previous day. The total set both a new pool record and broke the meet mark by 15 points. The pool record had stood since 1998.
The Bulls also finished third in the 800-yard freestyle relay on Saturday. The UB team of freshman Michael Gerlach, junior Luke Adams, and seniors Kevin Gatley and Jeff Hurst finished in a time of 6:59.21.
Hurst also finished well in the 400-yard individual medley and earned a third place finish with a time of 4:07.61. He managed a third-place finish in the B final helping the freshman to finish 11th overall with a time of 4:17.02.
UB also garnered two scorers in the 100-yard backstroke championship race. Adams finished fourth at 52.86 and freshman Richard Shi finished in 53.86 to finish seventh. Shi also posted a season-best in the preliminaries with a time of 53.72. With a season-best time of 54.02, senior Kurt Bessel was second in the B final and finished 11th overall.
Gerlach gained sixth in the A final of the 200-yard freestyle. His time of 1:44.98 was just .01 of a second off of his season-best. Gatley posted a time of 1:45.39 to finish second in the B final and 10th overall. The time was a season-best for Gatley.
More personal and team bests followed for the UB team on Sunday. Adams set two marks on the day. He set a lifetime-best in the opening leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay and took third in the 200-yard backstroke with a UB season-best time of 1:58.83. Shi and the elder Hurst were not far behind with places of sixth and seventh, respectively. Shi finished the event in a lifetime-best of 1:55.89, while Hurst finished his first career 200 backstroke in 1:58.54. Senior Kurt Bessel also finished in the top 10 in the contest and posted his own season-best time of 1:57.83.
Buffalo ended the weekend by placing two swimmers in the top 10 of the 200-yard butterfly. Fresh off a lifetime-best time of 1:57.21 in the preliminary round, the freshman Hurst placed sixth in 1:58.87. Junior Aaron Mossinger actually touched the wall first for UB with a time of 1:58.18 but garnered a ninth-place finish overall.
The team title went to St. Bonaventure with a total of 1,630.5 points. Xavier, Clarion University, Duquesne and Ohio followed the Bonnies, with UB rounding out the field with 892 total points.
UB has a break of over a month thanks to the holidays. The team will then visit cross-town rival Canisius on Jan. 12 at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
