The regular season began for the women's swimming and diving team on a sour note over the weekend. Buffalo lost both of its meets to conference opponents. The Bulls dropped the first match on Friday to Ball State, 155-88 and Saturday afternoon they were beaten again by Miami (Ohio) with a score of 196.5-107.5.
Since the first meet of the season was postponed, new head coach Andy Bashor feels that the Bulls were not as prepared for the weekend as they hoped to be.
"As a first year coach, I would have liked to have the first meet," Bashor said. "I have never seen the women race in any college level races. Having some races under our belts would have prepared the team better for this past weekend."
In its first meet of the year, Buffalo was able to claim first-place in three out of 13 races. Freshman Meili Carpenter won both the one-meter and the three-meter diving events. Carpenter scored a 262.5 in the 1M and a 271.43 in the 3M event.
Another successful event for the Bulls was the 800-yard freestyle relay. Buffalo was able to capture first and second with times of 8:04.22 and 8:13.06. The first-place team was comprised of freshman Kimberly Dale, senior Kahla Walkinshaw, freshman Jessica Ballard and freshman Emily Day. The B team was made up of sophomore Sarah Abbot, freshman Caitlyn Reilly, senior Eugenie Viale and sophomore Rachel Sorg.
Walkinshaw also competed in the 200-yard butterfly. She fell just short of the top spot in the race, coming in second-place with a time of 2:10.41. Ball State's Megan Ploetz won the race in 2:10.20.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, freshman Ashley Schaffert finished in second by a very slim margin. The Cardinals' Bekah Gingerich won the race in 2:27.67, edging Schaffert by .04, who finished with a time of 2:27.71. Buffalo senior Danielle Gervais swam the race in 2:30.02, which gave her a third-place result.
In another close match Buffalo's freshman Samantha Palma was beaten by .01 in the 50-yard freestyle. The Cardinal's Brittany Sayler won the race in 25.05. Palma also finished in second in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 54.33. The winning time was set by Michelle Huang at 53.36.
"This is a young team," Bashor said. "We have eight freshmen that are competing at a tough level right now. Their first college meet is different than any other competition they have been in before."
Saturday's contest against Miami (Ohio) would not help Buffalo capture their first victory of the season either. Despite losing the overall meet to the RedHawks, the Bulls were able to win five of the 13 events.
Carpenter had another solid day as she won the same diving events from Friday's match. Her score in the 1M was a 260.48 and she received a 271.80 in the 3M. In the three meter dive, Carpenter's closest competitor was the Redhawks' Alexandria Enriquez, with a score of 244.20.
Schaffert also gave Buffalo a first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:08.06. In the 200-yard backstroke, Reilly came in first with a time of 2:08.54.
The Bulls had a strong showing in the 400-yard freestyle race. Buffalo finished in first, second and third. The A team in this race consisted of Palma, Day, junior Meghan Lafferty and Reilly, who swam the event in 3:41.68. The second-place team had a time of 3:48.52 and the third-place team swam the event in 3:55.10. The B team swimmers were freshman Laura Powalski, junior Andrea Scharf, sophomore Rachel Sorg and freshman Samantha Eckert.
The Bulls fought hard in the 100-yard backstroke. Reilly captured second-place in 1:00.73. The RedHawks' Tenley Marsteller won first-place with a time of 59.89. Buffalo's Sorg had a time of 1:00.93, which was good for third-place.
Palma helped Buffalo gain third in the 100-yard butterfly. Her finish time of 59.61 was behind Miami's Diana Zeleznikar and Allison Way, who had times of 58.15 and 58.34.
"As a team, we need to work on the little things like finishes," Bashor said. "This will come in time as the season goes on. We are still practicing conditioning right now and are training for the end of the season."
The Bulls will be back in action on Nov. 3 when they travel to take on conference foe the Akron Zips at 4 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
