In their only meet over break, the men's swimming and diving team lost versus Binghamton, while the women's team split their meets versus Binghamton and Toledo.
On Friday, the men's squad traveled to Binghamton, losing against the Bearcats 144-98. The loss puts the Bulls at 2-2 while the Bearcats improved to 2-4.
At the match, sophomore Michael McDowell set Bulls records for the second time this season in both the one and three-meter diving events. In the one-meter event, McDowell scored 344.79 points for six dives, beating his previous record of 325.88 set in Oct. against Duquesne. McDowell also earned the three-meter record in the victory as he scored 365.40 points, surpassing the 356.92 he posted in the Duquesne meet. McDowell won the one-meter event by more than 70 points and the three-meter competition by nearly 90 points against Binghamton's Ryan Graham.
Bulls' swimmer Connor Vander Zalm was a double-winner in both of the distance freestyle races for the Bulls. Vander Zalm began with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:03.10, and won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:54.34. Sophomore Andrew Tamchyna won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:56.07.
In the 200-yard butterfly event, senior Mike Hurst beat Binghamton's Jason Chen by less than a tenth of a second with a time of 2:01.78. Chen finished the event in 2:01.86. In the 100-yard freestyle, junior Zach Ruske won the race in 49.22, with Binghamton's Brian Koralewski following close behind in 49.27.
The women's swimming team swam in two meets over break, visiting Binghamton and hosting Toledo. The Bulls split the meets, beating the Bearcats 140-99, but fell short to the Rockets 202-97, dropping their record to 3-4.
In the meet versus the Bearcats, the Bulls won 10 of the first 11 events, leading to a victory. Sophomore diver Meili Carpenter swept both springboard competitions, while the foursome of junior Rachel Sorg, sophomore Ashley Schaffert, freshman Jessie Koltz, and senior Meghan Lafferty brought home many events for the blue and white. The four took place in the 400-yard medley in 4:04.36.
Sorg, Koltz, and Lafferty also won individual races for the Bulls. Sorg took the 200-yard backstroke in 2:16.14, while Koltz and Lafferty swept freestyle events. Koltz won the 100-yard event in 55.12, and Lafferty won the 50-yard contest in 25.63.
Freshman Jordan Deren took the 200-yard freestyle in 1:59.74, while freshman Renae Sharkey was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:17.23. Sophomore Jessica Ballard finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:41.65, and sophomore Caitlin Reilly won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.99.
In their meet versus Toledo on Saturday, sophomore Bulls Andrea Lehner and Sam Palma put forth a strong effort. Lehner broke the Buffalo record in winning the 200-yard backstroke in 2:01.59, smashing through the original record of 2:04.38 set by Alexandra Barerra in the 1995 season. This record is the fourth broken by Lehner this season. Lehner also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.60, beating Toledo's Jacy Dyer who finished in 1:51.78.
Palma's victories were in both the 100-yard freestyle, as well as the 100-yard butterfly. In the freestyle event, Palma finished the race in 53.39, beating Toledo's Ashley Cusack by three-hundredths of a second. In the butterfly event, Palma won in 57.63.
On Saturday, both the men and women's teams travel to local Niagara to face the Purple Eagles. The meets begin at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
