Heading into the Mid-American Conference Championships on Wednesday, the women's swimming team looked to improve from its fifth place finish last year.
???The Bulls failed to meet that goal when the last swimmer got out of the water at Cooper Pool on Saturday.
???The Bulls (9-3, 4-3 MAC) finished sixth with 335 points, while the Miami RedHawks (9-2, 6-1 MAC) were named conference champions with 639.5 points. The hosts of the event, the Bowling Green Falcons (2-5, 2-5 MAC), finished in seventh place with 305.5 points.
???On Wednesday, the foursome of junior Jessica Ballard, freshman Brynn Marecki, junior Sam Eckert and sophomore Jessie Koltz won the 200-yard medley relay, swimming in a time of 1:39.74. It was Buffalo's first MAC Championship of the weekend.
???The Bulls set another record in the 800-yard freestyle relay, as Ballard, sophomore Jordan Deren, and freshmen Alison Schirmers and Keri Chandler swam a time of 7:30.39. The seventh-place finish bested a record set in 2000.
???Thursday was another day that was defined by records for the Bulls. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Koltz, junior Sam Palma, senior Andrea Scharf and junior Sam Eckert finished in sixth place with a time of 1:33.83. Their time broke last year's record of 1:34.52.
???On the third day of competition, the Bulls finished with three records in the 400-medley relay, 100-breaststroke and 100-backstroke.
???Senior Rachel Sorg, Marecki, Eckert and Koltz opened the meet with the 400-relay, where the group swam four seconds faster than Buffalo's previous record. The time of 3:44.39 put the Bulls in fourth place in the event.
???In the 100-breaststroke, Marecki broke the record for the fourth time this season, swimming two seconds faster than her original record. Her time of 1:01.95 earned her a third-place finish.
???Sorg broke a school record in the 100-backstroke. Her time of 55:26 also earned her a third-place finish.
???Other Bulls athletes earned personal bests throughout the day. Ballard earned a lifetime best time of 4:23:03 in the 400 IM, which put her in seventh place. Schirmers won the consolation heat in a time of 4:23.65.
???In the 100-butterfly, the duo of Eckert and Palma impressed many in the consolation heat. Eckert won the event with a lifetime-best time of 55.66, while Palma finished in 12th place with a time of 56.05.
???In the diving aspect of Friday's events, junior Ursula Jeske dove in the consolation finals, finishing in 16th place in the three-meter board event with 200.04 points.
???On the final day of the MAC Championships, the Bulls set four more school records.
???In the 400-freestyle relay, Deren, Koltz, Palma and Ballard broke a school record set last season with their time of 3:25.02. Impressively, the Bulls broke records in every relay during the weekend.
???Ballard, who swam the 200-backstroke, broke a school record with a time of 1:59.66, which led her to a fourth overall finish.
???Deren broke another record in the 1650 freestyle with her time of 16:46.06, besting a time set in 2000 by over three seconds.
???The Bulls will be competing again on March 13 in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, which will be held in Alumni Arena. The event will take place all weekend.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
