Swimming against defending champions can be difficult – especially when you have another meet the following day – but a little home cooking can go a long way.
This past weekend the men's and women's swimming & diving teams hosted their first two Mid-American Conference contests of the season. On Friday, Buffalo faced the defending MAC Champion Eastern Michigan Eagles and followed with Ball State less than 24 hours later.
The women's team (3-2, 2-2 MAC) swept the weekend, knocking off Eastern Michigan (3-2, 2-2 MAC) 166-128 and beating Ball State (1-3, 1-3 MAC) 161-137.
The men's team (2-1, 1-1 MAC) lost against the talented Eagles (2-0, 1-0 MAC) 180-120, but bounced back in a 158-137 win against Ball State (0-1, 0-1 MAC).
The races began Friday with a Buffalo win in the women's 4x400 medley relay. The team of senior Jessica Ballard, sophomore Brynn Marecki, senior Sam Palma and freshman Caroline Simmons took first place with a time of 3:52.78. Buffalo's 'B' team followed with a time of 3:55.97.
But EMU recovered. The Eagles showed why they are the defending MAC champions when the team finishing first in the men's 4x400 medley relay.
Sophomore Jared Heine got the men's team its first win of the day, placing first in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:43.87. Junior Kenny Rhoades followed with another standout performance on the diving boards. He won the men's one-meter diving competition with a score of 280.87.
Freshman Matt Schwippert also had a standout day as he swam a 51.67 in the 100-butterfly, good enough for first place.
But these efforts weren't enough as the Eastern Michigan men placed first in 10 out of the 13 events.
'Eastern [Michigan], on the men's side, swam tremendous,' said head coach Andy Bashor.
On the women's side, the Bulls became the first team to beat Eastern Michigan in Buffalo history. Although Buffalo performed well, Eastern Michigan's loss could be attributed to their hectic schedule.
'I think travel caught up to [the Eastern Michigan women],' Bashor said. 'They didn't seem as good as they have in the previous meets. It's tough to travel and they got in at about midnight last night so it's tough to come back from it.'
Despite their opponent's traveling schedule, the Bulls' strong effort also led them to victory.
'We performed really well over the weekend,' Bashor said. 'Last night was a really big win for the women.'
Against Ball State, the women's team set out to continue the momentum built against the Eagles while the men's team tried to bounce back from the lopsided loss.
Both teams came out victors, ending the weekend road trip on a positive note. The women's team ended up winning 11 of 14 events, and the men rebounded from the loss, winning eight of 14 events.
Friday's women's 4x400 medley relay team again set the pace for the meet, winning the event again on Saturday. Marecki continued the team's success with a combination of wins in the 100-breaststroke (1:07.51) and the 200-breaststroke (2:24.61). Simmons followed with a victory in the 100-freestyle.
Rhoades once again dominated on the diving boards for the men's team, scoring 297.22 in the one-meter event. Senior Meili Carpenter won the women's one-meter competition by almost 80 points with a score of 303.
'We did fabulous today and yesterday,' said Bulls diving coach Karla Helder. 'Yesterday was our highly intensive meet and putting all the mechanics together with all of the new dives we were doing went really well.'
Both teams race next at the Wildcat Invitational in Arizona from Nov. 20-22.
E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
