Penn State tops Bulls in final dual meet
The men's swimming and diving team concluded their dual meet schedule Friday afternoon with a loss at Penn State, 132-102.
Buffalo swimmers held their own for much of the meet against the Big Ten powerhouse.
Sophomore Jared Heine took second place in the 50-meter freestyle after clocking in at a season-best time of 21.47. Other second place finishers for Buffalo included senior Zach Ruske in the 200 IM (1:55.43), freshman Matt Hogan in the 100-meter freestyle (46.80) and freshman Matt Schwippert in the 200-meter backstroke (1:50.82).
Buffalo divers were also successful in preparation for the MAC Championships.
Junior Kenny Rhoades and sophomore Colin Patrican each took first place in their respective events. Patrician won the one-meter diving event with a score of 286.20, while Rhoades took the three-meter event after recording a season-high score of 346.45.
The Mid-American Conference Championships are set to begin Thursday, March 4, and will run through Saturday, March 6.
Buffalo comes up short at Penn State
Record-breaking performances were not enough to propel the Bulls to victory this weekend.
For the second consecutive weekend, the men's and women's indoor track and field teams traveled to Penn State to compete in the Sykes-Sabocks Challenge Cup. Despite breaking three school records during the two-day event, the women's team finished fifth out of 14 teams while the men took seventh out of 12 teams.
The men's team won the distance medley relay, setting a school record by more than five seconds. The relay team also lowered the Bulls IC4A qualification mark with the record time of 9:54.65.
The men's team wasn't the only team breaking records over the weekend.
Sophomore Kristy Woods won both the shot put and weight throw competitions. Woods remained undefeated in the shot put this season, and broke the record she set on Jan. 23 with a throw of 53-0.25 (16.16m). Woods won the weight throw for the second time this season, with her toss of 58-10.25 (17.94).
Both the men and women's teams are set to travel to the Akron Invitational, which begins on Friday at 5:00 p.m.
Toledo spoils senior day celebrations
Ten seniors were honored on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena as the women's swimming and diving team closed out its dual meet portion of their schedule. Unfortunately the celebration didn't last long as Toledo knocked off the Bulls, 159-135, to put a halt to Buffalo's seven meet winning streak.
Though the Rockets came out on top in the first six events, Buffalo battled back behind a strong swim in the 50-yard freestyle. Freshman Caroline Simmons finished in first place with a time of 23.64 and junior Jessie Koltz took second with a personal-best 23.85.
Simmons also took first place in the 100-yard freestyle (51.60), and anchored the 200-yard relay freestyle team to a win with Koltz and freshman swimmers Karly Moore and Sam Palma. Koltz added a first place finish in the 100-yard fly with a time of 57.12.
Senior diver Meili Carpenter finished off her career in Buffalo by capping off an undefeated season. For the third consecutive meet, Carpenter set a new personal record in the three-meter event with a score of 347.48. She also took first place on the one-meter dive after scoring 324.59.
In addition to Carpenter, other graduating seniors include Jessica Ballard, Kim Dale, Emily Day, Sam Eckert, Ursula Jeske, Sam Palma, Laura Powalski, Caitlin Reilly and Ashley Schaffert.
Buffalo will have a few weeks off before the MAC Championship meet begins at Miami University on Feb. 24.
