As the saying goes, some things never change, but for UB swimming and diving something did in fact change.
The Buffalo men's swimming and diving team broke a long standing streak this past weekend as they traveled to Ohio University and beat the Bobcats 124-119, making this the first time that a Buffalo team has defeated Ohio University (0-2, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) at their pool.
The intensity began with the opening event, as the relay team of UB sophomores Jeff Hurst and Kevin Gatley, along with juniors Jon Yarger and Aviv Oren, rose to the occasion and won the 400-yard Medley Relay in a time of 3:32.09. This win gave the Buffalo team enough momentum to continue their lead over Ohio during for the rest of the meet.
"Ohio University swims extremely well in their own pool," said UB head swimming and diving coach Budd Termin. "We have never beaten them at their pool, and our team needed to be ready to battle all the way."
UB junior Mark Sy helped the team to the five-point victory over Ohio, by winning all three of his events. Sy crushed his competition in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:36.28, which was 14 seconds faster than the second place finisher, Jonathan Palmer of Ohio, and six seconds faster than his winning time in last week's meet against Miami. Sy went on to take the 200-yard butterfly event with a time of 1:55.38, and the 500-freestyle in 4:42.11. Yarger also picked up points for the team as he finished third in the 500-freestyle, clocking in at 4:46.49 seconds.
"We had to move the line up around in the second half," said Termin. "We moved Mark Sy and Kevin Gatley to events we knew we could do well in, but thought we needed a win. By making changes you hope that it will help your score, and most of the adjustments really worked out."
Hurst also had an outstanding meet as he won two of his events, the 200-Individual Medley Relay in 1:56.54, and the 200-backstroke in 1:55.97 seconds. Teammates Luke Adams and Kurt Bessel finished behind Hurst in the 200-backstroke, rounding out the two and three spots with times of 2:00.22 and 2:00.76.
Oren had to fight for his first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, as he barely touched out Ohio's Donald Jupp by .02 seconds, with a time of 21.94.
"The competitiveness was really great," said Termin. "Right from the beginning that meet was very intense, and the boys really battled hard, taking one event at a time."
Buffalo stayed consistent with top finishers, as sophomore Patrick Lee placed first in the one meter diving event with a season best score of 263.93, which nudged out Ohio's Adam Thome who placed second with 262.58 points. UB senior Jim Taravella took fifth in one meter diving with 184.58 points.
"Most of these meets come down to close races," said Termin. "We really kept our composure through the Ohio meet and swam one race at a time. We could have easily lost, but instead of losing we won. Good teams find a way to win."
The Buffalo Bulls are now 1-1 in the MAC, and will continue their season when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. for the three-day Purdue Invitational, which starts on November 21.
