Swimming for three consecutive days is a pretty tough challenge. The men's and women's swimming and diving teams did just that while fighting admirably at the SummaCare Invitational at Akron, Ohio over the weekend. The men finished in fourth-place, while the women placed seventh.
On the men's side, the field consisted of 10 teams. Buffalo finished with 1,162 points. The Bulls finished half a point behind third-place Clarion. Ohio won the meet with 1,322 points. The Bulls improved on their finish from last year's meet of only six teams, and also increased their overall team points.
"We had pretty good performances in this meet," said head coach Budd Termin. "There were 31 lifetime bests this weekend, which is very impressive since most of the swimmers are freshmen and sophomores."
The men started out strong on the first day. At the end of this day, they were in third-place and trailed the first-place school by 16 points.
Freshman Michael McDowell was the first Buffalo diver to earn a career-high mark. McDowell won the three-meter dive with a score of 332.40 points on six attempts. This dive was one point shy of former Buffalo diver Cassidy Lynch for a school record.
The Bulls also earned a season best time in the 200-yard individual medley. Sophomore Zach Ruske came in fifth-place with a time of 1:55.88. This time was 0.7 quicker than what he swam previously in the meet.
Buffalo also finished well in the 500-yard freestyle. The Bulls were able to place three swimmers in the top five. Senior Luke Adams came in second in the A final in 4:38.92 in his first competition of the season. Freshman Connor Vander Zalm was behind Adams in third and swam the contest in his season-best time of 4:39.04. Sophomore Michael Gerlach recorded a career best time of 4:42.81, which was good for fifth place.
The Bulls continued their success on the second day of the meet. Sophomore Kevin Schuster finished in second-place in the 100-yard butterfly. He swam this race in a season best time of 50.97, which was two and a half seconds faster than his previous record.
Freshman Andrew Tamchyna placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Tamchyna swam the race in a time 52.13, which was a season-best for him.
Vander Zalm continued his great weekend on the final day of the meet. He earned first-place in the 1,650-yard freestyle. He swam the mile race in 16:13.96, which was eight seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer.
"It is important to continue to train to be able to swim like we did in this meet," Termin said. Our conditioning really played a major tribute in the way we succeeded during the weekend."
For the women, the Invitational consisted of 10 teams. Buffalo finished the meet with 993 points. MAC rival Akron earned first-place with 1,235 points.
"This meet was a good experience for our team," said head coach Andy Bashor. "The set-up was similar to what we are going to face during our conference meets later in the season."
On day one, Buffalo was led by senior Kahla Walkinshaw. She completed the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:05.30. This time was good enough for second-place.
Freshman Meili Carpenter competed in the one-meter board event. She finished in fourth-place with a score of 232.15 points.
The Bulls carried their momentum into the second day of the meet. Sophomore Rachel Sorg finished the 100-yard backstroke in second-place with a time of 57.98. Buffalo also received a solid performance from freshman Samantha Palma in the 100-yard butterfly. She swam the race in a time of 58.14, which was good for a fourth-place result.
Freshman Ashley Schaffert continued to excel in the beginning of the season. She swam the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:05.67, which claimed her a fourth-place finish.
On the final day, Walkinshaw kept up her great performance. She claimed second place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.76. She finished just three seconds behind the first place swimmer.
Freshman Caitlin Reilly raced the 200-yard backstroke. She swam this race in a time of 2:07.96, which was good for seventh-place. Her time was a season best for the team in this event.
"We need to continue our training," Bashor said. "I am proud of the way we swam in the meet and with more practice, we can excel in February near the end of the season."
Both the men and women will not be in action until Jan. 13 when they will face MAC opponent Ohio. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
