Women's swim team flounders in weekend meets

UB's women's swimming and diving team had a tough weekend, losing matches on Friday and on Saturday at the Alumni Arena Natatorium.

On Friday night, the Bulls (3-6 overall, 0-6 Mid-American Conference) suffered a 155-88 loss to Eastern Michigan University (6-3 overall, 4-2 MAC).

Jennefer Brankovsky continued her excellent season, scoring two individual victories and one second place finish for the Bulls, but it was for naught, as the Bulls would claim only one more first place finish for the whole match.

Brankovsky won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.38, and her time of 2:06.82 in the 200-yard butterfly earned the senior her other first place finish. Brankovsky's second place finish came in the 200-yard breast stroke, where she placed second despite both a personal best and a team best this season of 2:22.97. She lost by less than one second to EMU's Maria Del Mundo.

The Bulls' only other first place finisher, Kahla Walkinshaw, was successful in the marathon that is the 1,000-yard freestyle. She won that race with a time of 10:30.55, beating out the nearest Eastern Michigan swimmer by just three seconds. She took the lead at the midway point of the race and did not give it up from there.

After those two, the day was relatively bleak for the Bulls as Eastern Michigan took home first place in all the rest of the events.

Saturday's meet didn't go much better for the Bulls, as they got closer in the final score, but still ended up losing, this time to the Toledo Rockets (6-2 overall, 5-1 MAC) by a final score of 164-136.

Brankovsky, Tracy Hoover, Kimberly LaHaye, Bethany Miller, Tanya Ng Yuen, and Janet Reynolds were given special recognition, as they are all seniors and were competing in their final home meet of their respective college careers. For the most part, the Bulls' seniors were able to perform strongly in their final meet.

Brankovsky had one first-place finish, and two second-place finishes. Her first-place finish was a come-from-behind victory in the 200-yard freestyle. Brankovsky took the lead in the final five yards of the race. Her second-place finishes came in the 100-yard butterfly, in which she finished with a time of exactly 59 seconds, and the 200-yard individual medley, which she finished in 2:09.56.

Other seniors who turned in strong performances for the Bulls included Hoover and LaHaye. The two seniors led UB in a sweep of the diving events.

"Their leadership and inspiration has been extraordinary, and we thank them for that and wish them the best of luck in the future," stated Bulls' head coach Dorsi Raynolds in a press release.

This wasn't the seniors' last opportunity for overall victories, but it was their last home meet. The Bulls will finish out their season on the road, traveling first to Bowling Green where they will face Akron and Bowling Green on Feb. 4. After that, the team will end its season at Cornell on Feb. 12.

After they finish up the regular season, the Bulls will participate in the Mid-American Conference championships, which start on Thursday, Feb. 24, and continue through the weekend.

If the women are successful in the MAC tournament, they will proceed to the NCAA Championships, a meet scheduled to commence on Mar. 10 in Lafayette, Ind.