Six Men's Swimmers Named to Academic All-MAC Team

BUFFALO, NY – Six University at Buffalo men's swimmers have been selected to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming and Diving team, the league announced the list from its Cleveland headquarters on Thursday.

Senior Mike Hurst (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena), junior Richard Shi (Ottawa, Ontario/Merivale) and sophomores Michael McDowell (Rush, NY/Rush Henrietta), Kevin Song (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Robert Borden), Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario/Newmarket) and Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna) were named to the team that included 21 student-athletes from the four MAC schools that sponsor men's swimming.

Mike Hurst

Hurst, an industrial engineering and business management major with a 3.52 GPA, served as the Bulls' team captain in 2008. He posted a pair of season-best butterfly times at the MAC/Sun Belt Championships in Nashville last month. Hurst finished ninth among MAC swimmers in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:58.75 and 15th in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.60.

Richard Shi

Shi, a biomedical pharmacology major with a 3.59 GPA, earned the honor for the second time in his career. Shi set lifetime-bests in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.51), finishing 11th and 500-yard freestyle (4:49.50), finishing 14th at the MAC/Sun Belt Championships. He also posted a season-best mark of 1:57.25 in the 200-yard backstroke, placing 13th at the meet. Part of UB’s 400 and 800 freestyle relays that posted season-best times at the meet.

Michael McDowell

McDowell, a mathematics major with a 3.778 GPA, earned All-MAC honors at the MAC/Sun Belt Championships with second-place finishes on both the one- and three-meter springboards. McDowell set the UB school records in both disciplines earlier this season. He also became the first men's diver to represent UB at the NCAA National Championships after his second-place finish in the platform competition at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships at UB's Alumni Arena Natatorium. McDowell has also been honored by the MAC as its Swimmer of the Week three times this season and the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Week twice.

Kevin Song

Song, a biomedical pharmacology major with a 3.925 GPA, finished 11th among all MAC entrants in both breaststroke races at the MAC/Sun Belt Championships. He turned in a season-best time of 1:01.25 in the 100-yard race and finished the 200-yard distance in 2:11.16.

Andrew Tamchyna

Tamchyna, an engineering physics major with a 3.902 GPA, earned All-MAC honors with lifetime-best times in all three of his individual races at the MAC/Sun Belt Championships. He had third-place finishes in both backstroke races with a 51.45 in the 100-yard distance and a 1:51.57 in the 200-yard event. He also finished 13th in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:58.04 and swam on three relay teams that posted season-best marks at the meet.

Connor Vander Zalm

Vander Zalm, a management major with a 3.816 GPA, also earned All-MAC honors with lifetime-bests in all three of his individual races. He finished third among MAC swimmers in the 1,650-yard freestyle (15:55.41) and the 400-yard individual medley (4:07.76) and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:38.73). His 15:55.41 clocking in the 1,650-yard freestyle sliced nearly 20 seconds off his previous best and was nearly 45 seconds better than his finish in the event at the 2007 MAC Championships in Buffalo. Vander Zalm also won the MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week award on October 16 after his season-opening performances at the WNY Invitational.

The Bulls were second only to league champion Eastern Michigan in Academic All-MAC members. Eastern Michigan placed nine indiviudals to UB's six. Ball State garnered four spots and Miami (OH) placed two.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments from the current season only are considered. The Academic All-MAC team is voted on by the league's faculty athletic representatives. The total number of honorees is set for a specific sport or 33 percent of all nominees, whichever is greater.