MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving squad presented its team awards for the 2002-03 season at the annual Athletic Awards Banquet held at Samuel's Grande Manor.

Head coach Budd Termin made the following presentations: Patrick Lee (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) was selected as the Top Newcomer; Jon Yarger (Centre Hill, PA/Penns Valley) earned the Most Improved Player Award for the second consecutive year; Jim Taravella (Hamburg, NY/Orchard Park) received the Coach's Award; and Aviv Oren (Rishon Le-Zion, Israel/Makif A') was named the team's Most Valuable Player for the second straight year.

Patrick Lee

The Top Newcomer Award is presented to the individual student-athlete who distinguishes himself as the most talented new player on the team or the individual who accomplishes the greatest achievements as a first-year player. Lee broke the UB one-meter diving record with a total of 308.93 points in leading the Bulls to a dual meet win over Niagara on December 12. Lee also earned Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Male Athlete of the Week honors for the performance. In the MAC Championships, he finished second in the three-meter competition with 458.00 points. He also took fourth in the one-meter diving with 272.30 points. Lee also turned in a strong performance at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships hosted by UB. He placed seventh in the three-meter and eighth in the one-meter events.

Jon Yarger

The Most Improved Player Award is presented to the student-athlete who has made the greatest stride or improvement in his performance from the previous season or from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. Yarger placed sixth in the 200 and 500 freestyles at the ECAC Championships, establishing lifetime-best times in both races. He improved on his best 500 freestyle mark with a clocking of 4:36.60 in the 500 freestyle at the MAC Championships to place 13th overall.

Jim Taravella

The Coach's Award is selected by the head coach and is given to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the team virtues as defined by the head coach. The recipient is one who stands out in dedication, commitment, unselfishness and enthusiasm towards helping the team improve. Taravella scored a 13th-place finish in both the one- (209.70) and the three-meter (319.40) diving events at the MAC Championships after posting a top three-meter score of 365.10 and finishing seventh in both events at the ECAC Championships the previous week.

Aviv Oren

The Most Valuable Player Award is given to the student-athlete who makes the most significant contribution to the accomplishments of the team through his skills and leadership. Oren became UB's second MAC individual champion and first since 1999 when he won the 100 breaststroke by touching out Eastern Michigan's John Bartlet by one-hundredth of a second. Oren placed first in 56.88 to Bartlet's 56.89. The clocking was a lifetime best and broke the school record of Carl Carlson (57.41) set in 1996. Oren earned first-team All-MAC honors at the meet and also finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.03) and posted lifetime-bests in both sessions of the 50 freestyle, finishing the finals in 13th place in 21.48. He was also named to the Academic All-MAC team at the end of the season.

The team established 52 lifetime-bests in the ten-day championship meet schedule comprised of the ECAC and MAC Championships. A total of 92 lifetime-bests were set in 2002-03, shattering the previous year's total of 71, and just missing coach Termin's all-time team best of 98 set in the 1998-99 season.

The Bulls completed their season with a 3-5 dual meet record and were 1-4 in Mid-American Conference meets. UB placed sixth at the MAC Championships held at Alumni Arena Natatorium and seventh in a 30-team field at the ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh.