MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Bulls Paste Purple Eagles, 184-106

Simon Hall

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving team defeated host Niagara University, 184-106, in a non-conference meet at the Oxy Aquatics Center. The victory by the Bulls (2-0) was the 27th straight by UB over the Purple Eagles since the all-time series began in the 1948-49 season, UB's first as an intercollegiate program. It was also head coach Budd Termin's 20th victory over Niagara in his 20-year tenure with the Bulls. Termin has never lost to the Purple Eagles in his UB career.

The Bulls won 12 of the 16 events on Saturday with all the victories by newcomers to the program for 2006-07. Individually, five freshmen scored double wins with another freshman taking an individual victory. UB's winning relay team also consisted of three newcomers to the program in the foursome.

Leading the Bulls was sprint freestyler Simon Hall (Newcastle, England/Queen Elizabeth) as he won two events and anchored the winning relay squad. Hall took the 50-yard freestyle in 22.32 and followed with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.21. He also anchored the Bulls' winning 400-yard medley relay team as Zach Ruske (Superior, CO/Monarch), Sean Beecher (Cordova, AK/Cordova), Kevin Schuster (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) and Hall finished in 3:41.44, seven-hundredths of a second in front of another UB foursome. Schuster was the only member of the foursome that was with UB last year.

Andrew Tamchyna

Also scoring double wins were freshmen Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowa), Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario/Newmarket), Kevin Song (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Robert Borden) and Michael McDowell (Rush, NY/Rush Henrietta).

Vander Zalm, the current Mid-American Conference Swimmer of the Week, was victorious in the distance freestyle races, taking the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:02.18 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:48.32.

Tamchyna swept the backstroke races opening with a 54.47 clocking in the 100-yard distance and picking up another win in the 200-yard race in 1:58.30.

Song took both breaststroke events, winning the 100-yard event in 1:03.93 and the 200-yard race in 2:15.33.

McDowell was victorious in both diving competitions. He won the three-meter event with a six-dive total of 277.35 points and followed with a win on the one-meter springboard with 276.30 points.

Freshman Scott Woster (North Pole, AK/North Pole) won the 200-yard butterfly for the Bulls in 1:59.88.

The Bulls look to continue the string of victories over their Western New York brethren as they next host Canisius on November 17 in their home opener.