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Bulls Sweep Swimmer of the Week Awards For Second Time

BUFFALO, NY – For the second time this season, the University at Buffalo has swept the Mid-American Conference's Swimmer of the Week awards as sophomore Andrea Lehner (Lockport, NY/Orchard Park) and junior Zach Ruske (Superior, CO/Monarch) have been named as the league's top swimmers.

Andrea Lehner

Lehner, received MAC laurels for the second time this season, her first as a member of the Bulls after swimming her freshman year at Maryland. In last Friday’s meet against Eastern Michigan, Lehner won two individual events and was part of a winning relay team. She broke the UB record in winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:56.97, slicing more than a second and a half off the previous mark of 4:57.97 set by Jennefer Brankovsky in 2005. Lehner also won the 200-yard individual medley in a season-best 2:04.13, cutting four seconds off her previous top time. She opened the meet by swimming the opening backstroke leg of UB's victorious 200-yard medley relay. The following day against Ball State, Lehner took three individual titles. She opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 1:52.44. She then posted a season-best and Mid-American Conference leading mark in the 100-yard freestyle touching the wall in 51.64 as the Bulls scored the top three finishers in the race and finished off the meet with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:07.04. Lehner has the MAC's fastest time in six events this season and is second in another.

Zach Ruske

Ruske finished the weekend slate with three individual wins and a second-place finish as the Bulls split dual meets with Eastern Michigan and Ball State. In the Eastern Michigan matchup, he tied for the victory in the 200-yard freestyle in a season-best 1:44.32, cutting more than three seconds off his previous best for the season. The time is currently the second-fastest in the MAC this season for the event. Ruske also finished second to teammate Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario/Newmarket) as both swimmers turned in season-best times in the 200-yard backstroke. Ruske's 1:53.64 in the race is second to Tamchyna's 1:53.39 among the MAC's fastest times in the event. In UB's 129-113 win over Ball State on Saturday, Ruske took the 200-yard individual medley in 1:58.06 (currently the second-fastest time in the MAC) and later won the 100-yard freestyle in 47.95, lowering his season-best mark in the race by more than a half-second. Ruske also anchored UB’s victorious 400-yard medley relay squad to a victory in 3:34.36.

This week's selections give UB five Swimmer of the Week awards this season. Lehner and Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna) were honored on October 17 and men's diver Michael McDowell (Rush, NY/Rush Henrietta) picked up the honor on October 24.

Both squads are off until the end of the month. The Bulls travel to Akron for the SummaCare Invitational starting November 30 for their next action.