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McDowell Sets Diving Record at Zippy Invitational

Michael McDowell

AKRON, OH – After the second day of the 2007 Zippy Invitational, hosted by the University of Akron, the University at Buffalo's men's swimming and diving team stands sixth among the nine competing schools. The Bulls have tallied 664 points through two days of the three-day meet, just 14 points behind fifth-place Duquesne (678). Clarion holds first place at 997 points with Xavier (954) and St. Bonaventure (938) in striking distance.

For the second night in a row, sophomore diver Michael McDowell (Rush, NY/Rush Henrietta), set a record in winning the men's one-meter springboard event. McDowell broke former UB diver Cassidy Lynch's 2005 meet and pool record twice on Saturday scoring 303.05 points for his six-dive repertoire in the finals. McDowell also eclipsed Lynch's 296.90 total with a 299.35 showing in the preliminary round.

The Bulls collected three third-place finishes in the pool on Saturday.

Connor Vander Zalm

Sophomore Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna) turned in a season-best time in his third-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley. Vander Zalm finished in 4:13.56, shaving nearly three seconds off his preliminary time and 10 seconds from his previous best entering Saturday's competition.

Junior Kevin Schuster (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) also had a pair of season-best swims in his third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Schuster turned in a finals time of 51.50, bettering Saturday morning's preliminary time of 51.97.

The Bulls had two finalists in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Zach Ruske (Superior, CO/Monarch) finished third in the finals in 52.88 while sophmore Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario/Newmarket) was eighth in 54.41. Both swimmers posted season-best times in the preliminaries as Ruske qualified third in 52.79 and Tamchyna qualified fourth in 53.27.

Both of UB's relay squads finished sixth in their races on Saturday night. In the 200-yard medley relay, the foursome of Ruske, Jordan Matthews (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), Schuster and Sterling Gell (Lansing, NY/Lansing) finished in a season-best 1:37.37. The 800-yard freestyle relay foursome of Ruske, Richard Shi (Ottawa, Ontario/Merivale), Vander Zalm, and Brandon Beckinghausen (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) also finished sixth in 7:05.22.

Competition concludes on Sunday.

Team scores: Clarion 997, Xavier 954, St. Bonaventure 938, Shippensburg 736.5, Duquesne 678, UB 664, Niagara 462, Bloomsburg 415.5, Alma 74.