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Vander Zalm, Ruske Score Victories As Zippy Invitational Concludes

Connor Vander Zalm

AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo’s men’s swimming and diving squad turned in a sixth-place finish as the 2007 Zippy Invitational, hosted by the University of Akron, concluded on Sunday evening.

The Bulls tallied 892.5 points during the three-day meet to solidly hold down sixth place. Duquesne, who the Bulls defeated in October, placed fifth with 945 points as Xavier scored 1,390 points to claim the team title.

UB sophomore Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna) was one of two Bulls to score in the championship final of the 1,650-yard freestyle. Vander Zalm cruised to an easy win in the race in 16:20.52, winning the race by more than 30 seconds over Xavier’s Sam Gray and cutting 29 seconds from his time in the event in the UB meet against Ball State on November 10. Freshman Brandon Beckinghausen (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) turned in a fourth-place finish in 17:09.60, 19 seconds faster than his time against Ball State.

Zach Ruske

Junior Zach Ruske (Superior, CO/Monarch) won the 200-yard backstroke final on Sunday evening as the Bulls had two championship final qualifiers in the race. Ruske, who was the fastest qualifier on Sunday morning with a season-best 1:51.54, won the title in 1:51.59, almost two seconds ahead of St. Bonaventure’s Jim Wood. Sophomore Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario/Newmarket) finished fourth in 1:56.68. Ruske’s qualifying time (1:51.54) was more than three seconds faster than any other entrant.

Sophomore Kevin Song (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Robert Borden) scored a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Song posted a 2:10.98 clocking in the finals after posting a season-best mark of 2:09.88 in the preliminary race, more than five seconds better than his previous best.

The Bulls will take December off as the squad faces final exams. The team is back in action on January 11 at Binghamton.

Final team scores: Xavier 1,390, Clarion 1,322, St. Bonaventure 1,247, Shippensburg 1,056, Duquesne 945, UB 892.5, Niagara 675, Bloomsburg 668.5, Alma 74.