Lynch Wins Second Diving Title at Akron SummaCare Meet

Cassidy Lynch

AKRON, OH – University at Buffalo freshman Cassidy Lynch (Westminster, CO/Legacy) won his second diving title in as many nights as the Bulls completed action at the SummaCare Invitational hosted by the University of Akron.

Lynch, who set the meet and Ocasek Natatorium records with his three-meter victory on Friday, won the one-meter title on Saturday setting a pair of records in the process. Lynch tallied a six-dive total of 296.90 points to easily win the event ahead of three Clarion divers. The total established a new pool record, which had stood since 1998 and broke the meet mark by more than 15 points. Lynch’s score was also a season-best mark for the freshman.

Jeff Hurst

The Bulls also posted a pair of third-place finishes in Saturday’s finals to highlight the night. The UB foursome of Mike Gerlach (Penfield, NY/Penfield), Kevin Gatley (Charlton, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), Luke Adams (Quinnesec, MI/Kingsford) and Jeff Hurst (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) finished third in the 800 freestyle relay, clocking a 6:59.21 showing. Hurst also scored an individual third-place finish with his 4:07.61 time in the 400 individual medley. His brother, Mike Hurst (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) finished third in the B final (11th overall) of the event in 4:17.02.

Adams posted a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke. The junior clocked in at 52.86 while freshman teammate Richard Shi (Ottawa, Ontario/Merivale) was seventh in 53.86 to give the Bulls two scorers in the championship race. Shi also turned in a season-best 53.72 in the preliminary round to reach the final. Senior Kurt Bessel (Mexico, NY/Mexico Academy) was second in the B final (10th overall) in a season-best 54.02.

Gerlach also had a strong showing in the 200 freestyle. The freshman finished sixth in the A final in 1:44.98 after turning in a time of 1:44.48 in the preliminary round, just one-hundredth of a second off his season-best. Gatley posted a season-best of 1:45.39 to finish second in the B final and 10th overall.

Through two nights, the Bulls remain sixth in the six-team field with 631 points. St. Bonaventure leads the scoring at 1,186.5 points, followed by Clarion (1,037), Xavier (969), Duquesne (914), Mid-American Conference rival Ohio (765.5) and UB (631).

The meet concludes Sunday with preliminary races starting at 9:00 am and finals slated for 4:00 pm.