Buffalo Downs Niagara

Bulls win with an overall team effort

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated Niagara at the Alumni Arena Natatorium on Friday evening. The women beat the Purple Eagles 143-83 to improve their record to 5-2 (2-2 MAC), while the men won with a score of 125-105, to improve their record to 3-3 (1-2 MAC).

Amanda Reall

The women opened the meet with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 medley relay to set the tone for the rest of the meet. Alie Schirmers picked up the first individual win of the meet in the 1000 freestyle (10:35.86), beating the Purple Eagle competition by more than a minute. Another 1-2-3 finish came in the 200 freestyle as Jessica Ballard (1:55.09), Keri Chandler (1:59.44) and Ashley Olsen (1:59.73), finished respectively. A 1-2 finish in the 50 freestyle from Laura Powalski (25.59) and Rachel Sorg (25.81), and another sweep of the 200 IM from Alisa Koopman (2:13.96), Ashley Schaffert (2:16.92) and Amanda Reall (2:17.20) gave the Bulls a comfortable lead going into the first round of diving. After the diving events, Reall touched out her Purple Eagle competition to win the 100 butterfly in 1:02.50. The Bulls wrapped up the meet with wins from Jordan Deren in the 100 freestyle (54.40), and Jessie Koltz in the 100 backstroke. Meili Carpenter swept the diving events, scoring 321.22 on the one-meter board, and 327.75 in the three-meter event to seal the Buffalo win.

The men also won their share of events. A first-place finish in the 200 medley relay gave Buffalo an early lead. Connor Vander Zalm pulled ahead half-way through the 1650 freestyle to secure the first men’s individual win, with a time of 16:31.12. The 200 freestyle was marked by a first-place finish from Chris Berloth (1:47.82), followed closely by Andrew Tamchyna (1:48.33). Back-to-back 1-2-3 finishes in the 50 freestyle from Jared Heine (Corry, PA/Corry) (21.79), Andrew Kuter (21.88), and Simon Proudfoot, and the 200 IM from Scott Woster (2:00.60),

Scott Woster

Drew Polhill (2:03.48), and Kevin Schuster (2:04.28) gave the men a 67-25 lead going into diving. After diving, Woster picked up his second win of the night, finishing the 100 butterfly in a season best time 51.65, while Tamchyna took the 100 freestyle in 47.99 and Zach Ruske handled the 100 backstroke in 53.66 to round out the Buffalo wins.

The women will continue competition tomorrow, as they host MAC rival Akron at 1:00 pm in Alumni Arena Natatorium. The men will rejoin the women next weekend to host St. Bonaventure in the last home meet of the season, Friday, January 30 at 6:00 pm.