UB Swimming and Diving Weekly Release

Carpenter and McDowell Compete at NCAA Meet

University at Buffalo divers Meili Carpenter and Michael McDowell competed at the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships in College Station, TX. Carpenter finished 22nd in the women?s platform event, scoring 194.00 points. McDowell placed 26th in both the three-meter board (314.20) and platform events (261.90).

Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell Named Scholar Athlete of the Week

McDowell was named the Mid-American Conference's Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the week of March 20. This was the second time in the 2008-2009 season the UB diver has been honored with the award, the first time being in November.

McDowell, a mathematics major with a 3.662 grade point average, earned his second consecutive trip to the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships by placing second in the platform diving event at the NCAA Zone A Championships at UB March 13-15. McDowell ended the platform competition with a total score of 600.20 points (12 dives), finishing just behind Navy's Jonathan Galinski with 613.25. McDowell was fifth on the three-meter board on Saturday and the one-meter board on Friday.

Rachel Sorg

Nine Student-Athletes Named to All MAC Swim Teams

Leading the women's team was lone senior Rachel Sorg, an exercise science major with a 3.34 GPA. Joining Sorg were teammates Carpenter, who collected her second consecutive award with a 3.77 GPA as a chemistry major, Jessica Ballard, a fine arts major holding a 3.44 GPA, Sam Eckert, a social health science major with a 3.71 GPA, and Sam Palma, a 3.92 GPA history major. The women's team finished their season with an impressive 9-3 (4-3 MAC) record and placed sixth at the MAC Championship meet.

The men's team consisted of four juniors, Jordan Matthews, a mechanical engineering major with a 3.79 GPA, McDowell, a 3.66 GPA mathematics major, Andrew Tamchyna, an engineering physics major who holds a 3.85 GPA, and Connor Vander Zalm, a management major with a 3.75 GPA. The men's team finished the 2009 season with a 4-3 (1-2 MAC) record, their first time finishing above .500 since 2000. After an exciting second place finish at the MAC Championship meet, head coach Andy Bashor capped the season by being named MAC Swimming Coach of the Year.

To be nominated for Academic All-MAC honors, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments from the current season only are considered. The Academic All-MAC team is voted on by the league's faculty athletic representatives. The total number of honorees is set for a specific sport or 33 percent of all nominees, whichever is greater.