AKRON, OH- The 2009 Zippy Invite concluded Sunday
night, with the University at Buffalo men’s and women’s
swimming and diving teams both taking home second-place finishes.
Jessica Ballard
The night started off with a second-place finish from Jordan
Deren in the 1,650 freestyle, as she finished with a time of
17:15.95. Jessica
Ballard had a good swim in the 200 backstroke, earning an
eighth-place finish with a time of 2:04.87, nearly four seconds faster
than
her morning time. Freshman Caroline
Simmons picked up the third-place spot in the 100 freestyle,
finishing in a time of 51.38. Sam
Palma also finished in the top eight of the 100 freestyle,
finishing in seventh place with a time of 52.94. Brynn
Marecki took second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:22.33,
and Logan
Mason took ninth in the 200 butterfly, finishing in a time of
2:10.28. The women’s team closed the meet with a fourth-place
finish in the 400 freestyle relay.
Zach Ruske
The men’s team kicked off the night with a third-place finish
from Connor
Vander Zalm in the 1,650 freestyle, as he finished in a time of
16:22.98. The Bulls had three swimmers in the final heat of the 200
backstroke, with Zach
Ruske taking first place in a time of 1:50.31, and fellow senior Andrew
Tamchyna taking second place with a time of 1:50.99, while freshman
Matt
Schwippert took fifth in a time of 1:52.08. UB also had three
swimmers in the finals heat of the 100 freestyle, with Jared
Heine (47.05) taking fifth, Simon
Proudfoot (47.42) picking up sixth and Chad
Miller finishing eighth (47.50). The men’s team finished the
meet with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.
“Overall, it was a very good meet. Second place for both
teams - I was very pleased with that,” said head coach Andy
Bashor. The men’s team was second out of 10 teams, with Xavier
taking the overall title, while the women finished in second place as
well, finishing behind MAC-rival Ohio. “I was very pleased with
the effort and preparation for the weekend. The divers did a good job
for us, too. Overall, it was a good meet for us.”
The team will take the rest of December off to concentrate on final
exams and training. UB will be back in action on January 16, 2010 when
they travel to Niagara.
