WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

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Women's Swimming Weekly Release

Women Take Fifth at MACs, Top Showing Since ‘02

The University at Buffalo hosted the 2008 Mid-American Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships over the weekend and the waters were good to the Bulls as UB scored a fifth-place finish and its highest placing since the 2002 season. Ohio University won the four-day meet for its first league crown since 2001, the last time Alumni Arena Natatorium hosted the MAC women’s meet. A total of 11 MAC, 13 meet and 16 pool records were set in the four-day meet.

Lehner Becomes MAC Champion and All-MAC Honoree

Andrea Lehner

Sophomore Andrea Lehner (Lockport, NY/Orchard Park) won the 100-yard backstroke on Friday to become the first UB swimmer to earn a MAC championship since Jennefer Brankovsky’s three-victory performance in 2005. Lehner lowered her school record in the preliminary heats to 56.03, qualifying third behind two-time defending champion Emily Wylam of Ohio and Alisha Yee of Bowling Green, who set the MAC, MAC meet and UB pool records at 55.50 with her morning swim. In the championship race, Lehner caught Wylam and Yee in the final 10 yards to win the race and again set the school record with her 55.74 finish. Lehner also reached the championship finals of the 200-yard backstroke and the 500-yard freestyle, setting new school records in both. She finished third in the backstroke in 2:00.60 and second to four-time MAC champion and league Swimmer of the Year Madeleine Pilchard of Eastern Michigan in the freestyle in 4:47.46. In all, Lehner set four individual school records and was part of three of UB’s four record setting relay teams. Lehner broke her 200-yard freestyle record with her 1:50.64 clocking as the first leg of the record setting 800-yard freestyle relay. As the opening leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, she just missed the 100-yard record of Inger Rooneem (50.89) by one-hundredth of a second (50.90).

Carpenter Earns All-MAC for Second Straight Year

Meili Carpenter

Sophomore Meili Carpenter (Boulder, CO/Fairview) earned her second straight nod to the All-MAC second team with her performances on the one- and three-meter diving boards during the meet. She opened with a fifth-place finish in the one-meter event with a six-dive total of 266.15 points. Carpenter came on strong in the three-meter event, turning in a second-place finish with 291.80 points and wrapping up her spot on the All-MAC team. Toledo’s Megan McKinley won both events to earn the MAC’s Diver of the Year.

Other Championship Racers

Jordan Deren

Several other Bulls reached the championship podium in their events. UB’s Jordan Deren (Lackawanna, NY/Nardin Academy) earned a sixth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, setting a lifetime-best mark of 17:18.97. Sam Eckert (Eden, NY/Eden) also finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly in 55.91. The Bulls also had a pair of seventh-place finishes by Sam Palma (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.77, after posting a lifetime-best in the preliminaries of 23.64, and Rachel Sorg (Ottawa, Ontario/Canterbury) in the 100-yard backstroke in 57.68.