Bulls Improve MAC Performance

Buffalo took part in their second Mid-American Conference Championships and placed sixth out of nine squads with 285 points. Host Ohio won the MAC crown with 816 points.

It has only taken the Bulls two seasons in the MAC to make great strides within the conference as last year UB placed eighth out of nine squads with 208 points.

Rooneem UB's First Double MAC Champion

Record-breaking senior Inger Rooneem (Hinton, Alberta/New Westminster Secondary) became UB's first double champion in a Mid-American Conference championship event at the MAC Women's Swimming Championships. Rooneem began her incredible performance by winning the 50-yard freestyle in an NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time of :23.18 on the first day. That also smashed her own school record. She was also the anchor leg on the 400-yard medley relay team which finished fourth in a time of 3:52.75, also a school record.

On the second day of competition, Rooneem first helped the Bulls to a third place finish in the 200-yard medley relay before claiming her second title by winning the 100-yard backstroke in a time of :56.94.

For her efforts during the championship, Rooneem was named first-team All-MAC for the second straight season. ALIGN="CENTER"> Eight School Records Broken

In addition to new school marks in the 50 free and 400 medley relay, other new records were set by Dawn Hickey (Brockport, NY/Brockport) in the 200 (1:54.99), 500 freestyle (4:58.52) and 1650 (16:49.59) freestyles. New UB marks were also set in the 200 medley relay - Rooneem, Kim Theetge (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy), Michelle Bricknell (Ajax, Ontario/Pickering) and Carrie Quinlan (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda) - in a time of 1:46.16 and the 800 freestyle relay -Rooneem, Tracy Cotter (Oswego, NY/Oswego), Katrina Sinclair (Lakeport, NY/Ukiah) and Hickey -in a time of 7:40.02

Two Qualify For NCAA's Provisionally

Rooneem earned an NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time of :23.18 in the 50 free while Hickey's second-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 16:49.59 provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Championships as well.

Other Notable UB Performances

The Bulls also got strong performances from senior Kim Theetge (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy). Theetge finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:06.6. Dawn Hickey also finished seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (5:00.72).

Date         Opponent                   Time/Result
Oct. 29      @Niagara                    W, 213-85
Nov. 6       @ Akron*                    W, 156-73
             Ohio*                       L, 140-96
Nov. 13      @ St. Bonaventure           L, 175-120 
Nov. 20      Youngstown                  W, 172-65
Dec. 3-5     @ Penn State Invitational   6th, 257 pts.
Jan. 22      Bowling Green*              W, 173-127
             Ball State*                 L, 174-115
Jan. 29      Toldeo*                     L,  166-132
             Northern Illinois*          W, 162-132
Feb.5        Miami*                      L, 205-92
             Eastern Michigan*           L, 191-105
Feb. 12      Cornell                     L, 158-142
Feb. 24-26   MAC Championships @ Ohio    6th, 285 pts.
Mar. 10-11   NCAA Zone Diving @ Navy     All Day
Mar. 16-18   NCAA Championships 
                 @ Indianapolis          All Day

* - MAC Opponent
Home Games in BOLD