Courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Buffalo
The Bulls are on the road this weekend as both the men's and women's teams conclude the regular season. The UB men travel to Penn State on Friday, February 3 to tangle with the Penn State Nittany Lions. Both squads head to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, February 4 to face the Bonnies at 1:00 pm in the season finales. Penn State (2-6) was defeated over the weekend by a pair of Top 10 teams in Big Ten competition as the Nittany Lions fell to fourth-ranked Michigan (264-70) and ninth-ranked Ohio State (243-91) in Columbus on Saturday. The St. Bonaventure men are 4-3 and finished fifth at Akron's Zippy Invitational while the Bonnie women are 3-5 and placed 12th in Akron in December.
The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team scored a 168-130 victory over Akron on Friday in Mid-American Conference action at Ocasek Natatorium. The Bulls have now won their last five dual meets and stand 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the MAC.
Brittney Kuras won three events to lead the Bulls on the day against the Zips. Kuras set a season-best in claiming the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.92. She also posted a victory in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:03.86 and finished her day with a victory in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.87.
Mallory Morrell and Dani Adank won two events each for the Bulls sweeping their specialties, the sprint freestyles and butterfly events, respectively. Morrell took the 50-yard freestyle in 23.75 and the 100-yard freestyle in 52.17. Marissa Murphy finished second to Morrell in the 100-yard race in a season-best 52.60. Adank swept the butterfly races winning the 200-yard event in 2:07.33 and the 100-yard distance in 58.51. Morrell also helped the Bulls to a win in the 200-yard medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg, to a 1:46.15 clocking. Joining Morrell on the foursome were Claudia Doyle, Alie Schirmers and Taylor Steffl.
Emma Miller turned in a season-best time in winning the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:37.55. Miller sliced nearly 17 seconds off her mark which she set in December's Zippy Invitational in the same pool. Ava Giachino also improved on her season-best one-meter diving score. Giachino won the event with a six-dive total of 276.15 points, a point and a half improvement from her January 13 victory at Niagara.
UB head coach Andy Bashor was pleased with his women's efforts on Friday at Akron. "Akron competed well, so we had to raise our level which is not an easy thing to do on the road. We are in a great spot in our season and we are ready to rest and compete at MACs," commented Bashor.
Miami
OXFORD, Ohio - An outstanding senior class swims in its final home meet Saturday morning (Feb. 4) at Miami University as Coach Dave Jennings' women's swimming and diving team hosts cross-state rival Ohio at the Nixon Aquatic Center. There is no admission charge.
Pre-meet ceremonies honoring Miami seniors Chelsey Bruington (Mission Viejo, CA), Kelsey Mallon (Wheaton, IL), Brittney Rohr (Dayton), Sarah Radke (Cincinnati) and Lauren Wallace (Columbus) begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. with the first event commencing at 2 p.m.
The RedHawks (7-2 overall, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) are aiming to extend their current dual-meet winning streak to six in a row on Saturday. Miami hasn't lost since Nov. 4 at Toledo. It will be the team's final meet until Feb. 22 when the RedHawks travel to Akron for the MAC Championships (Feb. 22-25).
The quintet of Bruington, Mallon, Rohr, Radke and Wallace have enjoyed a wealth of success during their four seasons in Oxford, recording an overall dual-meet record of 34-10. Their biggest highlight came as freshmen when the RedHawks won the MAC title in 2009.
Ohio is also on a winning streak and is unbeaten thus far in 2012. Last Saturday the Bobcats won their fifth consecutive dual-meet victory, defeating Ball State. With the win, Ohio improved its impressive streak of dual-meet dominance to 15 victories in its last 16 competitions.
Ohio
ATHENS, Ohio – Following an impressive Senior Weekend in which the Bobcats picked up lopsided victories over West Virginia and Ball State, Ohio Swimming and Diving takes to the road for its final dual meets of the 2011-12 regular season. The ‘Cats will swim at Xavier on Friday beginning at 5 p.m. and will then compete at Mid-American Conference rival Miami on Saturday at 2 p.m.
These two dual meets will serve as the final competitions of the season before the MAC Championships (Feb. 23-25) in Akron. Ohio has kept up its dual-meet dominance throughout the past few competitions, winning 15 of its last 16 meets dating back to last season.
Ohio honored the careers of its seven seniors this past weekend, highlighting the impressive accomplishments of Amanda Cecere, Petra Chomicz, Abby Corcoran, Annie Donovan, Annika Games, Sarah Owen and Kristen Witham. Before even competing in their final MAC Championships, this senior class has garnered the following impressive accolades:
Team MAC Championships: 2
Individual MAC Champions: 7
First Team All-MAC Honorees: 2
Second Team All-MAC Honorees: 1
Academic All-MAC Honorees: 3
Ohio will face a Xavier team intent on protecting its home turf on Friday, as the Musketeers will host the Bobcats in their final dual meet of the season before competing at the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championships. The dual meet serves as a rematch from last season which saw the Bobcats earn a 118-78 victory. Xavier is coming off a close loss at Wright State, a dual meet in which the Musketeers fell to the Raiders by a final score of 146-116.
Saturday’s dual meet at Miami will prove to be a good test for the Bobcats, as the RedHawks are in the midst of a very successful season. Miami currently boasts a 7-2 record which includes a 4-1 mark in MAC competition. The RedHawks are currently on a five-meet winning streak, and like Ohio, have not experienced defeat since November 2011.
Evansville (Men)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The University of Evansville men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will wrap up the 2011-12 regular season with a dual meet at Southern Illinois tomorrow. The Aces are set to take on the Salukis at noon.
The Aces return to action after competing in two meets last weekend, a dual meet against conference opponent Missouri State and a tri-meet with Saint Louis and Eastern Illinois at the SLU Triangular. Despite falling to the Bears on Friday night, the women came back to win the Triangular while the men took second over Eastern Illinois.
For the men, junior Alex Seward paced the squad last weekend, tallying the Aces’ only first place finish of the weekend, winning the 100-yard butterfly at the Saint Louis Triangular. Freshman Ashton Bishop finished the weekend with four second place finishes.
Following the meet with the Salukis, the women will have two weeks of rest before returning back to Carbondale, Ill., for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on February 16. The men will next return to action on March 1 at the Mid-American Conference Championships in Oxford, Ohio.