Bulls End the Semester With a Big Weekend at Home

The Buffalo Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving teams ended the first semester of the season with home competitions against Eastern Michigan and Ball State over the weekend. The men faced MAC competition for the first time this year, while the women went up against MAC teams for the first time at home.

Friday's competition against Eastern Michigan was a true test for both the men and women, as the Eagles have had a long standing tradition of success within the conference. The Bulls entered the meet looking to see how they measured up against some very good competition. The women opened the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 400 medley relay. The score of the meet remained close until the 50 free when Caroline Simmons, Jessie Koltz, and Sam Palma combined for a 1-2-4 finish. The trio of Jessie Koltz, Sam Palma, and Sam Eckert finished 1-2-3 in the 100 fly and put the final stamp on the evening. The women won the meet by a score of 166-128.

The men stepped up to the challenge of facing an Eastern Michigan program who has won 28 MAC titles. The men were led by sophomore Jared Heine who won the 200 free, sophomore Kenny Rhoades on 1-meter, freshman Matt Schwippert in the 100 fly, and the 400 free relay team who won the final event in a time of 3:07.97. It was the best showing by a Buffalo team against EMU in school history.

Saturday's meet against Ball State resulted in a victory for both the men and the women. The competition began with a 1-2 finish by both squads in the 200 medley relay. The women's "A" relay team just out touched the "B" relay, while the men's "B" relay snuck in for the win over the "A". Buffalo won all but 5 total events on the day. Noteworthy performances include wins by Kenny Rhoades on 1-meter and 3-meter diving, Meili Carpenter on both boards, Jessie Koltz in the 50 free and 100 fly, Kim Dale in the 1000 free, and Zach Ruske in the 200 free and 200 IM. Needless to say, a lot of great things happened this past weekend!

Congratulations Bulls!

Carpenter named UB Female Athlete of the Week

Congratulations to senior Meili Carpenter! She was named the UB Female Athlete of the Week for the week of November 2nd. Meili had a very impressive weekend, winning all of 4 of her events. On Friday evening against Miami, she won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 314.03 and 3-meter with a score of 270.08. During Saturday's meet against Ohio University, Meili stepped up once again to win both boards while setting a Ohio pool record and a UB team record on 3-meter (345.30).

Meili is the second member of the Women's Swimming & Diving team to be recognized for their performances this season. Junior Jordan Deren received the honor last week.

Buffalo Women Return Home After Exciting MAC Opening Weekend

The UB Women's team traveled to Miami (OH) University and Ohio University this past weekend for their first MAC competitions of the season. Miami, the defending MAC champions, won the meet by a score of 171-129 at their home pool. The meet vs. Ohio came down to the final relay, with Ohio winning the meet by a score of 154-146. Despite the losses, there were plenty of moments to be excited about and to build on as the team heads back to Buffalo for 2 more MAC competitions on Nov. 6th and 7th.

Friday's meet at Miami was highlighted by individual event wins by Jordan Deren in the 500 free (5:06.54) and 1000 free (10:26.09), Caroline Simmons in the 50 free (23.97) and 100 free (52.40), Meili Carpenter on 1-meter and 3-meter, and the 400 free relay team of Jessie Koltz, Jordan Deren, Sam Palma, and Caroline Simmons (3:30.83).

On Saturday at Ohio, the women once again stepped up to the challenge of facing one of the conference's best teams. The meet began with the Bulls winning the 400 medley relay in a season best 3:52.60. Sophomore Brynn Marecki won the 100 breast and freshman Logan Mason won the 200 fly to give the Bulls some momentum going into the 1-meter diving competition. Senior Meili Carpenter won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions, including a OU pool and UB team record score on 3-meter (345.30)! Freshmam Caroline Simmons won the 100 free while Brynn Marecki and Alie Schirmers combined for a 1-2 finish in the 200 breast. Heading into the last relay, Buffalo needed to win the event in order to win the meet. The relay team of Jessie Koltz, Jordan Deren, Sam Palma, and Caroline Simmons placed second, but with a time of 1:35.52...the fastest in-season time since Coach Bashor took over the program in 2006!

Both the Men's and Women's teams will be competing against Eastern Michigan at home on Friday, Nov. 6th. The teams will be back in the pool on Saturday for their meet against Ball State.