Buffalo Men Finish in 2nd Place at MAC Championships; Schwippert Breaks MAC Record in 200 Back

There is nothing like the excitement of a close team race during a championship meet! As 1650 began on Saturday afternoon, there was no doubt that each performance that evening was going to be extremely important. The team had plenty of opportunities based on how they qualified in the morning, but the question still remainded...Would it be enough to stay in 2nd place??? Only time would tell!

The evening began with the 1650. Senior Connor Vander Zalm finished 9th overall with a season best of 16:01.03, while freshman Zach Rice swam to a lifetime best of 16:04.76 on his way to an 11th place finish. The 200 back followed and once again saw 3 Bulls in the top 8. Freshman Matt Schwippert continued his outstanding meet as he won the event in a MAC and school record time of 1:45.23, lowering his time of 1:45.86 from the prelims. Seniors Zach Ruske and Andrew Tamchyna placed 3rd and 6th respectively in their final race as a Bull, leaving their mark on the program as a dynamic backstroke duo over the past 4 years!

The 100 free provided as much excitement as you could expect from a sprint event. Sophomore Simon Proudfoot tied for 8th in prelims and went on the win a swim-off to qualify for the final....which, once again, put 3 Bulls in the final. Jared Heine and Matt Hogan tied for 2nd with a time of 44.95, while Simon improved his position by placing 7th overall. Jared broke the school record in the morning when he posted a time of 44.67! In the consolation final, sophomore Chad Miller placed 2nd (10th overall) with a season best of 45.65.

In the 200 breast, freshman Josh Meints placed 4th overall with a school record time of 2:02.60! Josh was in 6th place at the 150, but battled back to finish ahead of two of the competitors. In the 200 fly, sophomore Chris Berloth also finished 4th as he tied his lifetime best with a time of 1:50.19. Chris was the only team member in the event and definitely stepped up to the challenge!

The final individual event of the meet was 3-meter diving which saw both UB divers qualify for a second round of competition. On Friday night, during the consolation finals, sophomore Colin Patrican (260.95) followed up his 4th place finish on 1-meter with a 14th place finish on 3-meter. Junior Kenny Rhoades finished 6th overall (327.95), improving upon his qualifying score of 305.10.

After doing exactly what they needed to do, the team stood in 2nd place heading into the 400 free relay and would stay there as long as the relay finished...legally! Despite some nerves and a lot of excitement, the relay not only finished but took it to the final touch as they chased down Eastern Michigan. The team of Matt Hogan (45.96), Simon Proudfoot (45.10), Chad Miller (44.59), and Jared Heine (43.95) finished 2nd with a school record time of 2:59.60, and just 17-hundredths behind Eastern!