On the Right Course for a Long Season

The men's swimming and diving team sunk its opponent on Saturday.

The Bulls (3-0, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) earned their third-straight win by defeating conference rival Miami (Ohio) (1-1-1, 0-1 MAC) by a score of 165-135.

The Bulls were propelled by their underclassmen as they defeated the RedHawks for the second straight time.

Buffalo was led by freshman Phil Aronica, who placed first in all four events he entered in. Aronica, sophomore Matt Schwippert, and sophomore Cory Zorsch took the top three spots in the 100-yard backstroke. Aronica led the trio with a time of 51.02. Schwippert followed close behind with 51.64 and Zorsch finished strong with a season-best 51.80.

"I thought [Aronica] swam very well today [at his] first MAC meet travel," said head coach Andy Bashor. "He did well and put us in a really good position."

The three underclassmen teamed up again to take the top three spots in the 200-yard backstroke. Aronica recorded his season's best time of 1:52.98. Schwippert (1:53.51) and Zorsch (1:54.60) followed right behind, much like they did in their previous race.

Aronica joined Schwippert, junior Jared Heine, and sophomore Christian Muller in the 200-yard medley relay and finished in first place. Zorsch, sophomore Josh Meints, sophomore Ryan Smrekar, and freshman Mike Dugan finished two seconds behind them for second place.

"Corey [Zorsch] had a really good meet," Bashor said. "He might not be the fastest, but he made a lot of strides in the past couple of weeks and it showed at the meet."

The Bulls have a very young squad; 16 of the team's 23 members are underclassmen. Despite their age, the athletes are having tremendous success this season.

"We need the sophomores to step up, and they are doing that," Bashor said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us and these guys have been doing a great job with training and everything. Our goal is to win a MAC championship."

The Bulls will return home Saturday to host Niagara at Alumni Arena Natatorium. The first race starts at 2 p.m.

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