Women’s swimming and diving (2-0, 2-0 MAC) earned third place out of 10 teams at the Zippy Invite in Akron, OH this weekend. The Bulls totaled 1,355 points over the course of the three-day meet. Penn and Akron edged UB for first place.
The Bulls dominated the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:29.82, thanks to the efforts of grad student Jillian Lawton, junior Elinor Duley, senior Toni Naccarella and freshman Sawyer Bosley. This performance was the second-fastest time in program history.
Another relay featuring junior Madison McDonough, senior Kati Pollock, Lawton and Toni Naccarella came in third in the 400 medley relay, with a time of 3:39.65.
On the second day of the competition, the Bulls claimed third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:39.11. This team was composed of sophomore Mia Naccerella, Toni Naccarella, Pollock and Lawton. On the same day, Toni Naccarella came second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:48.69. The following day, she took another second place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.26. Mia Naccarella qualified for the finals in the 100 backstroke, taking fifth with a time of 54.94, with Lawton finishing seventh and McDonough finishing eighth in the same event.
Pollock was able to secure third place in the finals of the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.03, with her teammate Taeghen Brezovski finishing in 12th. Another highlight was McDonough’s fourth place finish in the 200 backstroke, with a time of 1:59.37, earning her the fourth-fastest time in the program for this event.
Lawton put on a performance to remember in the prelims of the 100 fly on day two of competition, breaking the program record in a time of 53.40 seconds, qualifying her for the finals later that night. She went on to finish fourth in the finals, followed by teammate Clarice Fisher in seventh.
Sophomore Marij van der Mast swam to a third place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.41.
The Bulls ended the meet on a high note, as they won the last event of the 400 freestyle relay with Lawton, Duley, Bosley and Toni Naccarella swimming a time of 3:16.95, which broke the program and meet record.
Sophomore Victoria Franz made light work of the competition in the 1-meter dive on the first day of competition, as she easily captured the gold with 295.40 points, a whopping 30 points ahead of second place. Her teammate, senior Patricia Arceri, was the next Bulls’ finisher in the event, finishing fourth with 254.65 points.
The Bulls will face Duquesne University at the Alumni Arena pool on Saturday, Jan. 8. Until then, the team will travel to a training camp in Fort Lauderdale, FL. from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
