Swimming & Diving Travels to Buffalo
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's and women's swimming & diving teams return to action this weekend in Buffalo, New York. The Spartans will compete in a two-day tri-meet at the University of Buffalo, along with the United States Military Academy. The action will begin Friday, at 6 p.m. and resume Saturday at noon.
"Coming off of Iowa, I think our team has a lot of confidence," said head coach Matt Gianiodis. "We have seen it in training this week; we have had a loose group. They are seeing that the hard work they put in early is starting to pay off."
LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans pushed the Iowa Hawkeyes to the brink two weekends ago in East Lansing. MSU showed it could hang with the other schools in the Big Ten, but the men fell, 174-126, and the women's team lost, 196-103.
Freshman Lachie McLeish notched a victory for MSU in the 200 freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:40.36. He also took first place in the 100 freestyle clocking in at 46.12.
In the 200 butterfly, junior Elizabeth Brown took first place with a time of 2:03.76. Senior Hannah Pugh finished in second at 2:05.55. On the men's side, junior Nate Weeks had his best time in the 200 butterfly at Michigan State, coming away victorious at 1:50.44. Weeks also won the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.85.
MSU found success on the boards against Iowa. The MSU divers came away winners in three of the four events. Sophomore Brennan LaBar won at both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. LeBar's core at the 3-meter is his best at Michigan State and qualifies him for 2015 NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, along with his 1-meter dive (313.35). Senior Alison Menzies was victorious on the women's 1-meter with a score of 323.7. Sophomore Madeline Sewell took third place in the 3-meter with a score of 289.88.
BUFFALO'S BIO
The Bulls field a pair of solid teams for the 2014-15 season. Last year the men's team finished third at the MAC Championships, while the women's team finished fifth. The women's team is anchored by senior Spencer Rodriguez and senior Jessica Powers. Rodriguez earned All-MAC first-team honors and was the conference champion in the 400 individual medley and was also a member of the conference champion 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams. Powers was also named first-team All-MAC last season, after winning the 500 freestyle and 1000 freestyle at the MAC Championships. On the men's side, Buffalo is led by sophomore Scott Huang, who as a freshman earned second-team All-MAC honors and broke two school records at the MAC Championships.
"Andy Bashor has really done a nice job at Buffalo," said Gianiodis. "I grew up there, so I am obviously excited to go there. But he has really done a fantastic job with the program at Buffalo."
INSPECTING ARMY
The Black Knights men's swimming and diving team has started the season off strong, defeating Massachusetts on Oct. 18, 172-128. Army was led by senior Will Viana who was victorious in the 200 freestyle and the 200 backstroke. Junior Chris Szekely won the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle against Massachusetts. The women's team dropped the dual meet, 168-132, to Massachusetts. Junior Molly Mucciarone took first place in the 50 freestyle and in the 100 butterfly.
NEXT UP
MSU will have a six-day break before returning to action in East Lansing, for a women's dual meet against Toledo. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. on Nov. 7. For all of the latest news follow the Spartans at msuspartans.com and follow @MSUSWIMDIVE on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
