After trailing by 16 points on Thursday and five on Friday, the UB women's swim team completed their comeback Saturday night winning five of six events in the final evening to capture their second straight Mid-Continent Conference crown at Alumni Arena Natatorium. It was the Royals' third consecutive conference title. UB won the East Coast Conference Championship in 1994, the final year of the league.

UB finished with 797 points to Western Illinois' 777.50. Eastern Illinois was third with 582 followed by Valparaiso (475.50), Central Connecticut State (347) and Northeastern Illinois (253). Last season, the Royals defeated the Westerwinds by 15 points.

In the men's meet, Western Illinois won the meet with 861 points to finish ahead of second place Eastern Illinois' 638. UB was third with 609 snapping their consecutive conference win streak of six seasons. Central Connecticut State (585), Valparaiso (291) and Northeastern Illinois (177) rounded out the scoring.

For the second consecutive year, UB's Sue Bohnel was selected as Speedo Women's Swimmer of the Year. Bohnel won the 200 breaststroke Saturday in 2:26.74 and combined with Lieselle Trinidad, Carrie Grant and Kristen Krenitsky to take the 400 freestyle relay in 3:35.86. Bohnel won the 100 breaststroke on Friday and finished second to Valparaiso's Kristy Kunard by one-hundredth of a second in Saturday's 100 freestyle. Kunard won the race in 53.79 while Bohnel placed in 53.80.

Kunard earned the league's Speedo Women's Newcomer of the Year award.

Buffalo's Andrea Skillman won the Speedo Women's Diver of the Year and Royals' coach Dorsi Raynolds won the Conference's Women's Coach of the Year award.

Other event winners for the Royals on Saturday included Martie Duffett's 1650 freestyle victory in 17:47.13, Alexandra Barrera in the 200 backstroke in 2:06.36 and Lieselle Trinidad's win in the 200 butterfly in 2:07.71.

On the men's side, Western Illinois' Ryan Shanahan won Speedo Men's Swimmer of the Year award after taking three first-place finishes. Shanahan won the 1650 freestyle Saturday in 15:56.22. Buffalo's Mark Horgan was second in 16:05.56.

UB's Justin Monin won the Speedo Men's Diver of the Year award after finishing first in the 3-meter championship Saturday. Monin collected 540.50 points in his 11 dives to capture the title. Monin won the 1-meter championship on Thursday. Korry Miller took the 200 backstroke for the Bulls in 1:53.34.

Western Illinois freshman Matt Hudson won the Speedo Men's Newcomer of the Year award and Leathernecks' Jerry Champer was selected Speedo Men's Coach of the Year.

Raynolds remarked on her Royals' victory, "It's tough coming in as defending champions. We only have 16 participants and were outnumbered. I'm ecstatic with the quality of our races. Our goal was to win four of the five relays and set two school records and we did." The Royals also qualified nine members for next week's ECAC meet in Sewell, N.J.

On Friday, the Royals 200 medley relay team broke a seven-year school record. UB's Carrie Grant, Sue Bohnel, Lieselle Trinidad and Kristen Krenitsky combined to win the event in 1:49.20 and establish a new mark, breaking the old one of 1:49.58.

Martie Duffett, Megan Connolly and Alexandra Barrera took the top three spots for the Royals in the 400 Individual Medley. Duffett took the event in 4:34.02. Lieselle Trinidad won the 100 butterfly for UB in 58.80. Krenitsky earned a win in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.77; Bohnel took the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.40. Bohnel, Duffett, Barrera and Krenitsky combined to win the 800 free relay in 7:50.19. Kim May and Andrea Skillman took the top two awards in the one-meter diving. May tallied 373.85 points; Skillman was second with 361.65.

Mark Horgan, Korry Miller, Carl Carlson and Kevin Jessop teamed up to win the 800 freestyle relay in 7:00.24 finishing just ahead of Western Illinois' 7:00.66. Miller was also victorious individually, winning the 100 backstroke in 51.88.

Western Illinois' Ryan Shanahan won the 400 Individual Medley in a Mid-Continent Conference record time of 3:58.82, besting the old mark of 4:02.31 set by the Leathernecks' Matt Dixon in 1993. Buffalo's Kevin Jessop finished second to Shanahan in the race in 4:06.65.

On Thursday, the Royals were led by their record setting 400 medley relay squad. The team of Carrie Grant, Sue Bohnel, Lieselle Trinidad and Kristen Krenitsky touched first in 3:56.48, breaking the old mark of 4:00.84 set in 1989. UB also took the top three spots in the 500 freestyle with Krenitsky winning the event in 5:07.79. She was followed by Alexandra Barrera (5:09.86) and Martie Duffett (5:11.27). Andrea Skillman won the 3-meter diving competition for the Royals with a mark of 468.65 points.

Justin Monin was lone winner for the Bulls in the first day of the men's championship. Monin, this week's Mid-Continent Conference Diver of the Week, took first place in the 1-meter competition with 458.10 points. Mark Horgan finished second in the 500 freestyle in 4:35.92 behind Western Illinois' Ryan Shanahan's 4:35.19.

The Royals split their road trip over the weekend falling at Troy State 95-85 and bouncing Central Connecticut State 88-68. Charissa Gardner scored 24 points and Brenna Doty added 23 in the loss at Troy State.

UB held a 42-35 halftime edge but Tika Freeman's free throw with 1:20 remaining and a put back of her own miss sealed the Royals' fate and dropped them into a tie with Youngs-town State heading into their showdown Wednesday. The winner of the UB-Youngstown State contest will be the top seed for the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament to be held at Alumni Arena March 7-9.

The Royals rebounded at Central Connecticut as Alicia Kollmorgen, playing in place of the injured Nicole Blakeslee, scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead UB. "Alicia is capable of playing like that, and we hope she can take a game like this and continue it through the rest of the season," said head coach Sal Buscaglia. Four other Royals were in double figures as Doty added 12 and Lisette Prinzing and Kim Coon had 11. Melanie Vogel also tallied 10 off the bench. Doty also had seven assists and Catherine Jacob added six.

Mike Martinho set a school record with 10 three-pointers but the Bulls fell at Troy State 88-86. Martinho also led the team with 37 points-the most ever by a Bull on the road and fourth best output ever. Jamie Anderson added 23 points, including seven threes as UB broke the school mark for treys with 18 in the contest. The old mark had been 14 set against Chicago State last season.

UB's road woes continued as they fell at Central Connecticut State 75-62. The outside shooting of Martinho and Anderson continued as they combined for an 8-of-20 output behind the arc. Anderson had six three-pointers and a team-high 25 points. Martinho was the only other player in doubles with 14. Bernard Wheeler added eight of the Bulls' 12 assists.

After hosting Cornell in the makeup game from December, the Bulls are off to Moline, Ill., for the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament Sunday through Tuesday. The champion of the tourney earns the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The UB wrestling team completed its dual meet season under first-year head coach Jim Beichner by defeating Duquesne University 32-10 in front of 550 boisterous fans at Alumni Arena. The Bulls (10-4/5-2) have now won seven straight matches dating back to Feb. 6.

Despite jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead with a win at 118 pounds, the Dukes never regained the lead as the Bulls won the next four bouts to take a 17-3 lead.

Junior 126-pounder Jason Wartinger continued his impressive season by notching his 32nd victory of the year. With the dual meet victory, Wartinger became only the fifth wrestler in UB history to wrestle at least 10 dual meet bouts in a season and remain undefeated. Wartinger extended his personal winning streak to 14 with the victory.

UB will next be in action March 9-10 when they participate in the East Coast Wrestling Association Tournament (ECWA) at Rider University. The Bulls will be chasing not only the team championship, but also the opportunity to qualify individual wrestlers for the NCAA Division I National Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., March 21-23. The top two wrestlers in each weight class will earn the right to participate in the national tournament.

The Bulls and Royals indoor track squads were in Charleston, Ill. for the Mid-Continent Conference Championship Meet over the weekend. The Royals finished second to Youngstown State 104-97 with Western Illinois third at 96. The Bulls were third with 61 behind Eastern Illinois (190) and Youngstown State (88).

Royals' distance specialist Stacey Stroth-mann earned the Mid-Continent women's Athlete of the Year honor. Strothman took three first-place finishes in the meet, winning the 3000 (10:04.16), the 5000 (18:43.23) and mile run (5:11.09). Her winning 3000 run was a meet record, besting Judith Novak's 1995 mark of 10:04.34. Shelly Hamilton won the women's high jump for the Royals with a mark of 5-7. Rachel Refermat set a school record with a shot put of 39-4 1/2 to place sixth overall.

The Bulls' 4 x 400 meter team of Kris Winkler, Kevin Winkler, Ryan Candia and Fumu Gakodi won their race in 3:24.04 and Chris Keenan finished third in the mile in a school-record 4:22.3 to lead the men.

Bill Parks scored a three-set victory at number four singles to lead the Bulls to the dual-meet season-opening 4-3 decision over St. Bonaventure.

The UB women's volleyball team signed two top-notch high schoolers this week to bolster their 1996 lineup. Christina Gianino (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills East), a 5-10 setter and Courtney Lugert (Hilton, NY/Hilton), a 5-10 outside hitter, will join the Royals next season as freshmen. Gianino has been starting setter on the Long Island Empire State Games team for the past three years, winning silver medals in 1994 and 1995. She chose UB over Syracuse, Boston College and Delaware and follows her sister Danielle as a member of the Royals. Danielle was team captain in 1993 and seventh on UB's all-time kill percentage list at .266. Christina carries a 95 high school average.

Head coach Bob Maxwell said Gianino "brings to UB a wealth of experience to the setter position. Her Empire State Games and Junior Club experiences have given her a taste of top level competition. She has the ability to run an offense, and now with the caliber of young hitters we have on our roster, she will only make them better with her abilities."

Lugert has been a member of the gold medal winning Western Region Empire State Games teams in 1994 and 1995 and committed to UB in the fall after turning down offers from several Big East schools. Lugert has a 92 high school average. She joins high school, Junior Club and Empire State Games teammate Aprille Sweeting on the UB roster. Sweeting will be a sophomore in 1996. Maxwell said Lugert "will compete with the other young guns that we have on our roster for playing time next season. She is a very athletic defensive standout and will contribute immediately to our team's success with her strong defensive play."

The Royals were 22-13 last season and 3-3 in the Mid-Continent Conference's Eastern Division. In his 15 seasons at the University at Buffalo, Maxwell has posted a career record of 364-229-8 for a .612 winning percentage. UB joins the Mid-American Conference in 1998.

-Ted Wasko, Sports Information Office