The SUNYAC Championships officially started today at the Flickinger Aquatic Center in downtown Buffalo, and Buffalo State's men are sixth of nine teams with 88 points, and the women are ninth of nine with 52 points.

Tom Schilke (Tonawanda/Sweet Home) turned in the best performance on the men's side, placing fourth in the one-meter dive with a score of 349.25. Eric Hastings (Wilmington, DE/Mt. Pleasant) also had a top-eight individual finish, touching seventh in the 500 free with a time of 5:00.29. The Bengals also had a sixth-place finish in the 400 medley relay as Derek Stoklosa (W. Seneca/W. Seneca West), Dave Papke (Woodlawn/St. Francis), Rich Gaczewski (N. Tonawanda/N. Tonawanda) and Mark Manka (W. Seneca/W. Seneca West) clocked 3:51.24.

On the women's side, Claudia Fanti (Hauppage/Hauppage), Mary Clausen (Churchville/Churchville-Chili), Casey Seier (Palmyra/Palmyra-Macedon) and Susan Stiner (Niagara Falls/Niagara Falls) combined to place seventh in the 400 medley relay in 4:29.22. Fanti, Seier and Stiner also teamed with Marie Ryer (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) to touch eighth in the 200 free relay in 1:47.17.

Mindy Wood (Middlesex/Whitman) added a 13th-place finish in the 500 free in 5:32.40, and Ryer was 15th in the 50 free in 26.28.

The championship meet continues tomorrow with prelims starting at 10 a.m. and the finals beginning at 6 p.m.