Akron // Zippy Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron women's swimming and diving team jumped out to an early lead after the first day of competition of the 2019 Zippy Invitational on Friday at Ocasek Natatorium.
Akron leads the women's competition with 734.5 points after one day of competition, followed by Oakland with 502 points and Cincinati with 432. On the men's side of competition, Cornell leads with 725 points, while Oakland (541.5) and Cincinnati (451.5) round out the top three.
In the initial event of the evening, the 200 freestyle relay, the team of junior Paulina Nogaj (Radom, Poland), senior Morgan Waggoner (Fremont, Ohio), freshman Rachel Schiffli (Indianapolis, Indiana) and sophomore Sarah Watson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) recorded Akron's first top finish of finals, turning in a time of 1:30.63. Together, their time ranks ninth on Akron's Top Ten All-Time Performance list.
The Zips also garnered the fourth-place relay team in the event, with the two teams earning a combined 116 points towards Akron's total score. Nogaj (22.67), Waggoner (22.25), and Watson (22.65) all turned in 50 yard split times under 23.00.
Although Cincinnati took top honors in the 500 freestyle, the Zips owned the next two places to round out the top three. Junior Brooke Lamoureux (Victoria, Canada) was the top Zip in the event, finishing second with a time of 4:51.78, which places her ninth on the top ten all-time performances for Akron in the in that respective race. Junior Paula Garcia (Madrid, Spain) took third with a time of 4:52.53.
Nogaj turned in a time of 1:59.03 in the 200 individual medley to take first. Her first-place time was good enough to earn an NCAA Division I B-Cut time standard and ranks third on the top ten all-time performances for Akron.
In the 50 freestyle, Waggoner finished first with a time of 23.01. Freshman Victoria Kaufman was the next best Zip, touching the wall at 23.63.
On the boards, sophomore Kamryn Goodrick (Chesterland, Ohio) won the one-meter dive with a zone-B qualifying score of 290.85. Not far behind was junior Andrea Bugariu (Shelby Twp., Mich.) who took second with 264.15 points.
In the final event of the evening, the 400 medley relay, freshman Weronika Gorecka (Wroclaw, Poland), Garcia, Watson and Nogaj placed first with a time of 3:37.51, which ranks as the seventh-best time for Akron. Rounding out the top three was the quartet of sophomore Lauren Cooper (Dublin, Ohio), sophomore Andrea Fischer (Oak Grove, Minn.), senior Jessica Bonezzi (Wooster, Ohio) and Waggoner who placed third with a time of 3:41.42.
Ball State // Miami Invite
OXFORD, Ohio – Despite the finals being canceled due to pool conditions on day two of the Miami Invitational, the preliminary round was all Ben Andrew needed to break the school record in the men's 100 Fly.
Andrew swam a time of 48.37 to both break the record and win the prelim event Friday morning. The senior also nearly broke a second record in the 100 Breast as his time of 56.27 was the second-best mark in program history. He also finished third in the event.
On the women's side of the 100 Breast preliminaries, Alexa McDonald finished first with a time of 1:03.60 and Alex Bader claimed second by touching the wall in 1:03.80.
Other top-10 times in school history on the day included Sydney Dygert in the 400 IM, Shelby Crist in the 100 Back, Jared Holder in the 100 Back and Dygert in the 100 Fly.
On the diving boards, Rachel Bertram qualified for the A final with a score of 276.00 on 3M. Caitlin Locante finished right behind her with a score of 273.30, good for a career best. Madison Gatzlaff also notched a career best with a score of 244.45.
Despite Friday night's finals being cancelled, Saturday's events will proceed as scheduled. The finals of the 200 Medley Relay will open the morning session and the 800 Free Relay will close the morning. Results of the final day, along with a recap of the day's events, will be posted to BallStateSports.com.
Bowling Green // Miami Invite
Oxford, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University swim and dive team competed in day two of the Miami Invite, which will conclude tomorrow. The results and times below are from the preliminary session, but they will be used as the official times. Tonight's finals session was cancelled due to issues with the pool. Tomorrow will feature the same events as scheduled, with the preliminary session starting at 10:00 a.m. This is an hour later than scheduled because of the pool issues.
Daisy Platts set a Miami Invite record, taking first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.87 seconds. This time is also third-best in school history. The sophomore now owns the top three times in that event, and five of the top ten.
Anna Eriksson and Sarah Hennings finished fourth and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly, separated by just one hundredth of a second. Eriksson finished in 55.99 seconds and Hennings finished in 56.00 seconds.
Senior Talisa Lemke scored a 302.45 in the 3 meter dive, earning seventh place. Freshman Taylor Harris placed tenth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.48. Because the finals session was cancelled, no relays were raced.
Notable Performances (From Preliminary Session)
Daisy Platts – 1st Place in 100-Yard Backstroke (53.87)
Anna Eriksson – 4th Place in 100-Yard Butterfly (55.99)
Sarah Hennings – 5th Place in 100-Yard Butterfly (56.00)
Talisa Lemke – 7th Place in 3 Meter Dive (302.45)
Taylor Harris – 10th Place in 100-Yard Breaststroke (1:05.48)
Up Next
The Falcons close competition at the Miami Invite tomorrow. The events raced tomorrow will be the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 400-yard freestyle relay. Prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. and finals begin at 4:30 p.m.
Miami // Miami Invite
OXFORD, Ohio - Due to unforeseen pool circumstances, all swimming and diving competition scheduled for the Friday evening session of the Miami Invitational at the Nixon Aquatic Center has been canceled.
At this time, both swimming and diving plan to resume competition on Saturday. Swimming warmups will begin at noon. For the swimming competition, the finals of the 200 medley relay begin the first session while the finals of the 800 free relay end the first session. In between the relays, swimmers will compete in the preliminary heats of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly. The finals of these four events and the 1650 free and 400 free relay will take place in the evening. After the conclusion of the first swimming session, time trials will be held.
