Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron // Eastern Michigan Dual
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's swimming and diving team earned a 175-125 Mid-American Conference victory over Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon.
The 200 medley relay team of Weronika Gorecka (Wroclaw, Poland), Paula Garcia (Madrid, Spain), Sarah Watson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Sofia Henell (Linkoping, Sweden) placed first for the Zips, recording a time of 1:42.64. Akron also had a second-place finish.
Eastern Michigan followed up with a victory of its own in the 1000 freestyle. Freshman Gail Workman (Cincinnati, Ohio) took third with a time of (10:23.83).
In the 200 freestyle, senior Jackie Pash (Carmel, Ind.) touched the wall first with a time of 1:52.76. Junior Paula Garcia (Madrid, Spain) also earned points for the Zips with a fourth-place time of 1:54.73.
Gorecka earned a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.66. Sophomore Lauren Cooper (Dublin, Ohio) also earned a point for the Zips with a time of 57.67.
With the Zips holding a tight lead over the Eagles, they were able to extend their lead thanks to first, third and fifth place finishes in the 100 breaststroke, thanks to sophomore Andrea Fischer (Oak Grove, Minn.), junior Ally Wharton (New Albany, Ohio) and freshman Sara Bozso (Budapest, Hungary), respectively.
Junior Paulina Nogaj (Radom, Poland) continued to dominate in the water as she has all season, touching the wall first in the 200 fly with a time of 1:59.54). Not far behind were seniors Jessica Bonezzi (Wooster, Ohio) and Mackenzie Vargas (Roseville, Calif.) who finished second and third, respectively, with times of 2:02.26 and 2:02.87, respectively.
In the final event before the break, Watson took first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.64. Not far behind was Henell who took second at 23.73. Senior Ellie Nebraska (Delaware, Ohio) also got on the board for the Zips, taking fourth with a time of 24.42.
In the first diving event of the afternoon, the 3-meter dive, sophomore Kamryn Goodrick (Chesterland, Ohio) took second with a score of 295.73. Freshman Paige Kalik (Irwin, Penn.) took fourth with a score of 283.95 and junior Andrea Bugariu (Shelby Twp., Mich.) rounded out the top five with a score of 274.72.
Senior Morgan Waggoner (Fremont, Ohio) won the 100 freestyle, recording a time of 52.01. Nebraska also earned a point for the Zips with a time of 53.95.
Eastern Michigan responded with a first-place finish in the 200 backstroke. The Zips took second-fourth, with Gorecka taking second (1:59.60), Nogaj taking third (2:00.06), and Pash finishing fourth (2:03.50).
Fischer earned her second victory of the afternoon in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:19.52. Wharton was a close second, finishing with a time of 2:20.97.
Watson continued to shine, earning her third first-place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:59.90. Lamoureux also earned a couple points for Akron with a fourth-place time of 5:03.42.
Bonezzi took first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.08. Not far behind in second was Henell who touched the wall at 57.33. Freshman Rachel Schiffli (Indianapolis, Ind.) took third with a time of 57.39.
Eastern Michigan took the top two spots in the 3-meter dive. Kalik took third with a score of 266.18. Goodrick and Bugariu rounded out the top five with scores of 253.28 and 251.93, respectively.
Pash earned her second victory of the afternoon in the 200 IM, finishing with a time of 2:05.42. Sophomore Olivia Gardner (Bromsgrove, England) and Bonezzi rounded out the top five with times of 2:08.20, and 2:10.48, respectively.
In the final event of the evening, the quartet of Watson, Waggoner, Nogaj and Henell took first in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:26.68. Akron also had a third-place finish in the race.
The Zips will be back in action on Jan. 24-25, as they will head to Notre Dame to compete in the Shamrock Invitational.
Ball State // Indiana State Dual
MUNCIE, Ind. – In a meet that came down to the very last event, the Ball State University women's swimming and diving team defeated Indiana State, 159-141, as it celebrated its seniors Saturday at Lewellen Aquatic Center.
The victory gave BSU its third-straight win in dual meets this season and pushed its record to 5-2 for the year. The men's team was originally slated to face Youngstown State as part of the competition but was forced to participate in an intrasquad scrimmage after YSU was unable to make the trip due to travel concerns associated with bad weather.
"I thought we showed a lot of resilience today," said head coach J. Agnew. "Our senior class stood tall and got some great racing in. We were better today than we were yesterday, which is a tribute to the type of character we have on this team. I'm proud of our team and our seniors in particular."
Relays were a big part of Ball State's victory as they started and ended the day with wins. In the first event of the afternoon, Shelby Crist, Alex Bader, Makenna Bottorff and Apsara Sakbun took first in the 200 Medley Relay (1:45.61). Then, holding a narrow advantage heading into the final event, Peighton Gilbert, Alexa McDonald, Sakbun and Anne Vormohr sealed the victory by finishing first in the 400 Free Relay (3:32.43).
Along with her success in the relay, Crist took home a first-place finish in the 100 Back (56.69). She was followed by Bader who won the 100 Breast (1:04.93) and 200 Breast (2:23.06) Her sister, Sophie Bader, joined in on the fun by winning the 200 IM (2:10.62). Sakbun then capped off her own big day with wins in both the 50 Free (24.10) and 100 Free (52.16).
Caitlin Locante had a career day on the diving boards by sweeping wins on both 3M (293.40) and 1M (259.50). Her score on 3M moved her into sixth in school history in the event. Madison Gatzlaff claimed second on 1M (235.87) and third on 3M (221.85) while senior Rachel Bertram finished second on 3M (277.43).
Saturday's meet marked the end of Ball State's home schedule for the 2019-20 campaign. The women's team went 3-1 at Lewellen Aquatic Center this season while the men finished 1-1.
Up next for the men's team is the Butler Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 26, while the women will travel to Ohio for another MAC dual the day before.
Buffalo // Ohio Dual
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team improved to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference competition. UB defeated the visiting Ohio Bobcats (0-5, 0-3 MAC) by a score of 218-81.
To start the day off, the team of Nicole Roitenberg, Katie Pollock, Andrea Ernst and Jillian Lawton finished in first in a time of 3:48.96 in the 400 medley relay. Finishing in second was Madison McDonough, Anna Vitolins, Clarice Fisher and Katelyn Burns in 3:52.50.
Brittney Beetcher won the 1,000 freestyle with an exhilarating finish as she came back to win by .06 seconds. Her time of 10:09.07 is now the seventh on UB's all-time list.
Antonia Naccarella and Jenna Krull finished the 200 freestyle with a one-two punch to show UB's dominance early. Naccarella finished in a season-best time of 1:53.26 as Krull also finished with a season-best time of 1:54.74.
UB finished 1-2-3 in the 100 fly as the trio of Jillian Lawton (57.54), Andrea Ernst (57.89) and Sydnie Sovinsky (57.96) claimed the podium.
Katelyn Burns finished the day with two individual wins, a relay win and helped a relay to a second place finish. Burns finished the 50 freestyle in 23.64 and the 100 freestyle in 51.71. In the 200 freestyle relay, she helped the team to a second place finish with a time of 1:35.39.
In the diving well, the Bulls swept the podium with a complimentary fourth place finish in the 1-meter dive. Victoria Franz claimed first place with a score of 308.55, Patricia Arceri (270.75) finished in second, as Isobel Holcomb (253.80) claimed third and Journi Northorp (252.75) topped it off with a fourth place finish. In the 3-meter, the Victoria Franz(293.18) claimed first, Patricia Arceri (288.98) finished second as Journi Northorp (285.15) rounded out the top-three with Isobel Holcomb (259.88) finishing in fourth. Both of Arceri's scores are NCAA Diving Zone qualifying scores.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Miami // BGSU Dual
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Miami University women's swimming and diving team dominated Bowling Green in a dual meet with the Mid-American Conference foe. The RedHawks won by a 200-100 margin on Saturday.
Miami won 11 of the 16 events during the meet, sweeping the podium six times. Camila Lins de Mello led the RedHawks with three individual event wins and swam a leg on the winning 400 free relay.
The RedHawks swept the podium for the first time of the meet in the 200 free. Lins de Mello earned her first event win (1:52.31) while Molly Zilch (1:54.08) and Peyton Rayburn (1:55.98) rounded out the top three.
Miami went 1-2-3 in the 100 breast with Anna Martin winning the event (1:05.52) and Hannah Fuchs (1:05.82) and Sam Sutton(1:06.98) finishing right behind her.
The Red and White posted the four-fastest times in the 200 fly. Kayleigh Cannon earned the event win (2:04.33) while Ashlyn Underhill (2:07.68), Alexandra Spaczay (2:09.17) and Bri Alexander (2:09.74) rounding out the top four. Cannon swept the butterfly events with a win in the 100 fly (56.77).
Lins de Mello won her second event (52.41) as the 'Hawks had the top four swims in the 100 free as well. Underhill (53.23), Rayburn (53.55) and Anna Justinak (53.63) finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Lins de Mello won the 200 IM (2:05.36) to cap her three individual events with three wins.
Miami swept the podium for a fifth time during the meet in the 200 breast. Fuchs won the event (2:19.78) with Martin (2:20.20) and Alexander (2:25.28) also finishing in the top three.
The RedHawks finished 1-2-3 for the sixth time of the meet in the 500 free. Zilch led the way (5:06.06). Spaczay (5:06.70) and Emma Bradley (5:11.23) finished second and third, respectively.
The Miami women swept the freestyle events, also winning the 50 free and 1000 free. In the 1000 free, Bradley touched the wall first (10:26.54). Caroline Ehlers won the 50 free (24.37).
Izzy Herb finished second in both the 100 back (58.55) and the 200 back (2:07.23).
Miami took second in the 200 medley relay (1:47.66) with Herb, Sutton, Madison Hoehn and Ehlers swimming the A relay.
In the diving well, Maddie Folta led the RedHawks in the 3-mtr dive with a third-place score (265.25). In the 1-mtr dive, Lexie Layne was the runner up (262.20).
The RedHawks ended the meet with the two-fastest relay teams in the 400 free relay. Underhill, Justinak, Lins de Mello and Herb (3:32.56) made up the winning relay.
The Miami men and women are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 1 as the RedHawks host Xavier at 1 p.m. for senior day.
