Ohio Leads Day Two of Zippy Invite

Winning five of the eight event finals Saturday night, including both relays for the second-straight day, vaulted the Ohio swimming and diving team into first place with two-thirds of the Zippy Invitational in the books. The Bobcats sit atop the standings with 1043.5 points and hold a 141.5-point lead over host Akron, who rests in second place and was in first place after day one's action.

"One of the things we talk about is getting better each session finding things
to improve upon and executing the changes in the next opportunity," Ohio head coach Greg Werner said. "We weren't perfect tonight, but we were better than
this morning, as we made some of the changes we talked about. The team competed very well and performed just as well"

Senior Ashley Marion (London, Ont.) led the charge for the 'Cats, swimming on both winning relay teams, while also grabbing first in the 100 backstroke in a
lifetime-best time of 56.91, which is the seventh-fastest time in Ohio history.
Sophomore Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.) finished third in the 100 back in
57.51, while freshman Sarah Owen (Portsmouth, England), who won the 500
freestyle yesterday in her Bobcat debut, took fourth in 58.03. Fellow freshman
Abby Corcoran (Tucson, Ariz.) set a personal best in the event in 1:00.72.

Joining Marion on the winning 200 medley relay team were juniors Allison Schaefer (Medina, Ohio) and Chelsey Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.), as well as Heim, which took the race in a meet-record time of 1:46.04. The team of Owen, Corcoran, fellow freshman Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, England) and sophomore Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) placed sixth for Ohio in the 200 medley relay in 1:47.96.

In the 800 freestyle relay, Marion again was on the winning team, this time joined by sophomore Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.), Cecere and Owen, which won the race in 7:36.75.

As with the relays, junior Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Sask.) won diving for the second-straight day, this time on the 3-meter springboard, after taking the 1-meter title yesterday. Hamilton scored a season-high 279.80 points in the victory, again fending off Buffalo's Meili Carpenter and Akron's Katie Carter, as she did a day ago, each of whom has one of the top-two scores in the Mid-American Conference this season in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving.

"Lindsay is one of the starts of our weekend so far. To win both diving events
and top very good competition in Buffalo's Meili Carpenter and Akron's Katie Carter, just to name two of the strong divers at this meet, is a feather in her cap," Werner said. "Knowing where she was a year ago (with an injury), she's worked very hard and to see how she's performed is very satisfying."

Heim also garnered an individual win to go with her relay victory, taking the 100 butterfly in a meet-record time of 55.91. Cecere placed fourth in 57.26, while junior Caitlin Drozin (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) set a personal best in the event with a time of 59.45.

Traylor took third in the 200 freestyle in 1:54.10, while senior Carine Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) qualified for the finals in 1:55.35, where she finished eighth. Freshman Annika Games (Brea, Calif.) placed sixth in the 400 individual medley in 4:41.81, while Buffalo nabbed the top-two spots. In the 100 breaststroke, the Bobcats had two swimmers qualify for the finals, as Schaefer placed seventh in 1:06.92, while Chomicz was eighth in 1:07.27

"We had some great performances when you look at first-place finishes, but the
team has moved to the lead based on depth, similar to last year's meet, and is
what we won with at the MAC Championship (last year)," Werner said. "We're seeing that again this year, and while we're winning our fair share of events, depth is really what's winning for us."

Ohio looks to lock up its second-consecutive Zippy Invitational Sunday, with the
final six events of the meet on the schedule. The 'Cats have won nine of the
first 14 events at the three-day, 13-team meet, including all four relays and
both diving events. Sunday's prelims are set for 9 a.m. with the meet's final
session beginning at 4 p.m., all of which takes place at Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.

Following the second day of action at the Zippy Invitational, Akron sits in second place with 902 points as Ohio University surged into the lead with 1043.5 points. Ohio snagged four first-place finishes out of seven events in addition to claiming first place in 3-meter diving to provide the margin.

Akron opened the finals posting a pair of finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. Akron’s “A” team consisting of juniors Kendall Karchner, Stephanie Zielinski, sophomore Julie Reynolds and senior Emily Bulkowski swam into 8th place with a 1:48.61 timestamp. The “B” relay consisting of freshmen Kerry Wanstreet, Jessica Ickes, junior Julia Gregos and senior Cheri Baratto finished 13th in 1:51.38. (Baratto would later earn a 16th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke event with a 1:09.34 mark.)

In the 400-yard individual medley, Reynolds continued where she left off from the morning session, recording yet another top-five finish on the day. Reynolds, who set the standard in the preliminary event with a 4:37.85 mark, beat her time by over four seconds claiming third place with 4:33.55 in tonight’s final. Junior Madelyn Robinson posted a season-best time in the event finishing 23rd with 4:50.56.

Bulkowski also swam into the 18th slot in the 100-yard fly finishing in 58.38 while Ickes finshed behind her in 23rd with 1:00.48.

Akron saw four swimmers compete in the 200-yard freestyle finale this evening. Gregos paced Akron with a fourth place finish (1:54.28) swimming in the “A” heat while junior Cathryn Collins took first place in the “B” final (1:53.87). In the “C” heat, junior Melissa Gary finished fourth with 1:56.94 while freshman Meghan Bowling ended in sixth with a 1:57.42 mark.

The Zips continued to tally points as Karchner, Wanstreet and Finnerty all registered places in the 100-yard backstroke. Karchner led the group with a seventh place finish in the “A” heat (58.96), Wanstreet finished fourth in the “B” race (59.56) and Finnerty finished third in the “C” heat (1:00.16).

The Akron divers continued their dominance accounting for 124 combined points in the 3-meter diving finale to bolster Akron back into second place. Senior Katie Carter and sophomore Amanda Angeloff delivered a one-two punch finishing third and fourth with 268.15 and 245.00 respective points. Akron’s third diver, sophomore Jacquie Paumier finished the day in seventh with 210.40 points.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Akron’s “A” team ended in third place with 7:45.68 as Collins, Bowling, Gary and Gregos combined for the finish. The “B” team comprised of Bulkowski, Finnerty, Karchner and Bombyrs finished tenth with a 7:53.89 timestamp.

Tomorrow (Sunday, December 7th), marks the final day of competition in the 2008 Zippy Invitational with prelims slated for 9 am while finals are scheduled for 4 pm.

Cleveland State: Hanner, DiMasso Record Sixth-Place Finishes At Akron
The group of CSU swimmers and divers at Akron finished off Day Two of the Zippy Invitational with seven Top-25 finishes highlighted by the sixth-place finishes of Colin Hanner and Matt DiMasso.

“We swam pretty well today, especially during our morning session,” assistant coach Andrew Hancock said. “We had some season best in finals and I think once we get in a little more rest we’ll be a little bit faster. Our rookies are continuing to do well, with Colin Hanner, Travis Lombardozzi and Derek Butts all swimming in a bonus heat or better. Volkmar Baur also had an amazing swim in the 400 IM. In diving, Matt DiMasso bounced back great for a sixth-place finish and that is the mark of a true competitor.”

The Vikings had two Top-25 performers in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.  Hanner and Butts led the way in the 100 back with Hanner swimming 53.07 for a sixth-place finish while Butts finished 19th in 56.32. In the 100 fly, Hanner finished eighth (52.95) after swimming his season best of 52.09 in the preliminaries. Lombardozzi finished 23rd in the event (53.63) after swimming his season best of 53.41 in the preliminary heat.

Baur clocked his season-best time in the preliminaries of the 400 IM (4:20.88) and swam a 4:21.54 for a 12th-place finish overall. In the 1-meter diving competition, DiMasso finished sixth with a score of 199.10.

CSU’s 800 freestyle relay team clocked a 17th-place finish as Baur, Ritz, Butts and Hanner swam the event in 7:29.57.

Keith Everhart, Pieter Ritz and Baur also recorded their season bests in events during the preliminary heats of the 200 free. Everhart swam a 1:51.70 while Ritz recorded a 1:50.34. Baur’s time of 1:52.78 came during the leadoff leg of the 800 freestyle relay. 
 
Cleveland State: Behn Picks Up Second-Place Finish At Akron
The Cleveland State women’s swimming team completed Day Two of the three-day Zippy Invitational at Akron with eight Top-25 finishes. After two days of competition, the Vikings are 10th with 231 points.

“One of the traps we can fall into is when we swim well in a night session is to come back and have a bit of a letdown the next morning. We did a good job of making sure that didn’t happen and the women had great morning swims,” assistant coach Andrew Hancock said. “Katie Bellew swam two of her season best times today and Carys Behn and Emily Splain both had great swims in the 200 free. There were a lot of things to really like today.”

In the 200 freestyle, Behn finished in second place (1:52.70) just off her school record pace of 1:52.52.

Emily Splain's day included Top-25 finishes in two individual events. She swam the ninth-fastest time in school history in the 200 free (1:56.52) for a 19th-place finish. In the 100 back, she took 23rd in 1:01.27.

Katie Bellew also recorded two season-bests and Top-25 finishes in the 100 breast and the 100 fly. She swam her season-best 1:09.87 in the preliminary heat of the 100 breast and came back for a 24th place finish overall in 1:10.80. In the 100 fly, her 59.44 in the prelims was her season-best and she followed that up with a 24th place finish in 1:00.84. 

All three of the Viking relay teams earned Top-20 finishes led by the 11th place finish of the 800 freestyle relay team of Splain, Whitney Hickey, Kristine Bunker and Behn (7:54.63). In the 200 medley relay, CSU recorded 14th and 20th-place finishes. Splain, Bellew, Hickey and Behn swam a 1:51.42 for the 14th-place finish while Maria Culjak, Brittany McCann, Diana Mruk and Kristina Nagy touched in 1:58.05.

Several other athletes recorded their top times of the season during the day’s events including Kristine Bunker in the 200 free (2:03.25), Culjak in the 100 back (1:02.04), Sandra Bunker in the 100 back (1:05.06), Brittany McCann in the 100 breast (1:13.89), Erin Green in the 100 breast (1:12.60), Kristine Bunker in the 100 fly (1:01.74), Kristine Bunker in the 400 IM (4:55.30), Hickey in the 400 IM (5:01.53) and Sandra Bunker in the 400 IM (5:05.61).