In the final meet of the Zips swimming and diving regular season schedule, the Akron swimmers touched in at first place nine times and the Zips divers placed in two of the three top spots in each dive, en route to a 158-142 victory over Mid-American Conference opponent Miami (Ohio) on Saturday afternoon.
"We accomplished what we needed to accomplish this weekend," said head coach Brian Peresie. "Moving forward, the best team in the conference will be determined the last weekend in February. That has been our focus all season and I am excited for the championships."
Akron and Miami (Ohio) competed in the two relay events to begin and end the meet. Akron jumped off the blocks quickly with freshman Madison Myers (Akron, Ohio), senior Hannah Raspopovich (Crown Point, Ind.), freshman Sadie Fazekas (Windsor, Ontario) and freshman Ragen Engel (Springfield, Ohio) winning the 200 medley relay in 1:42.98. The Zips 200 freestyle relay of Fazekas, Engel, Raspopovich and senior Ashley Niznik (McDonald, Pa.) team was just as quick finishing in 1:34.12 for first place.
Junior Luka Szynal (Lublin, Poland) dominated the backstroke events. She first posted the top time in the 100 backstroke (55.93), six events later, Szynal would again find herself as the first place finisher in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:00.88.
Raspopovich, freshman Victoria Shaffer (Upper St. Clair, Pa.), and sophomore Susan Franz (Canton, Ohio) swept the 50 freestyle. Raspopovich clocked in at 23.64 for first, Shaffer swam a 24.04 for second place and Franz was .01 second behind for third (24.05).
The Zips divers gained Akron seven points in the one-meter dive with junior Paige Kelkenberg (Lockport, N.Y.) tallying a 270.97 for second place and senior Alice Hottensmith (Brunswick, Ohio) scored a 263.47 for third. They scored another seven team points in the three-meter dive with Hottensmith's second place finish (287.85) and freshman Kim Jones (Plainwell, Mich.) third place total of 264.90.
Fazekas continued her exceptional weekend with another first place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.99 and senior Erin Seiler (Phoenixville, Pa.) came in second place in 56.07. Seiler also came out on top in the 200 butterfly with a 2:06.74.
Akron will continue to train for the next month, as their next meet is the Mid-American Conference championships. The championships will be hosted at Bowling Green State University on Feb. 25-27. The Zips are the reigning MAC champions and will compete for their third consecutive MAC championship.
Miami (OH)
The Miami University women’s swimming and diving team was defeated by Akron Saturday afternoon, 158-142. The loss gives the RedHawks a 4-5 dual meet record as they head into the last month of their season.
Eight seniors were honored before the meet, Shannon Ahearn, Sara Krueger, Stephanie Nemeth, Michele Rielly, Natalie Rohr, Emma Szczupakiewicz, Gabby Veri and Betsy Zilch.
It was a special day for Zilch especially, as she raced in her first and final meet of the season at the Corwin Nixon, as she came back from an injury acquired before the season began. Zilch swam a 2:02.94 in the 200-yard freestyle and a 57.47 in the 100-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Ana Maria Castellanos earned her first collegiate win, swimming a 4:29.37 in the 400-yard IM. The RedHawks swept the event 1-2-3 with senior Shannon Ahearn finishing second (4:29.88) and sophomore Holly Schuster finishing third (4:30.28).
Junior Stephanie LeMire finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.11) while Schuster clocked in third (1:04.96). LeMire also emerged victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:16.18. Schuster finished third in this race as well, coming in at 2:20.61.
Last week’s Mid-American Conference Diver of the Week swept her competition yet again, winning the one-meter dive (330.00) and three-meter dive (375.45). The second place score in the three-meter dive was almost 100 points below Lin’s (287.85).
Junior Logan Klinsky touched the wall in first place in the 200-yard freestyle, coming in at a time of 1:52.66. Krueger placed third, clocking in at 1:54.22. Krueger also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (53.00) with Rohr behind her in third (53.16).
Junior Julia Campbell was the first place finisher in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:29.24) with sophomore Shay Spelman behind her in second place (10:34.14). In the 500-yard freestyle, Spelman captured second place (5:08.67) and Campbell placed third (5:09.25).
Freshman Grace Van Fossen finished second in the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.92) and Szczupakiewicz placed third (2:07.45).
Freshman Peyton Mosbaugh claimed third in the 100-yard butterfly (57.02). Rielly finished third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.31). Junior Brittany Dudzinski finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (56.70).
The RedHawks will be off for two weeks until they go back to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Ohio State Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 13 to Sunday, Feb. 14.
