The Akron swimming and diving team used a dominating performance with 16 top finishes in all 16 events and two pool records to defeat Xavier University, 170-72, at the O'Connor Sports Complex on Friday night.
Freshman Sadie Fazekas (Windsor, Ontario) had a phenomenal evening winning three events that she competed in. Fazekas swam the 50 backstroke in 26.86, the 100 IM in 59.81 and rounded out her night in the 100 freestyle in 53.49.
Three of the seniors, Hannah Raspopovich (Crown Point, Ind.), Erin Seiler (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Ashley Niznik (McDonald, Pa.) all touched in first place in their respective events. Raspopovich swam the 50 breaststroke in a quick 30.11, Seiler finished a top the standings in two events, the 50 butterfly (26.00) and the 150 butterfly (1:31.83), while Niznik clocked in for first place in the 150 backstroke in a time of 1:32.52.
The freshman class also had a strong performance on Friday night. Along with Fazekas, freshman Emma King (Centerville, Ohio), Ragen Engel (Springfield, Ohio) and Madison Myers (Akron, Ohio) finished in the top tier of their respective events. King swam the 800 freestyle in a swift time of 8:26.57, Engel broke a pool record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.63, and Myers swam a blazing 54:89 in the 200 freestyle.
The Zips used a one-two punch in the 400 freestyle finishing in the top two spots of the event. Junior Kara Kaulius (McDonald, Pa.) and sophomore Natalie O'Brien (Barberton, Ohio) touched in at 4:13.12 for first place and 4:13.94 for second.
In the final individual event of the evening, junior Kristen Vargas (Baltimore, Md.) was the top swimmer in the 150 breaststroke (1:45.59) and Allison Teske (Green Bay, Wisc.) clocked in at 1:48.14 for third place.
The lone relay event of the night, the 200 freestyle relay, finished with a new pool record set by the Akron relay team of sophomore Susan Franz (Canton, Ohio), Engel, Niznik and Raspopovich, as the team glided through the water with ease en route to a time of 1:36.35.
The Zips will return to action for their final meet of the regular season tomorrow, January 30, at Miami (Ohio) against the RedHawks for a 1 p.m. head-to-head dual.
