The Akron women and Cleveland State men lead after day 2 of the Magnus Cup.
Cleveland State Press Release
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Three student-athletes on the Cleveland State University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams combined to post NCAA ‘B’ cut times in four events on the second day of the Magnus Cup inside The Robert F. Busbey Natatorium.
With two of the three days of competition complete, the Viking men continue to lead with 1,113.5 points, almost 300 ahead of second-place Xavier. The CSU women remained in fourth place with 549.5 points, but they only trail third-place Xavier by fewer than 20 points.
Sophomore Molly McNamara began the day with a bang, as she broke the school record in the 100 butterfly in the morning preliminaries, securing a NCAA ‘B’ standard in the process. McNamara would top that mark in the finals and finished second, resetting the new program record at 54.36 seconds. Sophomore Cassandra Oltman easily surpassed her previous career best in the 100 fly in the prelims and went on to finish fourth overall in 56.39 seconds. Senior Meghan Miller took 18th in the 100 fly of 79 swimmers in 57.88 seconds.
Oltman was CSU’s top finisher in the 100 backstroke and reset her personal best in the preliminaries. She finished fourth in the finals in a time of 55.96 seconds, less than .30 seconds off the school record. Junior Jamie VanDewerker finished eighth in 56.96 seconds in the 100 back while McNamara (57.91) and freshman Chuchu Yang (58.48) were 14th and 15th, respectively, in the field of 85.
Junior Tobie Zeller won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.35, topping the field of 70 competitors. Her time was the fastest in the Horizon League this season entering the weekend.
Oltman, Zeller and McNamara combined with freshman Gabriella Marinelli to finish fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1:43.14.
Marinella was CSU’s top finisher in the 200 freestyle, as she finished fifth in 1:51.36. Sophomore Claudia Zido placed 16th (1:54.25) in the same event while freshman Meghan Bobick was 20th (1:56.28) in the field of over 100 swimmers.
Marinella and Miller were also both among the top 16 in the 400 IM prelims, but both were scratched before the finals.
Senior Philipp Sikatzki posted NCAA ‘B’ standards in both the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly Saturday and reset the pool record in the latter event.
Sikatzki won the 100 fly in 46.33 seconds, a mark that stands as the third-fastest in Division I this season entering the weekend. The mark was 1.96 seconds under the NCAA ‘B’ standard. Freshman DJ Arslanian and junior Grant Wethington placed third and 10th, respectively, in the 100 fly in 49.34 and 51.05.
Sikatzki swam on both of CSU’s winning relays Saturday. He swam the third leg on the 200 medley relay and was joined by junior Jonathan LaValle, sophomore Tommi Wolst and senior Robert Tolson. The quartet finished in 1:28.91, just .01 away from matching the pool record.
Sikatzki, Tolson and Wolst joined freshman Tyler Stevenson on the 800 freestyle relay to take first place in 6:43.75. CSU’s B relay team took third place in 6:54.09.
Wolst notched his first NCAA ‘B’ standard of the season with his career-best effort in the 100 breaststroke. He finished second in 54.60 seconds while sophomore Jared Stergar (56.58) and junior Patrick Tippen (56.68) were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Sophomore MacJilton had an impressive showing in the 400 IM, as he led from start to finish and won in 4:02.92, over four seconds clear of the second-place finisher.
Senior Phillip Brittain (1:41.48), Stevenson (1:42.27) and Tolson (1:42.30) took spots two through four in the 200 freestyle.
LaValle finished second in the 100 backstroke in 50.48 seconds while senior Aidan Burton notched a career-best time of 50.88 to finish fourth.
Sikatzki posted the top time in the preliminaries in the 100 back (46.89), netting a NCAA ‘B’ standard, but scratched out of the final.
Sophomore Curtis Roden took second in men’s 1-meter diving (243.35) while senior Tori Taffner was CSU’s top finisher in women’s 3-meter with 241.10 points.
The fifth annual Magnus Cup will conclude Sunday with eight more individual swimming events and one more relay to be contested.
Akron Press Release
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Akron swimming and diving team continued to impress at day two of the Magnus Cup Invitational with seven first place finishes and 17 top-ten times to give the Zips a combined score of 1,144 after 14 events.
The Akron relay teams dominated on the second day of competition at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium with two first place finishes, a second place finish, and a third place time. In the 200 medley relay, the Zips clocked in with a time of 1:39.65 and 1:42.58, respectively. The squad made up of senior Luka Szynal (Lublin, Poland), junior Paloma Marrero Munoz (Merida, Spain), and sophomores Sadie Fazekas (Windsor, Ontario) and Madison Myers (Copley, Ohio) broke a pool record set in 2014 (1:40.28) and is now the third-fastest time in the program. Akron ended the evening just as they began in the 800 free relay with a first place finish (7:30.20) and third place spot (7:32.58). The quartet of senior Laura Savariau (Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud,), Fazekas, Myers, and freshman Morgan Waggoner (Fremont, Ohio) now sit as the eighth-fastest time in the program.
Marrero beat her previous personal-best time of 4:25.03 in the 400 IM after winning the event at the Invitational in 4:20.41, which is now the second-fastest time in the program. Freshman Jackie Pash (Carmel, Ind.) followed shortly behind Marrero for third place with a time of 4:23.52.
Fazekas shattered the 100 butterfly pool record at Cleveland State with her time of 53.33 to place first in the event. The previous record was held by former Zip, Erin Seiler (54.19).
In the 200 free, Myers just narrowly missed breaking a school record by .02 of a second after she placed first with a time of 1:48.49. The current program record holder, sophomore Ragen Engel (Springfield, Ohio), took third place in the event with a time of 1:50.42.
The Zips went back-to-back in the 100 backstroke with Myers and Szynal placing first and second. Myers crushed her personal-best time set at the MAC championships last year with a time of 53.37, also a new pool record, and Szynal was right on her tail touching in at 53.76 for second.
Senior Paige Kelkenberg (Lockport, N.Y.) completed a sweep of the diving portion of the Invitational as she placed first in the three-meter dive this afternoon. Kelkenberg was awarded a 281.50, which was 22.85 points better then the second place finisher.
The Zips will close out the Magnus Cup Invitational tomorrow, Nov. 20, at 9 a.m. beginning with the preliminary rounds at 9 a.m. and finals at 3 p.m.
Saint Francis Press Release
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Saint Francis swimming team has completed day two in the three-day Magnus Cup, hosted by Cleveland State. The invitational finishes on Sunday. After two days, Saint Francis is in 10th place, out of 14 teams, with Akron leading the standings.
The meet began with the 200-yard Medley Relay, where Saint Francis' top relay team earned a 16th-place finish. Junior Katie Lafferty (Bremen, Ind./Bremen), freshman Erin O'Neill (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), senior Paige McLean (Bolton, Ontario/St. Michael Catholic Secondary) and freshman Aimee Baur (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) combined for a time of 1:48.86.
Saint Francis sophomore Rory O'Dell (Chapel Hill, N.C./Northwood), freshman Kristen Toth (Silver Spring, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti), junior Emma Karell (Norrtlje, Sweden/Tby Swim Club) and junior Alicia Tiberino (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) teamed up for a time of 1:53.83.
Three Red Flash finished in the Top 20 of the 400-yard IM. Freshman Karilyn Quon (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) had earned a 17th-place finish with a time of 4:34.56. That is the 10th-best time in program history.
McLean had SFU's second-best time in the 400-yard IM, 4:40.47, to finish 19th, while Karell posted a time of 4:41.25 to round out the Top 20. O'Dell finished 30th, with a pace of 4:47.71.
Sophomore Marisa Daly (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan) had a time of 4:48.21, while freshman Laura Patrick (Lake Charles, La./St. Louis Catholic) touched the wall in 4:49.36. Freshmen Meaghan Saettel (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) and Emily Graziano (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) finished with times of 4:52.24 and 4:52.39, respectively.
Saint Francis' top finisher in the 100-yard Butterfly was freshman Sabrina Bowman (Vandergrift, Pa./Saint Joseph's). She recorded a time of 57.98 to place 24th. Junior Natalie Tedjasukmana (Anaheim, Calif./Mater Dei) touched the wall in 59.15 in the event.
Baur earned the Red Flash's best time in the 100-yard Backstroke. The freshman touched the wall in 58.96, the 10th-best time in program history, to place 24th. Bowman recorded a time of 59.59, while Lafferty finished the race in 1:01.07.
In the 100-yard Breaststroke, Karell posted SFU's top time in the event, with a pace of 1:08.34 to place 26th. Sophomore Jessica Crumm (New Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley), with a time of 1:08.44, finished right behind Karell in 27th.
O'Neill recorded a time of 1:07.49 in the 100-yard Breaststroke, while freshman Laura Patrick (Lake Charles, La./St. Louis Catholic) finished with a time of 1:10.81.
Lafferty had the Red Flash's top finals time, 1:58.65, in the 200-yard Freestyle.
The final event of the meet was the 800-yard Freestyle Relay.
Saint Francis' top relay team in the event posted a time of 7:53.97. Lafferty, Bowman, Karell and Quon combined for a 15th-place finish.
McLean, Tiberino, Tedjasukmana and Graziano recorded a time of 8:02.74 to come in 21st.
George Washington Press Release
CLEVELAND - Sophomore diver Jake Ortiz won the 1-meter boards to lead the George Washington men's swimming and diving team on the second of three days at the Magnus Cup Invitational hosted by Cleveland State on Saturday.
The Colonials sit in third place out of nine teams after two days of competition.
Ortiz was one of 16 Colonials to compete in individual Saturday finals. Freshman Emils Pone and sophomore Josh Monacelli each returned for two individual events.
"Great second day here for our men at the Magnus Cup," said second-year head coach James Winchester. "A big win for Jake Ortiz on the 1-meter, dominating the competition in prelims and bringing it back for finals as well. A great showing for Jake and great work by Diving Coach Anthony Crowder with all the divers this weekend."
Ortiz led the field in preliminaries with a score of 260.90 and continued his stellar performance in the final, taking first with a score of 275.15 for GW's best finish of the meet so far.
Junior Gustav Hokfelt led all individual swimmers with a third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 50.54. Pone also competed in the A final and grabbed 10th in 52.54.
Rookie Shawn Lemarie led a quartet of Colonials in the 400 IM with his fourth-place finish (4:10.77) followed by sophomore Nicolas Reeves in eighth (4:14.96). Junior Clarke Indek and sophomore Jarrod Hendricks also posted strong performances in the event, placing 13th (4:22.27) and 15th (4:28.06), respectively.
Freshman Alex Cronin served as GW's top performer in the 200 freestyle, taking seventh (1:43.26) ahead of senior Liam Huffman (17th, 1:44.19) and junior Adam Drury (24th, 1:44.43).
Rookie Max Forstenhaeusler finished 14th overall in the 100 butterfly (51.04) as senior Ben Fitch (21st, 51.36), Pone (23rd, 51.93) and Monacelli (52.51) competed in the C final.
GW was also well-represented in the 100 breaststroke finals, led by senior Bogdan Balteanu's 17th-place finish (59.13) just ahead of Monacelli in 18th (59.24). Freshmen Karan Mahadev and Kyle Hrabovsky finished in 25th (1:00.64) and 28th (1:01.94), respectively.
The Buff and Blue posted a strong day of relays, led by the second-place finish in the 800 free relay from the team of Forstenhaeusler, Cronin, Lemarie and Huffman (6:49.61). A sixth-place finish from Hokfelt, Balteanu, Pone and sophomore Alexander Auster in the 200 medley relay rounded out GW's top performances of the day.
"In the pool our freshmen are stepping up, but a lot of our upperclassmen are really getting up there in the mix of things as well ," said Winchester. "I'm really happy with how we're swimming and we've got one more big day tomorrow. I think it's going to be a strong one for us. We're looking forward to ending this competition with some great performances."
The Colonials wrap the Magnus Cup on Sunday with preliminaries beginning at 9 a.m. and finals at 3 p.m.
CLEVELAND - For the second consecutive day, the George Washington women's swimming and diving squad saw 12 Colonials compete in the evening finals of the Magnus Cup Invitational hosted by Cleveland State.
The Buff and Blue sit in sixth place out of 14 teams with one day remaining of the three-day meet.
Freshmen Jackie Torrez and Gemma Atherley, and junior Abigail Fusco each competed in two individual finals heats to lead the Colonials.
"We had another strong day for here at the Magnus Cup on day two," said second-year head coach James Winchester. "Great showings here from our freshmen again, really leading the way is Jackie Torrez with a couple of good A finals tonight and a lifetime best in the 400 IM. Gemma is doing a fantastic job of getting up into some A finals as well and we also had some good performances from our returners."
Torrez posted GW's best finish of the day in the 400-yard IM, taking fourth in 4:24.95 to jump to second on the program's all-time top-10 list. Sophomore Emily Zhang also performed well in the event, taking eighth overall in 4:30.09, followed by senior Lauren Law in 15th (4:33.93).
Torrez also reached the A final in the 100 breaststroke and took 10th overall in 1:05.73. Her preliminary time of 1:05.19 put her eighth on GW's all-time list.
Atherley led a trio of Colonials in the 200 freestyle finals, placing seventh with her time of 1:52.14 - good for eighth on GW's all-time list. Senior Selin Ozturk placed 21st in the event (1:53.32) followed by freshman Lynn Zhang in 28th (1:56.85).
Fusco's best individual finish on Saturday came in the 100 butterfly, where her 16th-place time of 57.64 put her 9th on GW's all-time list. The junior led a pack of Colonials in the 100 backstroke, taking 17th in 58.69. Atherley grabbed 26th (59.65) ahead of sophomore Lucy Castro (35th, 1:00.33) and rookie Alli Lapps (37th, 1:00.45).
All three GW divers competed in the finals on the 3-meter boards, led by sophomore Miranda Simon's10th-place finish with a score of 216.05. Junior Iman Lee finished close behind in 11th (202.25) and freshman Gilliam Chowske took 14th (173.75).
In relay action, the team of Emily Zhang, Law, Atherley and Ozturk placed sixth in the 800 free relay with a time of 7:37.03. Fusco, Torrez, Law and Zhang grabbed 13th in the 200 medley relay (1:48.10) to round out GW's top performances of the day.
"I'm really happy with our women's 800 free relay performance," said Winchester. "Closing the day with a strong finish against a tough field was very good and really signals that we're heading in a good direction for our conference meet. We've had two good days of tough racing, and I'm really happy with where we're at and really looking forward to ending tomorrow on a high."
The Colonials wrap the Magnus Cup on Sunday with preliminaries beginning at 9 a.m. and finals at 3 p.m.
