The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Zippy Invitational
Swimming and Diving Opens Zippy Invitational in First Place
December 05 | Women's Swimming & Diving
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AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron swimming and diving team opened day one of the 2014 Zippy Invitational on Friday in first place after posting a top-three finish in each of the six events at the Ocasek Natatorium.
Akron racked up a tally of 597 throughout the first day of the three-day meet to lead the 10 teams in attendance. The Zips are followed by Marshall in second place with 518 and Illinois State in third at 457, while Clarion and Bloomsburg round out the top-five.
Indiana (Pa.) leads six teams in the men's events with a total of 570 after day one.
The Zips got off to a strong start by posting a victory in the first event. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ashley Niznik, Susan Franz, Taylor Hart and Hannah Raspopovich combined for a first-place time of 1:33.06. They were followed by Akron's second relay team, finishing in sixth.
The 200-yard IM highlighted the evening's swimming events as nine different Zips placed in the top-20 in the event. Niznik, a junior, registered Akron's second top finish of the night and the first individual victory in the 200 IM at 2:04.58. Senior Kelsey Ferrante and Seiler finished in third and fourth, respectively, as sophomore Luka Szynal and freshman Kristen Vargas rounded out the top-10 for the Zips.
UA locked up three third-place finishes, the first courtesy of junior Ashley Drazkowski who posted a time of 4:55.82 in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 50-yard freestyle, Raspopovich earned third place with a time of 23.29 as Franz took fourth. Junior Alice Hottensmith notched third in the one-meter dive with a score of 242.60.
Akron finalized the first day of competition with a pair of 400 medley relay teams taking the top two spots. Szynal, Amanda Lawson, Seiler and Raspopovich claimed the victory at 3:44.27 as the Zips' second relay team came in at 3:47.83.
The Zippy Invitational will continue on Saturday, with preliminaries set to begin at 9 a.m. Prelims will be followed by the diving events at approximately 1:30 p.m. Finals will begin at 6 p.m. A full list of scheduled events can be found in the Zippy Invitational program.
A video stream is available through GoZips.com while live results can be accessed through the Meet Mobile smartphone app.
Tickets for each individual prelim session are $6, while tickets to the final sessions are $8 each. Spectators may also purchase a $35 pass, good for entry to each session throughout the weekend. Tickets must be paid for in cash and will be available one hour prior to the start of each session.
Players Mentioned
