Swimming and Diving Captures Program's First MAC Championship

March 01 | Women's Swimming & Diving

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GENEVA, Ohio - The University of Akron swimming and diving team captured the program's first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday night at SPIRE Institute with a final total of 574 points. The Zips earned five individual postseason honors, and first-year head coach Brian Peresie was named MAC Coach of the Year.

"This was an incredible experience. I'm just speechless in how far we've come in such a short period of time," Peresie said. "I feel the girls did a wonderful job this weekend performing. We had great support from the parents and fans, and I'm happy everyone was able to come together."

Sophomore Ashley Drazkowski started off the evening for the Zips with a sixth-place time of 16:49.96 in the 1650 freestyle. Her time in the 1650 freestyle eclipses the previous record set by Emily Bulkowski (17:05.86) in the 2007-08 season.

Following the 1650 freestyle, Luka Szynal (1:58.59), Kelsey Ferrante (1:59.49), Laura Savariau (1:59.69), and Ashley Niznik (2:00.33) placed third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the 200 backstroke, respectively. All of the Zips times in the 200 backstroke rank top-five all-time for Akron swimming.

Sophomore Hannah Raspopovich placed fourth in the 100 freestyle at a time of 50.06, good for a program top time. Steph Zielinski set the previous record of 50.07 in 2008-09.

Erin Seiler recorded a third-place time in the 200 butterfly at 2:00.36, which now ranks second all-time in program history. Freshman Alisa Tsypin placed eighth in the 200 butterfly.

The Zips capped off the MAC Championships with a fourth-place finish in the final event of the weekend, the 400 freestyle relay. Raspopovich, Savariau, Ferrante and Taylor Hart combined for a time of 3:24.11, a program record. The previous program top time was 3:25.44 set in 2008-09.

Akron also garnered several postseason honors. Ferrante and Raspopovich were named to the All-MAC first team, while Drazkowski, Seiler and Savariau were tabbed for second team All-MAC.

"When I sit back and reflect on where we were at the beginning of the year, our goal was to win a championship," Peresie said Saturday. "At the Zippy Invitational we really started to believe in ourselves, and everyone worked hard, staff included, to accomplish our goal. I'm very excited about the future of Zips swimming and diving."

In all, Akron set eight program records throughout the weekend. The Zips had two relay teams, the 200 medley and 200 freestyle, earning MAC Championship times, a feat that had not been accomplished in either event in program history. UA also notched an individual MAC Championship in the 50 freestyle by Raspopovich, which is a program first as well.

Miami finished second to Akron after collecting 496 points and Bowling Green was third with 476 points. Eastern Michigan (469), Buffalo (446), Ohio (362), Toledo (348), and Ball State (334) rounded out the event.

MAC Postseason Honors

Most Outstanding Swimmer: Brittney Kuras, Buffalo

Swimming Coach of the Year: Brian Peresie, Akron

Most Outstanding Diver: Danielle Hulvey, Eastern Michigan

Diving Coach of the Year: Russ Decker, Ohio

Most Outstanding Senior: Brittney Kuras, Buffalo

All-MAC First Team

Kelsey Ferrante, Akron

Hannah Raspopovich, Akron

Bridgette Ruehl, Ball State

Haley Richer, Ball State

Victoria Griffin, Bowling Green