MAC Championships: Zips Second After Day One, Akron Sets a Pair of New Standards

Thursday, April 15

Ypsilanti, Mich

University of Akron

MAC CHAMPIONHIPS

MAC Championships: Zips Second After Day One, Akron Sets a Pair of New Standards

April 15 | Women's Swimming & Diving

MAC Championships: Zips Second After Day One, Akron Sets a Pair of New Standards
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YPSILANTI, Mich. – After six events of the Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, the Akron Zips currently sit in second place with 235 total points, paced by a pair of new standards en route to two first place touches.

Akron claimed first place in the 200-yard Individual Medley as junior Sarah Watson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) flew to a 1:56.42 time, besting her record-breaking performance at the 2021 NCAA Championships (1:56.85) on March 18, 2021. She scored 20 points for the Zips and won the 200 IM MAC Championship by 2.71 seconds. Five additional Zips scored in the event as Rachel Sabotin (4^th, 2:00.70, 15 pts.), Olivia Gardner (7^th, 2:03.25, 12 pts.) and Paula Garcia (8^th, 2:05.83, 11 pts.) placed in the A-Final, while Giovanna Cappabianca (11^th, 2:02.90, 6 pts.) and Madeline Dyer (12^th, 2:03.25, 5 pts.) registered points in the B-Final.

The Zips touched first again as the 400-yard Medley Relay team of Madelyn Gatrall, Garcia, Watson and Rachel Schiffli brought home the gold to end the first finals' session. They broke Eastern Michigan's Jones Natatorium pool record with a 3:34.85 time, scoring 40 points for the Zips – EMU's previous record time was 3:44.83 set in 2011 by Oakland. Gatrall led-off the race with a 53.84 time in the backstroke and Garcia swam the second leg breaststroke in 1:00.35, while Watson created distance in the butterfly with 51.08 time and Schiffli maintained the distance with a 49.58 ledger in the freestyle.

The 200-yard Freestyle Relay team of Watson, Schiffli, Lauren Cooper and Victoria Kaufman opened the 2021 MAC Championships with a runner-up performance, scoring the first 34 points of the season finale. Akron added points in the second event of the evening as Brooke Lamoureux (7^th, 4:55.75, 12 pts.) and Gail Workman (8^th, 4:56.10, 11 pts.) placed in the A-Final of the 500-yard Freestyle.

The 50-yard Freestyle and the 1-Meter Diving events rounded out the point scoring for the Zips. In the 50 Free, Akron collected 42 total points from four individual performances. Schiffli paced the Zips with a fourth-place finish with a time of 23.19 for 15 points, while Cooper (7^th, 23.36, 12 pts) and Kaufman (8^th, 23.45, 11 pts.) completed the A-Final. Olivia DeRodes scored four points for the Zips with a 23.50 time in the B-Final.

On the boards, Kami Goodrick placed fifth overall, adding 14 points to Akron's total with 14 points, while Andrea Bugariu and Paige Kalik finished 10^th and 11^th overall, securing seven and six points with scores of 250.30 and 249.40.

The 2021 Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships resume on Friday, April 16 with preliminaries scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 6
1. University at Buffalo - 239
2. The University of Akron - 235
3. Miami University (Ohio) - 148
4. Ohio University - 114
5. Eastern Michigan University - 104
6. University of Toledo - 85
6. Bowling Green State University - 85
8. Ball State University - 82