The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MAC Championships
Swimming and Diving in First Place after Day One of MAC Championships
February 27 | Women's Swimming & Diving
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Day One Results | MAC Championships Central
Recap with Head Coach Brian Peresie
GENEVA, Ohio – The University of Akron swimming and diving team ended day one of the 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships in first place with 201 points on Thursday evening at the SPIRE Institute. Akron set three program records and earned two top times in day one.
In the first event of the evening, the 200 freestyle relay, the Akron relay team of Taylor Hart, Hannah Raspopovich, Ashley Niznik and Kendra Colby placed fist to earn the program's first relay win at the MAC Championships. The Zips finished the race at a time of 1:31.53, which bests the previous program record of 1:32.67 set in the 2009-10 season.
Following the 200 freestyle relay, sophomore Ashley Drazkowski proceeded to set the program record in the 500 freestyle at a time of 4:48.83, good for third place. Her time eclipsed the previous record of 4:51.97, set by Cathryn Collins in the 2008-09 season.
Raspopovich, a sophomore, notched Akron's lone individual first-place finish in the 50 freestyle. She finished the race at 22.76, which is good for second all-time in program history. Raspopovich's first-place time in the 50 freestyle is the first Akron MAC Championship in the event.
In the diving pool, senior Carla McNamara led the way in one-meter diving with a fourth-place score of 290.90, with sophomore Alice Hottensmith finishing in fifth at 266.35.
Akron capped off the evening with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay. Kelsey Ferrante, Erin Seiler, Colby and Raspopovich combined for a final time of 3:40.65, a time that is now a program record. The previous record was set in 2009-10 season at 3:43.13.
The Zips will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the MAC Championships. Preliminaries are set for 11 a.m., with finals commencing at 7 p.m., at SPIRE.
MAC Women's Swimming & Diving Team Results (Following Day 1)
1. Akron -- 201 points
2. Miami -- 167
3. Eastern Michigan -- 148
T4. Buffalo -- 138
T4. Bowling Green -- 138
6. Ohio -- 114
7. Ball State -- 101
8. Toledo -- 85
Players Mentioned
