Silver goes to UA

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GoZips

Akron swimmer during her race in CSU.

By Forrest Dukes, Sports Editor

Akron swimming and diving team went to Cleveland State University and took home second place in the Magnus Cup Invitational.

The invitational brought 10 squads together to compete in a weekend full of water, chlorine and hair caps. Some of the schools that participated were Youngstown State, Xavier, Buffalo, Cleveland State and Ashland.

UA has been on a break with their last competition coming earlier this month when they traveled to Ball State, and edged the Cardinals by three points.

The Zips fared well in day one of the invitational, winning the 200-yard medley relay behind Ashley Niznik, Amanda Lawson, Erin Seiler and Hannah Raspopovich. Raspopovich also claimed an individual win in the 50-yard freestyle beating her competition by .01 seconds. Seiler finished first in each of her three events along with Kara Kaulius and Natalie O’Brian, taking the top two spots in the 1000 yard free.

On day two, the Zips finished with 701.5 points and earning five first place finishes and breaking five records.

UA swept the three-meter diving as Rachel Aepellbacher placed first, followed by Alice Hottensmith and Paige Kelkenberg. Seiler also place first in the 100-yard fly. Luka Szynal finished first in the 100-yard backstroke. The 200-yard medley relay team of Niznik, Raspopovich, Seiler and Kelsey Ferrante earned a second place, finishing behind first by a mere .02 seconds. The Zips also finished  third in the 800-yard free relay behind Niznik, Ashley Drazkowski, Ferrante, and O’Brian.

Akron secured a second place finish with eight individual first place finishes and seven records during the third day of the Magnus Cup Invitational. Some of the winners of the night were Szynal (200-yard backstroke), Seiler (50-yard butterfly) and Niznik (50-yard backstroke). In the end the Zips tallied 995.5 points at the invitational and finished in second behind Duquesne University followed by Xavier, Buffalo and Cleveland State to round out the top five finishers of the Magnus Cup Invitational.