Penn Men, Akron Women Crowned Winners of Zippy Invite

2022 ZIPPY INVITE

• December 1 – December 4, 2022
• Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium, Akron, OH
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Information
• Watch
• Live Results: “2022 Zippy Invitational” on MeetMobile
• 2023 NCAA Qualifying Times

University of Pennsylvania men and University of Akron women took victory during the final session of the 2022 Zippy Invite. A total of three meet and pool records fell during Sunday’s finals session across the event lineup (200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay), all on the men’s side.

Final Team Scores

Men

1. Penn – 2095.5
2. Cornell – 1879.5
3. Oakland – 1536
4. Keiser – 1413
5. Clarion – 764

Women

1. Akron – 1835
2. Buffalo – 1647
3. Penn – 1511.5
4. Oakland – 1291.5
5. Cornell – 1137
6. Keiser – 578
7. Clarion – 446

Men’s Recap:

In the 1650 free, Keiser freshman Aaron Wilmes blasted a 15:13.49 to win and set a new meet and pool record. He took about nine seconds off the previous mark set by Penn’s Billy Fallon in 2022. Penn sophomore Michael Foley placed 2nd (15:32.50) while Cornell freshman Chris Kostelini took third place (15:36.15).

Then, it was Penn’s James Curreri, a freshman, and Daniel Gallagher, a sophomore, who hit the wall first in the 200 back with times of 1:43.91 and 1:44.31, respectively. Freshman Pietro Ubertalli scored major points for Cornell by taking 3rd (1:44.83).

Penn picked up another win in the 100 free where junior Benjamin Feldman claimed first place with a time of 43.66. Oakland scored with a 2-3 finish from redshirt senior Christian Bart (43.77) and 5th year Samuel McKenzie (44.01).

The Quakers’ momentum was unstoppable by the third event where 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist Matt Fallon, a Penn sophomore, posted a blistering 1:50.28 to win the 200 breast with nearly a 6-second lead over the field. This is the fastest time in the NCAA so far this season and a significant improvement from the 1:52.33 he posted during the first intrasquad meet of the 2022-2023 season. It seems to be a bit of a tradition for Fallon to swim fast at this meet – he blasted a 1:49.71 at last year’s Zippy Invite and then he ended the season with a 1:49.03 in the prelims of NCAA’s (adding slightly to place 3rd in finals.) On Sunday, Fallon’s teammates Jason Schreiber, a junior, and Neil Simpson, a senior, placed 2nd (1:56.21) and third (1:56.71), respectively.

After placing 3rd in the 100 fly on Saturday, Penn junior Andrew Dai dominated the 200 fly, winning with a meet and pool record-setting time of 1:45.95. He undercut the previous record set by Cornell’s Joseph Gurski, a sophomore this year, in 2021 by nearly one second. This was a strong swim for Dai who posted a 1:47.53 to place 8th in the Ivy League Championships final last season. On Sunday night, he was followed by a 1-2 Cornell finish from Gurski (1:46.68) and freshman Jacques Grove (1:47.51).

The final event of the night was the 400 free relay where Oakland’s quartet of McKenzie, Bart, freshman Charlie Brown, and senior Marko Khotynetskyi won (2:55.49). They out-touched second-place finishers, Penn, by 1.44 seconds, setting a new meet and pool record.

Women’s Recap:

Penn women started the night off with a bang, placing 1-2-3 in the 1650 free. This charge was led by senior Anna Sofia Kalandadze (16:07.95) followed by senior Catherine Buroker (16:29.59), and freshman Sydney Bergstrom (16:38.70).

Akron responded by going 1-2 in the 200 back. Junior Madelyn Gatrall led that charge with a 1:53.50, followed by senior Weronika Gorecka (1:53.57). The two of them had a 2-second lead over the field as Oakland 5th year Susan LaGrand touched the wall third (1:55.61).

Buffalo 5th year Toni Naccarella was untouchable in the 100 free, taking first place with a time of 48.94 and a full one-second lead over the field. It was a tight race for second place; Akron senior Rachel Schiffli was ahead at the 50 but Penn senior Margot Kaczorowski nearly ran her down on the final length with a sub-26 split (25.94). Schiffli ultimately took second place (50.09), out-touching third-place finisher Kaczorowski by .01 (50.10).

In the 200 breast, Akron 5th year Andrea Fischer led a 1-3 finish for the Zips, touching the wall first at 2:11.80. Her junior teammate Madeline Dyer placed 3rd (2:13.10) while Oakland 5th year Taylor Bailey split the duo up by claiming second place (2:12.99).

The last individual event was the women’s 200 fly where Akron sophomore Abby Daniel decisively swept the butterfly events of the meet after winning the 100 fly earlier. In the 200, she hit the wall first with a time of 1:58.16. Penn’s Vanessa Chong, a sophomore, took second place (1:59.34) while Akron junior Rachel Sabotin also cracked 2:00.00 to place third (1:59.56).

Akron’s team of Gatrall, Schiffli, sophomore Rebecca Reid, and Gorecka claimed first place in the 400 free relay (3:18.16)  to finish the meet strong.