Akron Sweeps Relays On Opening Night of Women’s MAC Championships

2023 MAC WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS 

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Oxford, OH
• Defending Champions: Akron (1x)
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The 2023 Mid-American Championships kicked off Wednesday night in Oxford, Ohio with teams competing in the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay. The conference also hosted an exhibition event, with divers competing on the 10-meter platform.

In SwimSwam’s 2023 MAC Fan Guide, we picked Akron to defend its 2022 title. The Zips have won nine out of the last 10 conference titles, with their only loss coming in 2021 when they finished six points behind the University at Buffalo.

Akron started their title defense off strong, cruising to the conference title in 200 medley relay with a time of 1:36.96. The relay was made up of Maddy Gatrall, Andrea Fischer, Abby Daniel, and Rachel Schiffli.

While the team was strong across the board, the biggest factor in their title came on the third leg of their relay, with Daniel splitting 22.85 on the fly leg. That swim put her over half a second ahead of the second-fastest split in the field and over a second ahead of runner-up Buffalo’s split.

Following Akron in the race were Buffalo (1:37.97) and Miami (1:39.01). Buffalo had a huge fourth 50 from junior Toni Naccarella. Last year’s runner-up in the 50 free, Naccarella split a 21.51 on the end of Buffalo’s relay to close the gap between them and Akron. Earlier this year, Naccarella swam the fastest mid-season time of her career in the 50 free, finishing in 22.58 at the Zippy Invite.

While they finished fourth, the Ball State women came away from the event with a new team record in the event. Entering the meet with a program record of 1:40.01, the team of Shelby Crist, Laura Wright, Hannah Jones, and Apsara Sakbun* dipped below 1:40 for the first time in program history, finishing in 1:39.69. The previous record was held by three of the same swimmers, with Wright being the only new addition.

*Note that official results list freshman Haley Sakbun as the anchor leg but Ball State’s release indicates it was actually senior Apsara Sakbun swimming the team’s anchor leg.

The order of finishers in the 800 free relay looked nearly identical to the 200 medley, with Akron winning in 7:09.00  and Buffalo (7:11.06) and Miami (7:13.09) taking second and third, respectively.

Akron’s relay was led off by Maddy Gatrall, who enters the meet leading the conference in the 50 free, 100 back, and 200 back. Gatrall has limited experience in the 200 free, only have competed in it a handful of times during her collegiate career. Her leadoff leg of 1:47.01 was over two seconds faster than her previous best of 1:49.06 from last fall. That time would rank her as the third-fastest performer in the conference so far this season.

Entering championship season, Gatrall currently sits within the NCAA selection range in her primary events. As of last week, she ranked within the top-20 of both backstroke races.

The field behind Akron also saw multiple program records fall. Buffalo shaved two-tenths off of their previous school record as they took second in 7:11.26, while Ohio swam the fastest time in program history (7:15.23) by over a second.

Team Scores (After Day 1)

1. Akron – 80
2. Buffalo – 68
3. Miami – 64
4. Ohio – 58
5. Eastern Michigan – 54
6. Ball State – 54
7. Toledo – 50
8. Bowling Green State – 22