The Cornell men’s swimming and diving team took first at the Akron Zippy Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Ocasek Natatorium. Cornell closed the three-day meet with 1,950 points to outdistance second place Oakland (1,770 points). Over the course of the weekend the Big Red set numerous meet and pool records, broke 1 Ivy League record and 2 school records, achieved 7 NCAA B cuts, and had 22 new all-time top 10 performances for the program.
Day 1:
The Big Red opened the meet with a meet and pool record in the 200 free relay, as Luke Reisch, Jack Brenneman, Alex Evdokimov and Jack Mahoney put down a blazing time of 1:19.94, just .04 ahead of second place Bloomsburg and .03 off the school record. The B team of Calvin Hulse, Rob Lincoln, Brandon Sweezer and Vincent Declercq was fifth in 1:23.52.
The Big Red had three swimmers make the A final in the 50 free, with Jack Brenneman hitting third with a time of 20.03, the fastest time in the prelims for a meet and pool record. Luke Reisch (20.18, No. 5 all-time at Cornell) also hit the NCAA B standard, while Mahoney placed seventh (20:30). To continue Cornell’s dominant effort, Evdokimov (10th, 20.52), Dylan Curtis (11th, 20.68) and Calvin Hulse (12th, 20.76) all finished in the top 12, and Rob Lincoln (20.82) won the C final to place 17th.
Cornell crushed the meet and pool record in the 400 medley relay to close the night, as Curtis, Evdokimov, Reisch and Brenneman cruised home with a time of 3:12.66, more than a second and a half faster than the competition. It was the second-fastest time in Cornell history. The B team swam the course in 3:20.19, good for seventh place, No. 10 all-time for the Big Red.
Day 2:
The men opened Saturday the same way it opened Friday – with a pool and meet record relay swim. This time, it was the team of Dylan Curtis, Evdokimov, Luke Reisch and Jack Brenneman swimming the winning 200 medley in a school-record 1:26.44.
Alex Evdokimov broke the Ivy League record and posted a strong NCAA B time with his pool and meet record 52.41 in the finals to easily win the 100 breast. Liam Sosinsky (seventh, 55.83, No. 10 all-time at Cornell) and Ryan Brown (eighth, 55.51, No. 7 all-time at Cornell) also made the A final in the event, while Jordan Berger (15th, 57.29) and Calvin Hulse (19th, 58.76) were scorers.
Ian Russiello took home the title in the 400 IM (3:55.29, No. 2 all-time at Cornell) with Ryan Brown (4:01.25) taking sixth. Both Matt Daniel (ninth, 4:02.18) and Sosinsky (10th, 4:06.25) both finished top 10.
Cornell went 3-4-5-6 in the 100 butterfly led by Brenneman’s NCAA B cut time (48:25). Vincent Declercq (48.40, No. 6 at Cornell), Reisch (48.46) and Mahoney (48.89) weren’t far behind, while Dylan Curtis also made the A final in 49:32 to place eighth. Also scoring in the event was Braedon Wong in 12th (49.87).
Koppi Kolyvek continued the Big Red’s hot streak with a win in the 200 free in a solid 1:38.84 (No. 3 all-time at Cornell), edging out a pair of swimmers, including teammate Marc Morizono in third (1:40.22). Brandon Sweezer was 16th (1:41.91).
Yet another meet and pool record with an accompanying NCAA B time was put forth by Curtis, whose 47.86 time in the prelims (No. 2 all-time at Cornell) and 48.15 in the finals led him to the top of the podium in the 100 back. Cornell also placed third (Reisch, 49.32), sixth (Lincoln, 50.53), seventh (Wong, 50.97) and ninth (Mahoney, 49.94, No. 9 all-time at Cornell).
Day 3:
Alex Evdokimov set a pool and meet record in the 200 breast with a winning time of 1:54.31. He was joined in the A final by fourth-place finisher Ryan Brown (2:00.87, No. 5 all-time at Cornell) and Liam Sosinsky (2:02.12) in sixth.
Another pool and meet record went down in the 200 butterfly, as Vincent Declercq touched in 1:47.21, an NCAA B cut time. Russiello placed third (1:49.89) and Marc Morizono (1:52.07) was fifth, while Kolyvek (13th, 1:55.72) and Jordan Berger (14th, 1:56.35) scored in the B final, adding valuable points to Cornell’s team total.
Cornell went out with a bang, closing the meet with a pool and meet record time in the 400 free relay, with Mahoney, Brenneman, Evdokimov and Reisch taking home the title in 2:57.78 (No. 3 all-time at Cornell). The B team of Curtis, Declercq, Hulse and Lincoln was fourth in 3:01.57 (No. 9 all-time at Cornell).
News courtesy of Cornell Athletics.
