Magnus Cup Invitational: Akron Dominates Final Day, Zips MCI Champs

2021 Magnus Cup Invitational

• November 18-20, 2021
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Day 1 Results (PDF)
• Day 2 Results (PDF)
• Day 3 Results (PDF
• Final Team Scores (PDF)

Courtesy: Akron Athletics

Day 3 Recap

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 24 ranked Akron Zips swimming and diving team dominated the final day of competition, winning 8-of-9 events en route to claiming the 2021 Magnus Cup Invitational Championship by 392 points at the CSU Busbey Natatorium on Saturday.

Over the three-day meet, Akron won 18 events and broke five meet records, capped by Saturday’s performances.

Gail Workman started the scoring for Akron with a win in the 1650-yard freestyle (16:57.34), while the Zips captured the Top 7 spots of the 100-yard individual medley. Senior Sarah Watson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) stopped the timer first with a 54.97 time followed by senior Andrea Fischer (57.98, Oak Grove, Minn.), sophomore Madeline Dyer (58.37, Akron, Ohio), sophomore Giovanna Cappabianca (58.47, Hudson, Ohio), junior Rachel Schiffli (58.58, Indianapolis, Ind.), freshman Kendall Craig (58.71, Evans City, Pa.) and junior Sara Bozso (59.38), Budapest, Hungary).

Akron continued its winning ways in the third event, claiming first and second places as Schiffli brought home the gold (24.52) and freshman Abigail Daniel (Bristow, Va.) earned the silver (24.74). Junior Weronika Gorecka (Wroclaw, Poland) and senior Paulina Nogaj (Radom, Poland) grabbed second (1:55.33) and third (1:58.89) in the 200-yard backstroke.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Watson bested the group with a record-breaking performance, setting a 49.23 meet record, replacing the 49.85 mark set in 2017 by Sadie Fazekas.

Fischer, Dyer and Bozso swept the 200-yard breaststroke with 2:13.59, 2:16.11 and 2:17.15, respectively, as the Zips also swept the Top 3 spots of the 50-yard backstroke event. Sophomore Madelyn Gatrall (Windsor, Ontario) touched first (25.22) followed by senior Lauren Cooper (25.60, Dublin, Ohio) and Gorecka (25.96).

Nogaj won the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.75) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Schiffli (51.03), Watson (49.09), junior Olivia DeRodes (50.97, Fremont, Ohio ) and Nogaj (49.50) finished the meet with a 3:20.59 win.

Akron will be back in action at Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium on Friday-Sunday, Dec. 3-5 as the Zips host the 2021 Zippy Invitational, including men’s and women’s teams from Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cornell, Kaiser, Niagara, Oakland and Pennsylvania, while Akron, Buffalo and Toledo will only compete on the women’s side.

From Earlier – Day 1 & Day 2 Recaps

DAY 1

DAY 2

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Akron Zips swimming and diving team set two meet records while extending their lead to 215.5 points on Friday at the 2021 Magnus Cup Invitational hosted by Cleveland State at the CSU Busbey Natatorium. Akron leads meet with 1,036.5 points followed by Ohio with 821 points.

The Zips opened the second day of competition with a first- and second-place sweep of the 200-yard medley relay as the team of sophomore Madelyn Gatrall (Windsor, Ontario), senior Andrea Fischer (Oak Grove, Minn.), senior Sarah Watson (Winnipeg, Manitoba), senior Paulina Nogaj (Radom, Poland)won with a 1:39.20 time. Senior Lauren Cooper (Dublin, Ohio), junior Sara Bozso (Budapest, Hungary), freshman Abigail Daniel (Bristow, Va.) and Junior Rachel Schiffli (Indianapolis, Ind.) touched runner-up with a 1:41.15 time.

Nogaj and Watson followed with back-to-back record-breaking performances to finish first and second in the 100-yard butterfly event. Nogaj stopped the timer with a meet-best 52.87, breaking her own record set in 2017 (53:32). Watson also touched the wall with a faster time than the previous record with a 53.31 second-place effort.

Watson and Nogaj captured another meet standard as the two were joined by juniors Victoria Kaufman (Westminster, Md.) and Weronika Gorecka (Wroclaw, Poland) for the 800-yard freestyle relay. The squad flew to a 7:20.30 time, replacing the 800 Free Relay time of 7:20.59 set by Akron in 2017.

Fischer made another trip to the top of the podium with a 1:01.98 time in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Gatrall finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (53.65).

On the boards, junior Paige Kalik (Irwin, Pa.) turned in a pair of dominant performances, winning both the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events. Kalik scored 318.85 on six dives at 3-meters for the win. She posted 58.80 on her best dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault tuck with a 2.8 degree of difficulty. On the 1-meter board, Kalik battled back from a seventh-place dive with a 49.40 forward 2 1/2 somersault pike performance en route to a 261-point total score for the win.