Akron Women and Ohio State Men Claim NIC Titles

Akron Women and Ohio State Men take home NIC crowns

Ocala, FL – The CSCAA National Invitational Championship, presented by Myrtha Pools and hosted at the FAST facility in Ocala, Florida, came to an exciting conclusion, Swimmers from nearly 60 institutions across the nation delivered record breaking results in the final evening.

After the final night of racing, the Akron women brought home their second consecutive CSCAA National Invitational title with 650 points, Kentucky and Rice held strong at second and third with 629 and 599 points apiece.

On the Men’s side, Ohio State continued their dominant showing finishing with a meet high 843.5 points. Queens finished as the runner up with 652.5 while Grand Canyon with 632.5.

Coach of the Year

Akron’s Brian Peresie won his second consecutive CSCAA NIC Women’s Coach of the Year after the Zips brought home the team title. Akron brought home six victories over the course of the meet.

Men’s CSCAA NIC Coach of the Year was awarded to Jeff Dugdale. The Queens men finished as the runner up and took home two wins and eight total medals throughout the meet.

Athletes of the year

Utah’s Erin Palmer was named CSCAA NIC Athlete of the Year. She took home individual titles in the 100 Breaststroke and 50 Freestyle while setting a new meet record.

Men’s CSCAA NIC Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ohio State’s Alex Metzler. He was victorious in the 200 and 400 IM, breaking the meet record in his 400 IM win.

Event Winners and Highlights below:

1650 Freestyle:

Ella Dyson from Rice took home the victory on the women’s side in 16:20.79. Teammate Ava Portello placed second touching in 16:24.51 while Kentucky’s Libby Grether took third in 16:26.30.

Utah’s Quinn Jones claimed the men’s mile at 15:03.68, teammate Jones Lambert touched second with a time of 15:09.76, Josh Bedford from Ohio State finished third clocking in at 15:11.38.

1000 Freestyle:

Rice teammates Ella Dyson and Ava Portello finished 1-2 in the 1000 free coming in at 9:55.10 and 9:58.05 respectively. Indiana State’s Erin Cummins touched third at 9:58.25.

Utah claimed the top three spots in the 1000 Free. Quinn Jones touched first at 9:07.75, Owen Carlsen was second at 9:10.83 and Jones Lambert was third finishing at 9:15.96.

100 IM:

Queen’s Abigail Zboran set a new meet record in the Women’s 100 IM, finishing in 54.39. Rebecca Reid of Akron claimed second place with 54.71, narrowly edging out Queens’ Tova Andersson, who finished third in 54.77.

Drexel’s Sebastian Smith claimed the men’s 100 IM title with a winning time of 47.82. Durgan McKean secured second place with 48.53, narrowly out-touching Grand Canyon’s Jasu Ovaskainen, who finished third at 48.58.

200 Backstroke:

Kentucky’s Lydia Hanlon claimed victory in the 200 Backstroke, finishing in 1:55.49. Ohio State’s Elise Nardozzi secured second place with 1:55.80, while Akron’s Maddy Gattrall touched third in 1:56.08.

Iona’s Michael Faughnan secured his second title of the weekend, winning the 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:42.13. Ohio State’s Martin Perecinsky finished close behind in 1:42.22 to take second, while Drexel’s Theo Andreopoulos claimed third with 1:42.58.

100 Freestyle:

Ball State’s Payton Kelly edged out Queens’ Ryley Heck in a thrilling finish to win the 100 Freestyle, touching in 49.04 to Heck’s 49.05. Akron’s Hannah Trainer secured third place with a time of 49.35.

In the men’s event, Queens’ Daniel Meszaros captured the 100 Freestyle title with a winning time of 42.81. George Washington’s Elliott Irwin finished second in 43.04, just ahead of Queens’ Matej Dusa, who took third in 43.06.

200 Breaststroke:

Ohio State’s Reese Dehen set a new women’s 200 Breaststroke meet record on her way to victory, finishing in 2:10.61. Casi Dibetta secured second place with a time of 2:12.00, while Florida International’s Ingrid Huszar claimed third in 2:13.25.

In the men’s event, Ohio State’s Luke Vickers captured the 200 Breaststroke title with a winning time of 1:55.43. Duke’s Kalen Anbar finished close behind in 1:55.61, with James McCarthy from the University of Illinois at Chicago rounding out the podium in 1:56.77.

200 Butterfly

Ohio State’s Jessica Erden clinched victory in the women’s 200 Butterfly, narrowly edging out teammate Lucy Mays with a time of 1:57.45 to 1:57.46. Kentucky’s Billie Sherrat secured third place, finishing in 1:58.12.

In the men’s race, Drexel’s Kuba Kwasny captured the 200 Butterfly title in a thrilling finish, touching in 1:44.40, just ahead of Ohio State’s Alex Metzler at 1:44.41. Wyoming’s Adam Pannell rounded out the podium in 1:45.17.

400 Freestyle Relay:

The Akron Zips relay team of Felicia Klintemar, Hannah Trainer, Aislinn Holder, and Rebecca Reid set a new meet record in the women’s 400 Freestyle Relay, finishing in 3:16.95. Queens University secured second place with a time of 3:18.29, while Florida International claimed third in 3:18.74.

On the men’s side, Queens University also set a new meet record, as Daniel Meszaros, Nien Levy, Ondrej Dusa, and Matej Dusa powered to victory in 2:52.17. Grand Canyon followed closely in 2:52.46, with Drexel finishing third at 2:54.25.

Congratulations to all of our teams and we look forward to seeing you next year!