Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography Collins secured a pair of first place finishes in the loss to Miami this afternoon

AKRON, Ohio – Miami University used six consecutive first place finishes to distance themselves from Akron early in today’s meet at Ocasek Natatorium. Despite tallying five first place victories of their own, the Zips fell to the Redhawks, 189-111.

For the second meet in as many days, Akron posted many personal victories with five first place marks, a trio of 2nd place finishes in addition to adding five 3rd place marks in individual competition. Both relay teams also faired well for Akron, notching two 2nd place finishes on the day.

Regarding today’s meet, head Coach Nittaya Klim added that, “It was a tough turnaround for us today following yesterday in just our second day of competition. Overall, despite the loss I thought we were able to come out and swim with some solid times. We’ll have some work to do for next week and will continue to build on things as we move forward.”

First place finishes for the Zips included a 200-fly victory for junior Cathryn Collins (2:05.89) who also managed the same feat in the 500-yard freestyle event (5:01.34), while Stephanie Zielinski grabbed a pair of 1st place finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles (23.75, 52.14). Senior Emily Bulkowski would round out the top performers for Akron in the 100-yard butterfly finishing first with a 58.55 mark.

The 200-yard medley relay unit consisting of juniors Kendall Karchner, Julie Reynolds, Zielinski and freshman Jessica Ickes picked up where they left off yesterday finishing the race in 2nd place with 1:48.52. In the 400-yard freestyle relay event, Akron’s “A” relay team comprised of Collins, junior Melissa Gary, freshman Meg Finnerty and Zielinski provided a similar result for the Zips finishing in second place (3:34.66) just behind Miami’s “A” unit (3:32.64).

From the diving board, senior Katie Carter amassed 246.67 points, earning 3rd place in the 1-Meter event while finishing 2nd (255.98) in the 3-Meter portion. Sophomore Amanda Angeloff also claimed a second place finish from the 3-Meter board this afternoon with a score of 242.55.

Freshman Meghan Bowling concluded the 1000-yard freestyle event in 2nd place (10:31.26) while adding a 3rd place finish to her day in the 500-yard freestyle event. Bowling, who finished with a 5:10.44 today was only bested by Miami senior Jenn Flaherty (10:29.24). In addition to assisting with relay events, Karchner added a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the 200-yard and 100-yard backstroke for the Zips (2:09.57, 58.88). Junior Julie Reynolds added a 3rd place finish for the Akron squad in the 200-yard individual medley with 2:14.11.

The Zips hit the road next week traveling to Ball State on Friday, Nov. 7th before heading to Ypsilanti, Michigan to face Eastern Michigan and Xavier on Saturday, Nov. 8th.