Oakland Completes Day One With A Record Setting Performance in Akron

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland Men's and Women's Swim and Dive teams conclude day one of the Zippy Invitational with a second-place ranking overall for the men, and a fourth-place ranking for the women at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

Graduate student Susan LaGrand swam a record-breaking performance in the 200-yard backstroke time trials as she cleared the pool in a time of 1:53.37, surpassing her own school record time of 1:53.66 this past season of 2021.

Along with LaGrand's impressive individual performance on the time trial side of the night, there were incredible efforts from the relay teams to make their presence known in Akron, Ohio. Four relay events consisted of the 200-yard medley relay, and the 800-yard freestyle relay, for both men's and women's teams, respectively.

The women's 200-yard medley (A) relay team powered behind LaGrand, Taylor Bailey, Sophia Davis, and Jordyn Shipps carved out a tight fourth-place win with a finishing time of 1:39.99. Additionally, the Golden Grizzlies matched this performance to secure another impressive fourth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with legs from Shipps, Sohvi Nenonen, Mia Englander, and finishing with Sam Theissen in a time of 7:24.08.

Like the women, the men's relay teams did not shy away from intensifying the competition, especially with a dominating second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:26.72 fueled by the A relay team speed from Marko Khotynetskyi, Christian Bart, Sofus Balladone, and Sam McKenzie. Their incredible time nearly scraped UPenn's first-place team finish of 1:26.38.

The men came back and continued this battle with UPenn in the 800-yard freestyle relay as they doubled with a second-place finish with a time of 6:30.48, right behind UPenn with a time of 6:28.24. The 800-yard relay team for the men consisted of Khotnetskyi, McKenzie, Harry Nicholson, and Jonas Cantrell.

Oakland continues to push for more success as the stage is set for day two of the competition with session one prelims starting at 9:00 am, session two diving prelims at 1:00 pm, and session three finals at 6:00 pm.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Bailey: Breast/IM; 5' 8"; Graduate Student

Christian Bart: Sprint Free/Breast; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Jonas Cantrell: Free; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Sophia Davis: Fly/Back; 5' 7"; Junior

Marko Khotynetskyi: Back/Free; 6' 4"; Senior

Susan LaGrand: Back/IM/Free; 5' 8"; Graduate Student

Sohvi Nenonen: IM/Fly/Free; 5' 11"; Senior

Jordyn Shipps: Fly/ Free/ IM; 5' 6"; Sophomore

Sofus Balladone: Freshman

Harry Nicholson: Freshman

Sam McKenzie: Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Taylor Bailey
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student
: Breast/IM

Christian Bart
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: Sprint Free/Breast

Jonas Cantrell
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: Free

Sophia Davis
: 5' 7"; Junior
: Fly/Back

Marko Khotynetskyi
: 6' 4"; Senior
: Back/Free

Susan LaGrand
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student
: Back/IM/Free

Sohvi Nenonen
: 5' 11"; Senior
: IM/Fly/Free

Jordyn Shipps
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: Fly/ Free/ IM

Sofus Balladone
: Freshman

Harry Nicholson
: Freshman

Sam McKenzie
: Graduate Student