Oakland Successful In Akron

AKRON, Ohio, November 11. OAKLAND's men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in a quadrangular meet at Akron this afternoon, sweeping both Clarion and Duquesne, but succumbing to the host Zips. The men defeated Clarion 187-75 and Duquesne 158-104. Meanwhile the women downed the Golden Eagles 174-122 and the Dukes 198-82, but fell to Akron 172-126. Five men recorded wins in individual events, with Eddie Toro (Toronto, Ontario) and freshman Patrick Downing (Kirkland, Quebec) each posting wins in two individual and a relay. Sophomore Rachel Beardsley (Fenton, Mich.) and junior Riley Rigoli (Grand Haven, Mich.) both had an individual and a relay win to lead the women.

The Golden Grizzly men opened the meet by winning the first five events. Downing, Toro, junior Zoltan Horvath (Balatonalmadi, Hungary) and sophomore Andy Kellogg (Chelsea, Mich.) teamed up for the 400-yard medley relay, winning in 3:31.82. Sophomore Aaron Holdsworth (Wollongong, Australia) followed up with a victory in the 1000 free, completing the course in 9:46.79.

Downing continued OU's streak, capturing the 200 free in a season-best 1:44.87. Sophomore Mike Templeton (Canton, Ohio) hit the wall at 52.11 to win the 100 backstroke, while Kellogg came out on top in the 100 breaststroke with a 59.32.

The Golden Grizzlies took the 2-3-4 spots in the 200 butterfly, led by sophomore Jason Manasseri's (Austin, Texas) 1:58.10. Junior Chris Tansel (Dundee, Mich.) followed with a 2:00.57 while Horvath was 0.40 later at 2:00.97. Templeton posted his second win of the day in the 200 backstroke, stopping the clock at 1:52.46.

Toro's first win of the meet came in the 200 breaststroke, as his 2:10.86 was a full second faster than the rest of the field. In the next event Oakland put together a 1-2 finish, as Downing's 4:46.36 in the 500 free beat teammate Anthony Serio (Oakland, Mich.) by 0.40.

OU posted its second 2-3-4 finish of the evening in the 100 butterfly, with Horvath's 51.26 beating out Holdsworth by 0.03 seconds. Manasseri followed in 52.71 to round out the scoring swimmers in the event for Oakland, while sophomore Dawid Tatarczyk (Miedziana, Poland) finished fifth at 54.06.

Toro led the Golden Grizzlies to a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM, hitting the wall at 1:56.77. Downing and Templeton were separated by just 0.02 as Downing finished the race in two minutes flat and Templeton clocked a 2:00.02. Oakland capped the evening with a decisive victory in the 400 free relay, as the 3:09.32 posted by Holdsworth, Tansel, Horvath and Kellogg was three seconds ahead of Duquesne's top squad.

The Golden Grizzly women opened the meet with a third place finish in the 400 medley relay. Freshman Sarah Ludema (Zeeland, Mich.), senior Amanda Burwell (Akron, Ohio), freshman Kristen Hamilton (Columbus, Ohio) and Rigoli combined for a 3:58.39, just 0.15 seconds off the winning pace.

Freshman Rachel Girard (Minneapolis, Minn.) and junior Carolyn Routh (Sandusky, Ohio) finished 2-3 in the 1000 free, with Girard swimming a season-best 10:31.36 and Routh following in 10:36.23.

Beardsley captured the 50 free for the second straight night, clocking a 24.61. Rigoli beat out Beardsley by 0.03 seconds to lead OU to a 1-2 finish, swimming a 53.59 to Beardsley's 53.61.

Junior Kim Bacon (Bolton, Ontario) claimed the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.57, while Gustafsson took the next event, the 500 free, in 5:04.39. Burwell clocked a 2:08.80 to win the 200 IM, edging Akron's Lauren Parr by 0.05 seconds.

Beardsley, Ludema, junior Chrissy Hager (Haslett, Mich.) and Rigoli pulled together to win the 400 free relay in 3:35.26 to cap off a successful afternoon for Oakland.

Diver Missy Butcher (Holland, Mich.) was fifth in the 1-meter board, scoring a season-high 187.70 points, while placing sixth in the 3-meter board, compiling 162.95.

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