AKRON, Ohio – By the final day of Akron's Zippy Invitational at the Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio, the Cornell men's swimming and diving team was in a league of its own, finishing the meet with 2,527.50 points and winning the team title by a landslide.

The Big Red entered Sunday with a comfortable 559.50 point lead over second-place Oakland. Instead of cruising to the victory, Cornell continued to put its foot on the gas, finishing the competition with 2,527.50 points and notching a margin of victory of 743.50 points. Oakland ultimately finished second with 1,784 points, while Cincinnati (1,317.50) rounded out the top-three.

By the numbers, Cornell won three individual events, set the meet and pool record in two events, and posted five Cornell all-time top-10 marks on Sunday en route to securing the team victory.

Led by James Huang, the Big Red found great success in the 200-yard butterfly, as Cornell swept the top three places and qualified five student-athletes for the A Final. Huang was the first to touch the wall, winning the event with a time of 1:47.10 and setting the Zippy Invitational Meet Record and Ocasek Natatorium Pool Record in the process. He was joined by great company in the race, as Alan Li (1:49.56) and Min Zhi Chua (1:51.75) finished second and third, respectively.

Freshman Paige daCosta was responsible for the other Big Red meet and pool record of the day, as his spectacular weekend continued. daCosta won his fourth individual event of the weekend, finishing first in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:43.66. Not only does this time rank third on Cornell's all-time top-10 list, but it broke the Zippy Invitational Meet Record and Ocasek Natatorium Pool Record and made the NCAA B Cut (1:45.04). This marked the fourth time this weekend that daCosta accomplished these feats in an event. Van Cates recorded a top-three finish in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing third in 1:47.30.

Trevor Lake notched an individual event win of his own, emerging victorious in the 100-yard freestyle and posting the third-fastest time in Cornell swimming and diving history (44.19). Jack Mahoney finished just behind Lake, placing second in 44.58.

Cornell proved that strength comes in numbers in the 200-yard backstroke, qualifying five student-athletes for the A Final and claiming five of the top-eight places. Owen Downs was the top Big Red finisher, placing second in 2:00.43. Ryan Pirrung (2:00.82) and Jacob Bass (2:01.34) finished third and fourth, respectively, both cracking Cornell's all-time top-10 list. Pirrung's time ranks seventh in the Big Red record books, while Bass' sits ninth.

Highlighted by Jake Lawson's third-place finish, Cornell had three swimmers make the cut for the A Final in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Lawson clocked in at 15:41.28, while Jordan Blitz (15:45.10) and Chris Kostelni (16:00.31) placed fourth and seventh, respectively.

Cornell closed out the three-day meet with a bang, notching a Big Red all-time top-10 mark in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of daCosta, Mahoney, Cyrus Morrison, and Lake finished second with a time of 2:58.13, a mark which ranks sixth in program history.

The Big Red men's swimming and diving team will return to the pool when it heads to the Big Apple for an Ivy League matchup against Columbia on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. in New York.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

200-yard Backstroke
5th - William Hrabchak (1:48.24)
7th - Dylan Curtis (1:53.95)

200-yard Breaststroke
6th - Ryan Brown (2:03.47)
7th - Jack Valiquette (2:04.07)
9th - Jakob Kaminsky (2:03.71) – won B Final

200-yard Butterfly
6th - Ethan Bachert (1:52.21)
7th - Jeremy Marcin (1:52.31)