AKRON, Ohio – After three days of successful competition, the Cornell women's swimming and diving team secured its spot on the podium, finishing third at Akron's Zippy Invitational at the Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio.

The Big Red entered the final day of the invitational on Sunday in third place and were able to maintain its ground, placing third among eight teams with 1,441 points. Cornell beat out Cincinnati for its top-three team finish, as the Bearcats placed fourth with 1,317 points. Akron (2,138 points) was crowned the Zippy Invitational Champion, while Oakland finished second (1,731 points).

Maegan Rudolph and Allison Chang were the big winners of the day for Cornell. Rudolph recorded the highest individual finish of the day for the Big Red, qualifying for the A Final in the 200-yard butterfly and placing third with a time of 2:01.45. Chang made the cut for the A Final in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing fifth overall with the third-fastest time in Cornell swimming and diving history (2:16.42).

Gillian Caverly also qualified for the A Final in her respective event. Caverly highlighted a Cornell 200-yard backstroke squad that saw eight student-athletes qualify for the A, B, or C Final. Caverly was the lone Big Red swimmer in the A Final, and she would go on to finish eighth in 2:03.30. Alexandra Handlin touched the wall first for Cornell in the B Final, completing the race in 2:02.86 to place 10th, while Aviva Munoz (2:03.43) finished just behind in 11th.

Lexi Schaaf paced four Cornell student-athletes that qualified for the B Final in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing 11th in 51.71. Melissa Parker (52.11), Chloe Mikles (52.19), and Claire Liu (52.23) also swam well, finishing 14th, 15th, and 16th, respectively.

Lavona Harper was the face to watch for the Big Red in the 1,650-yard freestyle, as the sophomore finished seventh overall with a time of 17:07.37.

The Big Red finished out the three-day competition with two strong showings in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Sophia Cherkez, Caverly, Handlin and Schaaf finished fifth in 3:27.37, while the relay of Parker, Liu, Rudolph, and Mikles was close behind in sixth with a time of 3:27.51.

The Big Red women'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 Sunday, Jan. 12 at 12 p.m. in New York.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

1,650-yard Freestyle
13th – Annaklara Doel (17:23.33)
15th – Deedee Maizes (17:32.40)

200-yard Backstroke
14th – Claire McNeary (2:07.17)
15th – Lavona Harper (2:07.87)
16th – Annaklara Doel (2:08.30)
18th – Isabel Chien (2:06.67)

100-yard Freestyle
18th – Sophia Cherkez (52.46)
19th – Deedee Maizes (52.56)
23rd – Vanessa Ruiz (53.13)

200-yard Breaststroke
17th – Cape Murch Elliot (2:21.45)
22nd – Carolyn Morikawa (2:25.20)

200-yard Butterfly
12th – Carolyn Morikawa (2:09.34)
19th – Claire McNeary (2:12.52)