AKRON, Ohio – Senior Jameson Crandell won the 3 meter diving competition, with three additional Big Red divers making finals, fueling the Cornell men's swimming and diving team to a second place showing through the first day of Akron's Zippy Invitational on Friday at the Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio.
After having four swimmers make the A Final of their respective events and four divers make the 3-meter final, Cornell sits in second through day one with 514 points, 58 points ahead of third place Oakland. Penn currently leads the field with 682 points.
Crandell stole the show in the 3 meter diving, winning the event with 320.25 points, a point total that is good for the NCAA B Cut. He had an abundance of company and support in finals, as Soodong Kim (fifth, 258.40), Matthew Warren (sixth, 256.05), and Gabe Hartmann (eighth, 242.15) all made finals and notched top-eight finishes as well. In total, Cornell scored an impressive 103 points in the event.
In the swimming events, it was freshman Sebastian Wolff who posted the Big Red's top finish of the day, making the A Final of the 200 IM and finishing third overall in 1:47.59, a mark which ranks fifth on Cornell's all-time top-10 list.
As if that wasn't enough, Wolff swam a leg on Cornell's 200 freestyle relay team that clocked in at the 10th-fastest time in Big Red history. Wolff teamed up with Jeremy Marcin, Ian Mackey, and Kyle Pro for a fourth-place overall finish in 1:20.83.
Marcin and Mackey both found success in the 50 freestyle, with Marcin making the A Final and going on to a seventh place showing with a time of 20.53. Mackey swam his way to a 10th-place overall finish, touching the wall in 20.69.
In the 500 freestyle, the duo of senior Jake Lawson and junior Chris Kostelni caught people's eyes, both making the A Final and clocking Cornell all-time top-10 marks. Lawson was the Big Red's top finisher in the event, placing fourth in 4:27.62 and improving to sixth all-time in the Big Red record books. Kostelni followed not far behind in eighth, with his time of 4:29.04 from prelims sitting 10th in Cornell history.
Cornell closed out day one of the Zippy Invitational with a top-five finish in the 400 medley relay. With Pro as the common denominator between both Big Red relays on the day, the team of Will Taner, Jacob Bass, Joseph Gurski, and Pro placed fifth in 3:16.57.
Day two of the Zippy Invitational will commence for the Cornell men's swimming and diving team on Saturday. Prelims are slotted for a 9 a.m. start, with diving set for approximately 1:30 p.m. and finals finishing off the day at 6 p.m.
