BOSTON -- The Cornell women's swimming and diving team closed out its final competition before the Ivy League Championships with more season-bests and podium finishes on day two of the Boston University Winter Open on Saturday from FitRec Competition Pool.

Victoria Zhang and Madeline Ferreira represented the Big Red in the first swimming event of the morning session in the 100 butterfly. Both recorded season-bests in the event, as Zhang earned bronze (56.69), while Ferreria finished 0.30 seconds behind to earn sixth (56.99). Two more swimmers clocked their first swims of the session four events later, as Alex Syrkin (1:57.58 - 14th) and Bahar Demirkiran (1:58.39 - 17th) represented Cornell in the 200 freestyle.

Two more season-best finishes came down the pipeline for Quinn Rinkus (1:06.04) and Joey Misailidis (1:06.73), shaving over a second combined off their seeded times in the 100 breaststroke to earn fourth and seventh. Sophia Tsai also recorded a season-best in the 100 backstroke with a final time of 58.24, four spots ahead of senior teammate Angelica Sih (59.03). The lone relay race of the early session was a podium position for the Big Red, as Sih, Misailidis, Ferreira, and Zhang grabbed bronze by 0.55 seconds over Boston University's B-Team in the 200 medley relay. In the final swimming event of the first session, Lexie Vanderloo swam past the competition to earn gold in the 1650 freestyle by knocking over 30 seconds off her seeded time to finish at 17:53.00.

Cornell also had one diver in action on the day, as Elina Natarajan earned season-bests in the 1 meter (250.20 - fourth) and 3 meter (226.65 - sixth).

The top-five finishes continued early in the evening session for the Big Red, as Tsai, Demirkiran, Rinkus, and Zhang finished just 0.28 seconds behind Northeastern's A-Team to earn bronze in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.64) and Sih earning fifth in the 200 backstroke (2:06.92). Cornell's largest pool of swimmers came in the 100 freestyle as four suited up for the red and white. Zhang was the top finisher of the four, earning second (52.01), followed by Tsai (52.76 - 10th), Rinkus (54.03 - 17th), and Demirkiran (54.85 - 23rd). Misailidis was the lone representative in the 200 breaststroke an event later, taking home the top spot by over a second with a season-best 2:22.06.

Two more events rounded out the evening session in the 200 butterfly and 400 medley relay. Ferreria (2:09.28 - eighth) and Syrkin (2:11.67 - 10th) represented in the 200, while the quartet of Sih, Misailidis, Syrkin, and Vanderloo rounded out the meet with a bang, earning the top spot in the 400 by over five seconds. 

UP NEXT
Cornell will return to the pool for postseason play when it travels to Rhode Island for the 2024 Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships. The four-day event begins Wednesday Feb. 21 and runs until Saturday, Feb. 24, with each day of action to be streamed on ESPN Plus. The Big Red will look to beat its 552 point performance from a year ago that put them seventh in the final team standings.