Swimming & Diving Places Fifth at Zippy Invitational

Friday, December 1

Akron, Ohio

All Day

University of Toledo

Zippy Invitational

Izzy Jones and the Rockets placed fifth at the Zippy Invitational.

Swimming & Diving Places Fifth at Zippy Invitational

12/4/2017 10:51:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Full Results (PDF)

Akron, Ohio – The Toledo women's swimming and diving team completed competition at the Zippy Invitational on Sunday. The Rockets finished in fifth place out of nine teams competing in the event.

"I'm very pleased about how we performed at the Zippy Invitational," said head coach Jonas Persson. "We prepared well for the meet and the team was really emotionally invested. We achieved what we needed to do, and it was a great meet to see where we are at as a team halfway through the season."

The meet was certainly a success for the Rockets as a unit, with 96 percent (75 of 78) of their times or dives qualifying as season-bests, as well as scoring in all nine of their relay swims.

"The junior and senior classes again provided great leadership, both in and out of the pool, which led to great performances by the sophomore and freshmen classes," said Persson. "It wasn't a perfect meet, but we did not expect that. Instead, we came in with the attitude of learning about our racing and finding ways to improve. I could not be more proud of how we performed. The future is looking bright for Toledo swimming and diving."

Sophomore Izzy Jones led the way for the Rockets, earning the lone event victory for Toledo in the 200-yard backstroke. Jones' swim in the 200 backstroke finals (1:56.10) was enough to earn Top 100 honors in the country, coming in at No. 58, as well as being a new school record for the event. Jones also set new personal-best times in the 50-yard freestyle (23.93), 200-yard freestyle (1:47.95), 500-yard freestyle (4:47.79), 50-yard backstroke (25.43) and the 100-yard backstroke (54.57)

Freshman Macarena Garcia took second place overall in the 400-yard individual medley, with a personal-best time of 4:19.50. Garcia posted three more season-best times for her freshman campaign over the weekend, including the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.87), 200-yard butterfly (2:03.25) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.03).

Senior Allison Dicke highlighted the event for Toledo's upperclassmen, with five of her swims qualifying as personal-bests. Other Rockets posting personal-best times included freshman Lisa Eriksson (5), sophomore Bec Welke (3) and freshman Lina Berggren (3).

In the diving pool, the Rockets did not qualify for the finals in one or three-meter diving, but diving coach Gabriella Agostino is still encouraged with the progress she saw this weekend.

"The Zippy Invitational was a good opportunity for Elayna Yoskovich and Megan Peepers to compete against divers in the MAC in a championship format," said Agostino. "They showed great improvement when the pressure was on, I look forward to them sharpening their skills for conference competition."

The Rockets will return to the pool December 21 when they head to Fort Meyers, Fla. to face Florida Gulf Coast. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.