PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Molly Urkiel added another Rutgers record as one of three A finalists and four top-10 program times at the Minnesota Invite and Sephora Ford was crowned the platform at the RU Diving Invitational as competition wrapped up at both meets on Saturday. 
 

FROM THE POOL DECK

• Graduate student Molly Urkiel, who on Friday broke the RU 400 IM record, went back to the water on Saturday to break the 200 breast record with an NCAA B cut time.
• Rutgers also saw A finalists in graduate student Shannon Meadway in the 200 back and sophomore Blanka Berecz in the 200 fly.
• In addition to Urkiel's performance, the Scarlet Knights also had top 10 times from juniors Ellie Schinsky and Cameron Kuriger in the 200 fly and sophomore Sofia Bartoloni in the 200 breast.

MINNESOTA INVITE RECAP

• Molly Urkiel set another breaststroke record, this time during her A final appearance in the 200 breast. Urkiel took fourth overall with a new Rutgers record and NCAA B cut of 2:10.90. She bested the previous record of 2:11.02 set by Rachel Stoddard in 2016.
• Sofia Bartoloni was the runner-up in the B final of the 200 breast, logging the seventh fastest time at RU, hitting the wall in 2:13.62. She moved up one spot on the top 10 list, bettering her time by 1.22 seconds from her previous best set against Princeton in the annual Battle For The Cannon Trophy.

 

• Blanka Berecz was a mere .03 seconds off her personal best in her 200 fly A final swim. She touched in 1:59.29 to take fifth place, just shy of her fifth-place spot in the RU record book.

 

• Rutgers also had an A finalist in the 200 back. Shannon Meadway took fifth, coming in at 1:57.17.
• In the C final, Natalie Schick posted a new best of 2:02.29, shedding .14 seconds off her time from last year's Big Ten Championship.

 

• Rutgers also had three B finalists with two Scarlet Knights also making moves in the record book in the 200 fly.
• Ellie Schinsky was the runner-up in the B final in 1:59.69 for the seventh fastest time on record "On The Banks" with Cameron Kuriger following in third in 2:00.07 for the ninth fastest time.
• Schinsky took 2.66 seconds off her previous best set at last year's Big Ten Championships.

 

• Rutgers had four Scarlet Knights among the top 16 in the 1650 free led by Orian Gablan in tenth place with her time of 16:53.26.
• Grace Weaver recorded a new PR dropping 20.86 seconds off her previous best to come in 17:06.66 for 12^th.
• Megan Fox followed in 13^th (17:13.61) and Isabela Valle finished 16^th (17:22.61).

 

• The invite wrapped up with the 400 free relay coming in with a season best. The team consisting of Jade Smits, Brooke Thompson, Martyna Piesko and Molly Urkiel collected a time of 3:26.51.

 

RU DIVING INVITE RECAP

• Sephora Ford was crowned the platform champion with a score of 279.30, marking an NCAA Zone qualifying mark and the fifth-highest score at Rutgers.
• Madilyn Varnum concluded the invite taking sixth with 220.05, followed by Amelia Scott in seventh scoring 216.80.

 

RESULTS

Rutgers Diving Invite Results
Platform
1.  Sephora Ford - 279.30
6. Madilyn Varnum - 220.05
7. Amelia Scott - 216.80

Minnesota Invite Results
1650 Free
10. Orian Gablan - 16:53.26
12. Grace Weaver - 17:06.66
13. Megan Fox - 17:13.61
16. Isabela Valle - 17:22.61
 
200 Back
A Final
5. Shannon Meadway - 1:57.17

C Final
4. Natalie Schick - 2:02.29
 
200 Breast
A Final
4. Molly Urkiel - 2:10.90
 
B Final
2. Sofia Bartoloni - 2:13.62
 
C Final
4. Holland Spangler - 2:19.44
5. Ava Jurkiewicz - 2:19.78
 
200 Fly
A Final
5. Blanka Berecz - 1:59.29  
 
B Final
2. Ellie Schinsky - 1:59.69
3. Cameron Kuriger - 2:00.07
4. Viktoriia Kostromina - 2:01.32

400 Free Relay
6. Rutgers (Jade Smits, Brooke Thompson, Martyna Piesko, Molly Urkiel) - 3:26.51
 

UP NEXT

• Divers Katerina Hoffman and Bailee Sturgill will compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in Bloomington, Indiana on synchronized 3M, 1M and 3M.

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