CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was a record-setting day three at the Magnus Cup for the Indiana State Swimming and Diving team, as the women picked up two school-records on Sunday en route to a sixth place team finish.
 
The Sycamores finished sixth with 590 points and defeated Delaware, Indiana University of PA, Saint France, University of the Cumberlands, Youngstown State and California University of PA. Akron claimed the Magnus Cup title and was followed by Buffalo, Xavier, Duquesne and Cleveland State.
 
Surging Sycamores
Greece-native Vivan Kritikou has had an impressive sophomore campaign coming into the Magnus Cup, but she continued to make strides in the pool on Sunday as she broke her own school-record in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:01.52, placing her in second.
 
The sophomore wasn't alone in etching her name atop the record-book, as the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Alex Malmborg, Marlene Pavlu Lewin, Kendall Hansen and Cierra Campbell recorded the fastest-time in ISU history at 3:28.10 while finishing seventh overall.
 
Sophomore Megan Schade had a strong day in the pool that started with a fifth place finish in the 100-yard individual medley where she clocked a time of 58.66 in finals. Then later in the day, she swam the second-best time in school history in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:22.03 in prelims. She placed 13th overall in finals with a time of 2:22.22.
 
Martina Marks earned a top-10 finish in the 100-yard individual medley as well, finishing close behind Schade in seventh with a time of 58.76.
 
In the 200-yard backstroke, the duo of Pavlu Lewin and Hansen earned top-five finishes. Pavlu Lewin led the way in second place at 2:00.99, while Hansen finished right behind her in third at 2:01.10.
 
It was a big day for freshman Ashley Jenkins as she also swam her way into the record books, swimming a personal-best and fifth-fastest time in Sycamore history of 2:05.10. Her time led her to the top of the group C finals and was 21st overall.
 
Towards the end of the day, Hansen and Pavlu Lewin once again earned a pair of top-ten finishes, this time in the 50-yard backstroke. Hansen placed fourth overall in finals, touching the wall at 26.67 and Pavlu Lewin was close behind in seventh at 26.97.
 
Coach Christensen's Corner
"Today was probably our strongest day for the meet," Head Coach Josh Christensen said. "Having some school-records go down is a good sign of progress. Vivian's been struggling with injuries, so seeing her step-up and swim a gutsy 1650 was pretty cool. I was proud of the ladies for taking down that relay record as well. We knew that we could do it with a solid swim and they all stepped-up and raced well."
 
Coach Christensen on the Magnus Cup
"We did a lot of racing this weekend that gives us some good information about where we are at and what we need to work on. A lot of learning took place and will continue to happen as we reflect of the weekend. We'll get back to work and improve from here," Christensen said.  
 
Top ISU Performers in Each Event (Finals)
1650 Freestyle: Second Place, Vivian Kritikou, 17:01.53
100 IM: Fifth Place, Megan Schade, 58.66
50 Butterfly: 16th Place, Joelle Borchers, 26.15
200 Backstroke: Second Place, Marlene Pavlu Lewin, 2:00.99
100 Freestyle: 16th Place, Alex Malmborg, 52.04
200 Breaststroke: 13th Place, Megan Schade, 2:22.22
50 Backstroke: Fourth Place, Kendall Hansen, 26.67
200 Butterfly: 17th Place, Cierra Campbell, 2:06.14
400 Freestyle Relay: Seventh Place, Alex Malmborg, Marlene Pavlu Lewin, Kendall Hansen, Cierra Campbell, 3:28.10
 
Up Next
The blue and white will be back in action in two weeks when they return to the Vigo Country Aquatic Center on Dec. 1 to host the Indiana State Relay Meet.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Swimming and Diving team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.