2021 Eagle Invitational
- November 18-20, 2021
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2021 Eagle Invitational”
Courtesy: FGCU Athletics
FORT MYERS,Fla./ATLANTA, Ga. – The FGCU swim and dive team continued their strong week on Friday at both the Eagle Invitational and the Georgia Tech Invite.
“Another very solid day for the Eagles,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “We started to see some life-time best times which is a pleasant surprise, and absolutely celebrated. Hailey Jerew’s 100 breaststroke is now the 8th fastest in school history and our relays competed tough. Divers did a nice job as well in 3m prelims, should be a great final day!”
Junior Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) touched first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.58 for FGCU’s first win of the evening.
Junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) followed with the most thrilling win of the evening as she used a 59.81 final 100 free to win the 400 IM with a total time of 4:22.83. She out-touched Amy Hornyak of Georgia Southern by just 0.17 seconds.
In the 200 free, the Eagles went 1-2 at the wall as senior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kansas/Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State) won with a time of 1:51.94 while Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) touched second at 1:52.32.
After picking up a win in the 50 free last night with the seventh-fastest time in program history, junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior HS) collected a second-place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.52, which is eighth-fastest in FGCU history. Sophomore Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS) touched third at 1:04.77.
In the 400-medley relay, freshman Macy Mullis (Colbert, Ga./Madison County), Jerew, Rodriguez, and Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) took second-place with a time of 3:47.49.
The Eagles ended the night going 1-2 in the 200-free relay as freshman Dani D’Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough HS), Hixenbaugh, senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas), and Jerew took first place with a time of 1:34.26.
After two days, the Eagles are in first place with 861 points while Georgia Southern has 625 points and North Florida has 588 points.
In Atlanta, seniors Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) and Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie) each competed in the “A” finals of their respective races against swimmers from the SEC and ACC.
Halmai was fourth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.72 while Czarnecka touched sixth in the 100 fly with a time 53.50. Earlier in the day during the prelims, Czarnecka swam 53.18, the third-fastest time in FGCU history.
“Tori and Petra continue to be amazing ambassadors for FGCU competing against some of the top schools in the country,” continued Rollins. “Very proud of them and excited to see them compete tomorrow!”
The Eagles will be back in the pool tomorrow for the final days of both meets. The prelims will start at 10 a.m. in both Fort Myers and Atlanta. The finals at the Eagle Invitational will be at 5 p.m. while at Georgia Tech, it will begin at 5:30 p.m.
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