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 wrapped up the week and the 2021 calendar year with a resounding Eagle Invitational win. The Green and Blue scored 1337.50 points, over 400 points ahead of second-place Jacksonville and third-place North Florida. Petra Halmai and Wiktoria Czarnecka also concluded their weeks at the Georgia Tech Invite with strong performances.
“The ladies did a great job stepping up and competing this evening and weekend,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “On the boards, and in the pool, we are in a great spot headed into the second half of the season. Tori and Petra continued to impress up In Georgia, as well and congratulations to Petra on posting a time that will qualify her for her 3rd NCAA championships.”
The evening got started with the 1650 freestyle which saw junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) finishing second with a time of 17:23.24 while junior Michaela Sizemore (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford Senior HS) touched third at 17:25.43.
Junior Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) touched first in the 200 back with a time of 2:01.22, while sophomore Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) finished third with a time of 2:05.09.
In the 100 freestyle, the Eagles swept the top three spots as junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior HS), senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas), and sophomore Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/X Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mitsrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie) went 1-2-3 at the wall. Jerew touched first with a time of 50.82 followed by Pike at 50.96 and finally by Rabiniak, who swam 51.93.
In the 200 breast, Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual HS) finished second with a time of 2:19.21 while Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS) was third at 2:21.50.
Rodriguez followed her third-place finish from earlier in the night with a second-place finish in the 200 fly with a time of 2:05.43.
Over in the diving pool, the Eagles swept the 3-meter as junior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonnelle CHS) finished atop the leaderboard with 282.45 points. Junior Delaney Nelson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and senior Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) came in second and third with 255.00 points and 253.20 points, respectively.
The Eagles ended the night by going 1-2 in the 400 free relay, led by the quartet of Pike, Hixenbaugh, Rabiniak, and Jerew, who swam 3:26.34.
At the Georgia Tech Invite, seniors Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) and Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie) wrapped up a strong three days going up against swimmers from the SEC and the ACC.
Halmai finished her week with a fourth-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:09.78, which clinches her spot at the NCAA Championships as she had a faster time than what qualified for NCAAs last season.
Czarnecka wrapped up her week with an 11th-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 49.58.
The Eagles will return to pool in 2022 when they host Miami on January 12 at 2 p.m.
For complete coverage of FGCU swimming & diving, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCU_WSwimDive), Instagram (@FGCU_WSwimDive) and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU swimming & diving or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
