Courtesy: FGCU Athletics
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swimming & diving team (1-1, 1-0 CCSA) earned its first dual victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, as the team defeated host UNF (0-1, 0-1 CCSA) by a score of 201-61 in Jacksonville. The Eagles picked up first-place finishes in all 14 of the meet’s events and swept four throughout the day.
“It’s great to get a chance to get on the road and compete,” head coach Dave Rollins said. “Taking advantage of every opportunity that comes our way will continue to benefit us as we inch closer to the end of the season. There were a lot of encouraging races today and it was really exciting to see Anna [Hogan] perform the way she did. We are looking forward to getting in some great training and representing the Green & Blue over the course of the next few weeks.”
Four different Eagles picked up multiple individual wins, boosting the team towards its overall triumph. Sophomore Hannah VanDress (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot) took home both the 1000- and 500-yard freestyles, while classmates Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual School) and Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) swept the breaststroke (100, 200) and butterfly (200, 100) events, respectively. Senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lancsoz Kornel Secondari Grammar School) touched the wall first in both the 200 Back and the 400 IM, rounding out the Green & Blue’s top point scorers.
In addition to individual success, FGCU paced both relays. The quartet of sophomore Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), Halmai, junior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie), and freshman Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/X Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mistrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie) kicked off the meet with a dominant win in the 400 medley relay, besting second-place UNF by over 10 seconds. In the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, Czarnecka, Rabiniak, McAtee and sophomore Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) swam a 1:39.40 to finish first.
FGCU’s first sweep of the day came in the 200 Free, where the trio of junior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kan,/Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State), sophomore Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovenia/Gymnzaium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) and junior Alexis Durlacher (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida State) grabbed the top three spots. The three Eagles were separated by less than a second and were followed by fourth-place Halmai.
The momentum for the visiting team carried into the following event, the 100 Back, which the Eagles swept once again. Freshman Alicja Ulicka (Rybno, Poland/Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Im.Wislawy Szymborskiej) led the way with a final time of 59.24, edging second-place classmate Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) by half a second. McAtee finished third to complete the sweep.
The 100-yard breaststroke saw the Eagles pick up their third-consecutive sweep, thanks to the efforts of Hogan, Jerew and freshman Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS). Hogan’s time of 1:06.44 earned the sophomore her first individual win of the day.
Though the Green & Blue continued to win individual events, the final highlight of the day came in the 400 IM, where the team took the top four spots. Halmai touched the wall first with a final time of 4:32.23 and was followed by Hogan, Niepelova and freshman Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School).
With today’s victory, the Eagles have now extended their all-time advantage over the Ospreys to 14-0. FGCU is set to host UNF in Fort Myers later this month (Jan. 29 & 30) in a meet that will close out the team’s regular season.
Courtesy: North Florida Athletics
JACKSONVILLE – North Florida swimming opened the 2021 season against FGCU in what is the final meet at Bolles School. The Eagles grabbed a 201-61 victory on a brisk Saturday afternoon.
FROM THE TOP
“It was good to be back in the water swimming in meets today. I was very happy with a lot of swims and very smart racing.” – head coach Ian Coffey
Notable Swims
1000 Free – Sarah Trago (11:28.21)
200 Butterfly – Ashley Cozad (2:11.19)
50 Free – Sarah Wyant (25.36)
100 Free – Ashley Kephart (55.03)
200 Back – Annie Fletcher (2:09.74)
200 Breaststroke – Kayla Glennon (2:29.24)
500 Free – Ryan Showfety (5:20.44)
100 Butterfly – Sydney Groth (1:00.23)
Collegiate Debuts
North Florida freshmen Ashley Kephart made a splash in the 100 free, finishing in third place. She also swam a 25.43 in the 50 free to take fourth place. Taylor Warren, Sarah Wyant, Sara Shiers and Madelyn York also made their Osprey debut.
THIS IS 200
Three Ospreys placed in the top three of their respective 200 events. Fletcher placed second in the 200 backstroke, while Cozad also took second in the butterfly. Glennon grabbed third in the 200 breaststroke.
UP NEXT
North Florida heads down to Gainesville to face off with Florida at 5 p.m.
