Q&A Session: Andres 'Andy' Alfonzo

Me with Andy after a win against Stetson in spring 2016 for the last season match

On Thursday, I took the time to do a Q&A Session with one of the members on my VIP list: Andres 'Andy' Alfonzo. Alfonzo is a senior on the FGCU men's tennis team and has played for FGCU since his sophomore year

Prior to FGCU, he started his collegiate tennis career at Texas Christian University (TCU) before transferring due to lack of playing time. When he came to FGCU, he was joined by his older brother, Eduardo or Edu, as he was called.

He and I agreed to meet at his dorm and do the Q&A before he started practice for his matches against UNC-Charlotte and Tennessee Tech tomorrow. Alfonzo was really looking forward to it when we talked about it.

Prior to the Q&A session, I asked him if he prefers to be called by his first name or shortened name and he told me and he told he would like to be called Andy since all his teammates would call him that.

Me: What got you to start playing tennis?

Andy: When I was very young, there was a tennis court in the building I use to live in Valencia, Venezuela, and I use to go there and play with my brother and hit a bunch of balls everyday, and that's how I started.

Me: That's where you mainly started your tennis career?

Andy: Basically, yeah. I was 13 years old that I move to the US and started to practice and do everything more seriously.

Me: Before, you went to Texas Christian University of the Big 12 Conference, but prior to that, were there any other colleges that offered you a chance to play there?

Andy: Well since I decided to go to college very late, that was near November to December, I was pretty much rejecting any offer from many other schools. After December, I was in contact with the University of Miami, Virginia Tech, Texas Christian and Barry University.

Me: Like you mentioned, you started your collegiate tennis career at TCU and named a member of the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. When you first enrolled at TCU, what was going through your mind when you started there?

Andy: I think it was the beginning of a very special career I would say. I was living something different, something I never experienced before, and I was very happy to be there. I just started to enjoy it every day no matter what.

Me: When you were playing tennis, who did you look up to for motivation to play tennis?

Andy: I would say Rafael Nadal. I started seeing him when he was very, very young. He was about 17 years old when he beat Roger Federer at the Miami Open, and I was probably 11, 12, 13 years old or something like that. Since that day, he became my kind of hero, so because of him, I feel motivated to work.

Professional men's tennis player Rafael Nadal, who was 17 at the time, was the No. 32 seed in the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami Gardens, Florida. Nadal had a first round bye and faced wild card Goran Ivanišević and won 6-4 before Ivanišević retired. Nadal would face Roger Federer, the no. 1 seed in the open. Nadal would go on and upset Federer with a 6-3 pair decision before falling to Fernando González in the fourth round.

I talked to Andy about the situation with why he went from TCU to FGCU:

Me: So you transferred from TCU your sophomore year. Why did you transfer from TCU and what was the motive behind your departure?

Andy: Well the main reason was because I wanted to play for a school, and I wasn't really playing much at TCU. My brother was experiencing the same from Barry University where they were nationally champs in division two, but he wanted to play more, so we decided to play for the same school, and we had a better chance to play in the top lineup here and be the difference in the team, so we felt like coming here.

Me: It's interesting that you mentioned your brother, Eduardo. He transferred, like you mentioned, from Barry University, and when it was found out that you two were reuniting together again, what was your reaction, let alone Eduardo's reaction about that.

Andy: Well very, very nice. Very special because we have always been together, we grew up together, helping each other out with our games, and I think it was a good opportunity for us to keep doing that at a college level, so we were very happy to be together again.

Eduardo, Andy's brother, transferred to FGCU from Barry University, a NCAA division two university in the Sunshine State Conference.

Me: When you first came to FGCU to play for the tennis team, what was going through your mind? Were you nervous? Were you excited?

Andy: I think the main feeling was excitement and motivation. We came here with big goals to accomplish, and I that help me to not feel nervous, and made me feel more motivated.

Me: When you met coach C.J. Weber, what did you think of him at first glance on and off the court?

Andy: Well, I think he's a great person. He gave me the confidence and respect I needed. I would say that I feel very comfortable working with him and that made my tennis progress to be more easy.

Me: Do you remember your first tennis match at FGCU?

Andy: Yes. I remember. It was very different from what I expect it to be. (chuckles)

Me: (chuckles) So what was your favorite tennis match you played in whether it was from TCU or FGCU?

Andy: I think one of the best, well I had a couple. I think one of the best was once I was playing in regionals and I was playing a guy who was Number 17 in the country and we were tied in the third set with his crowd and with my crowd, I had only my teammates and coach, so I remember fighting to the last point to close the match and finally I won and it was one of the best win I ever had, so that was very special feeling.

Me: And this was at FGCU?

Andy: Yes this was at FGCU.

Me: You have a variety of awards in your collegiate tennis career overall. Aside from the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, you were named A-Sun co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year and First Team All-Atlantic Sun honors last year. How do you feel when you find out that you have these awards?

Andy: Of course very happy and very proud of what I had done as an Eagle here at FGCU, so studying has always been an important factor in my life for me and my family, so when I win these awards, I know that I am making my parents proud and of course achieving some of my goals.

Me: Out of all the teammates you played doubles matches with whether it is from TCU or FGCU, who did you like playing with the most in doubles? (chuckles)

Andy: (laughs) That's a good question and I feel like I played with many different guys with many different personalities and some led me on the court and some I have to lead, but definitely playing with my brother is one of the best. I had other opportunities to play with Jordi Vives, former number one on our team two years ago and he made it very easy for me and he was a great player.

Me: Like you were saying you were playing with Edu and Jordi, family is always special for games like that. You must have had a lot of intensity

Andy: (chuckles) yeah.

Me: You played with Oliver Landert too.

Andy: Yes. We had really good tournaments together. We actually won once in fall 2015 at the Dick Vitale tournament and that was a great accomplishment I would say.

Me: Out of all your years of playing college tennis, what was your favorite year and why?

Andy: I think my junior year. My junior year was when I got to play my best tennis during the season, and I just enjoyed it a lot. Being around my brother and know it was his last day of college, so I was happy to be there for him anytime that he needed me and we just fought together these last months in college tennis.

Me: It was vice versa with Eduardo saying the same thing to you?

Andy: Of course.

Me: You recently have dealt with some injuries, including a broken finger and back issues too. What is the status so far with your recoveries?

Andy: The saddest part is being on the tennis courts and not being able to play. Of course, I'd rather be hitting the ball than not, and knowing that anytime I have to stop, of course the tennis level is going to drop a little bit and it takes time to come back to the best shape.

Me: What do you do to prepare yourself before every match you play? Do you have a certain ritual like you listen to a certain song playlist or do meditation to help you focus?

Andy: I have different routines and rituals that I do sometimes. Definitely when I play matches, I like to just listen to my favorite music or some motivational speeches that I have saved on my playlist. So those help me a lot.

Me: What was the main song you listen to on your playlist?

Andy: (chuckles) I can't think of one right now. 

Me: Some Latin to keep you moving and grooving and put a little pep in your step onto the court (laughs)

Andy: (laughs) Yeah well I just have a lot. I don't have one favorite.

Me: This is your senior year. The last year that you get to play for FGCU’s men’s tennis team. What emotions are you going through your head as you prepare for each match you play for your last season and why?

Andy: It makes me feel happy and sad at the same time. It makes me think of giving 100 percent every day doing my practice, studying, nutrition and recoveries. Everything I do, I strive to give 100 percent best so I can maximize my performance.

Me: If you decide not to go and play professional tennis, what are you going to do after you’re finished with FGCU? Any backup plans?

Andy: So far, I'm working on it. I don't know what I am going to do. One of my friends called me today telling me that he's looking for a sponsor waiting to play doubles professionally in Venezuela. It's always been one of my dreams, so we'll see. Right now, I'm open to many options and one thing that I would like to be in the future is a wealth manager. It's defintely in the back of my head.

Me: Why a wealth manager?

Andy: I don't know. I think it's interesting, I love numbers. I guess I get to know a lot of people through tennis and help them achieve some financial goals as a wealth manager.

Me: What is one thing you will always remember when you spent your time at FGCU?

Andy: Working hard and having little time to socialize and have free time. I'll remember that for the rest of my life.

I mentioned to Andy about last years A-Sun men's tennis championship tournament.

Me: Do you remember the A-Sun Championship Tournament match last year?

Andy: Yeah I do. We were in USC Upstate in Spartanberg.

Me: I knew at that time you were the No. 1 seed coming into the tournament and you fell to Upstate, who was the No. 4 seed. When that happened, what was going through your mind at that point?

Andy: Well, you always have to know that anything can happen in sports, and being the number one seed and being number four doesn't mean you're suppose to win or not. We are now playing at home. We came from beating them 6-1 at FGCU, but when we went out there, everything was different. The courts were a little faster on a windy day. Many things changed for the tournament, and I think you just got to stay humble, accept the loss and learn from it and keep going from there.

Me: The A-Sun tournament is at home for a home court advantage. How do you feel about it?

Andy: I feel very happy that it's going to increase our chances to win. This is where we play every day. This is where we're used to play. We have the support of our community and it's very exciting to play at home, so we're very happy and motivated and hopefully we can have the whole team play.

Me: If it doesn't happen, at least you remember it as one of your best moments that you could imagine?

Andy: Yeah, that's the last week of my college career. Of course, it's gonna have something to teach me and something special to fufill. I am sure going to remember that I don't forget about any tournament or championship tournament I have ever played.

I thank him gratefully for doing the Q&A session with me and he said something in the end that made me feel special.

Andy: Thank you Pat. I appreciate it. Of course, thanks for your support and always being there for us and showing the interest in helping us and showing some love. We appreciate that and me, personally, I really do, so thanks for your time.

After I left his dorm from the session to go back to my dorm, I had a couple of tears in my eyes because how he mentioned that the whole tennis team is always happy for me to support them and show them that I care about them and want them to succeed in their careers.

It really brought a smile to my face as well as theirs, and how Andy said that on behalf of the team was a very special moment I will never forget.

Nine Sports in One Weekend

What happens when you cross two women's tennis matches, a women's soccer scrimmage, four softball games and two conference basketball games? You got yourself one busy weekend with those sports. There were nine events that happened this past weekend.

On Friday, the women's tennis and softball teams started the weekend off.

The women's tennis team faced Florida A&M University (FAMU) and won 7-0 to extend their record to 3-1.

The team of sophomore Julia Ascua and junior Julianna Curtis quickly won 6-0 on their match on court one while sophomore Laura Falceto Font and freshman Sara Kelly won 6-0 as well on court 3. Although the Eagle won two out of the three doubles, and secured the first point, senior Breana Stampfli and freshman Maja Ornberg finished their match 6-2 for ITF ranking points.

In the singles matches, Kelly won the first singles match with a 6-0 pair decision. Falceto Font would quickly follow Kelly with a 6-1, 6-0 win of her own before Stampfli finished the match with a 6-1 pair win to secure the automatic win.

Ornberg finished 6-2, 6-0 in her match. Later, freshman Sofia Perez won 6-3, 6-2 before Ascua won 6-4, 6-2 in the final match.

Later in the evening, the softball team opened their season at home at the FGCU softball complex. It was a green out and people were encouraged to wear green for the games.

Originally, two teams were suppose to play, but one of the teams, University of Connecticut (U-Conn) and  Long Island University-Brooklyn (LIU). U-Conn was unable to fly to FGCU due to snow, so changes were made in the schedule and FGCU would instead play LIU-Brooklyn four times.

Usually, before each game and the announcement of the starting lineups, FGCU does a "tradition" where they circle together and move side-to-side while senior second baseman and team captain, Jeanie Verderese, leads the team in a pregame rally, like any sports team does.

In the first game, FGCU won 7-0. On the pitching part, Riley Randolph the win after pitching a seven inning shutout, while giving up two hits, and striking out five batters.

Offensively, it was junior third baseman, Brittany McGuire, and junior right fielder, Erica Ward, who led the charge. McGuire went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Ward was 1-for-2 with the two RBI single.

Sophomore first baseman Racquel Fournet, and senior catcher Brianna Tourtillot also contributed with an RBI each. Fournet went 1-or-2 with a double, one run scored and a walk while Tourtillott went 2-for-4 with two singles in the game to go with the one RBI.

Juniors LuLu Newmark and Nat Lopez had two hits in the game.

In the second game, FGCU played in the evening, and once again, beat LIU 8-0 by the mercy rule.

Starting in the bottom of the second inning, junior Brianne Innamorato started with a one out single to center. Then sophomore Morgan Sutherland was hit by a pitch before Lopez loaded the bases with a single to right. Junior Kelsey Huff, started the run rally with a bases-clearing double that drove in Innamorto, Sutherland and Lopez before Fournet grounded out to end the inning.

Huff would finish 2-for-3 with three RBIs, a walk and a run scored. Innomorato went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

In the end, it was freshman pitcher, Morgan White, that drove in the game-winning run on a pinch hit, bases-loaded single for the eight-run mercy rule.

Senior pitcher, Taylor Wade, got the win throwing a six inning shutout, giving up four hits with six strikeouts.

On Saturday, the women's soccer team played a scrimmage against the University of Victoria, an NAIA university from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The result ended in a 1-1 tie.

The softball team played LIU in their third game, and won by the score of 9-1 via the eight run mercy rule. Randolph got the win throwing five innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits while striking out one batter.

Offensively, Huff and Fournet led the offense. Huff went 4-for-4 with a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs while Fournet was 2-for-2 with two doubles, three RBIs, one run scored and a walk.

McGuire, Newmark, and Verderese also contributed with a hit and an RBI each.

I was unable to catch the fourth game, but I had Jim Tourtillott, Bri's father, keep me updated.

The Eagles won 8-0 via the mercy rule in the final game before they start their road trip.

Wade was the winning pitcher throwing five innings with three strikeouts before junior Gabbee Draney threw a scoreless inning of relief.

Huff was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base, Fournet was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs, Newmark went 2-for-3 with a RBI and one run scored and junior Ashley Swiderski went 1-for-3 and hit the lone home run in the game. Junior Emily Demurias drove in the game-winning run on a single.

At the end of the four games, Innamorato led the team, conference and the nation in batting average (.857).

The softball team will be on the road, but instead of going to a different state to play, they will be playing outside of the US in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico against No. 21 Fresno State, Texas Tech. Cal State Fullerton and Mississippi State.

Later in the evening, the FGCU men's and women's basketball team had a doubleheader against Kennesaw State.

The women's basketball team played first, and during the game, people in the arena were wearing blue since it was a blue out. It was back and fourth in the first quarter, but by the second, the Eagles outscored the Owls 18-5.

By the second half, the Eagles took over and finished by the final score of 69-35.

Junior Rose Julien scored a team high 15 points (6-8 FG, 2-4 3PT) and 5 assists.

Freshman Tytionia Adderly had a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds.

The Eagles went 9-for-19 from the three point line.

A little while later, the men's basketball played. The players that Kennesaw had that were big threats were Kendrick Ray and Aubrey Williams, but that didn't stop FGCU.

In the first half, FGCU went ahead 36-29 and then finished off the Owls in the second half despite them trying to make a comeback. In the end, FGCU won 75-63.

Redshirt junior Brandon Goodwin led the team with 24 points, three assists and had six rebounds.

Redshirt senior Demetris Morant had 17 points and seven rebounds

Redshirt sophomore Zach Johnson had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Off the bench, sophomore Rayjon Tucker led the charge with seven points.

Junior Christian Terrell came off the bench while battling an ankle injury. Terrell had six points in the game.

On Sunday, the women's tennis team wrapped up the weekend by beating FAU 5-2.

FAU won the doubles point, but a 7-5, 6-2 win by Kelly tied the score. Stampfli then got a 7-5, 6-4 win to bring FGCU ahead by one. Ascúa, despite fighting back to win the second set, lost 1-6, 6-2, 5-7.

With the score 2-2, Perez fell in the first set, but came back with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to bring the score to 3-2 FGCU. Ornberg secured the final match point with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win to help FGCU win the series. Font won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to make it 5-2.

In the end, there were eight wins and one tie for FGCU the whole weekend, which was a successful weekend for the school.

Below are a few pictures and videos from Friday and parts of Saturday's softball games:

Racquel Fournet at-bat

Randolph strikes out Angie Rizzi

Brittany McGuire at the plate

FGCU Softball Season Opening Games Preview

The FGCU softball prepare themselves for the opening season on Friday February 10th. The Eagles will have a total of 33 homes games (nine of which are conference).

Last year, the Eagles went 32-27 with a 13-5 record in conference and won the season crown before falling in the A-SUN championship finals to USC Upstate. If FGCU would have won against Upstate in the game, they would have to play them again due to the double elimination rules and Upstate did not lose any of their games in the whole tournament.

The softball team lost five players on the team including A-SUN Player of the Year Alexis "Louie" Ross. This year, they will lose four seniors: catcher Brianna Tourtillott, right-handed pitcher Taylor Wade, second baseman Jeanie Verderese and catcher Amber Plaza.

Tourtillott, a double transfer from the University of Texas- El Paso (UTEP) and NJCAA Tallahassee Community College (TCC) was the starting catcher for FGCU. In 33 games, Tourtillott hit two home runs and drove in nine RBIs.

Wade earned All-Tournament Team honors during the A-SUN softball tournament for her performance in the tournament.

Verderese was captain of the team and a two-time member of the A-SUN All-Academic Team.

Plaza, a transfer from NJCAA Miami Dade College, started nine of her 10 games she played in, although she missed a majority of the season due to an injury.

FGCU signed three new players to the team: freshman right-handed pitcher Morgan White and two transfers: junior third baseman Erica Ward (State College of Florida) and sophomore Caley Chappel (USC Upstate).

White is a graduate from Forest High School where she was the 2015 Florida Miss Softball, a MaxPreps All-American, the Dairy Farmers 6A Player of the Year, Miracle Sports 6A Player of the Year, the OSB Pitcher of the Year and Forest High School Varsity team MVP, so this is her first year playing for the Eagles. White is also the only freshman on the team.

Ward spent her first two years at State College of Florida (SCF) of the Suncoast Coference in FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8. Ward led the Manatees in home runs (11) last season and signed a national letter of intent (NLI) to join FGCU with her remaining two years of eligibility.

Chappel played for conference rival USC Upstate and played against FGCU her freshman year, where the Spartans won the A-SUN championship before falling to Auburn and Jacksonville State in the NCAA regionals. Chappel joins FGCU with three years of eligibility remaining.

Some of the key returning players for FGCU include sophomore left-handed pitcher Riley Randolph, sophomore first baseman Racquel Fournet and junior outfielder Kelsey Huff.

Randolph was the A-SUN Freshman of the Year and A-SUN Pitcher of the Year as well as a member of the A-SUN All-Conference First Team, A-SUN All-Freshman and NFCA All-South Region Third Team. She went 16-5 with a 1.39 ERA and struck out 123 batters.

Fournet was a member the A-SUN All-Freshman Team as well as a member of the A-SUN Al-Conference First Team. She led the team in home runs (7)  and doubles (16) last season.

Huff earned A-SUN All-Conerence Second Team honors and was a former member of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team. She led the team in stolen bases last season (25).

In the first two games of the season, FGCU will play two teams: Long Island University-Brooklyn (LIU for short) and the University of Connecticut (U-Conn).


Scouting the Blackbirds:
LIU was 30-27 last season and 14-2 in the Northeast Conference finishing first, where they won their conference tournament before losing to at the time No. 10 LSU and Arizona State in the NCAA National Tournament regional.

They were originally suppose to play FGCU last season, but their match-up was cancelled due to half of the team being sick. LIU will have 16 returners including senior infielder Celinna Cosio and junior right-handed pitcher Erynn Sobieski.

Scouting The Huskies:
U-Conn finished 7th and were 19-33 with a 4-12 record in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). U-Conn will have 10 returning players including sophomore right-handed pitcher Jill Stockley.

FGCU will play four teams that are currently the top 25 in the nation: No. 5 Florida State (FSU), No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 South Florida and No. 25 California State Fullerton.

FGCU has not been to the NCAA College Softball tournament since 2012, so they are preparing themselves for their goal to make it to the national tournament again.

FGCU plays LIU-Brooklyn at 4:30 pm and U-Conn at 6 pm on Friday February 10th at the FGCU Softball Complex.

The Smell of Fresh Tennis Balls After the Win

After hearing the sound and smell of fresh tennis in the evening, the FGCU Men's tennis team played a hard fought match against Bethune-Cookman in a 7-0 shutout win for their first official game at home.

The Eagles are now 2-1 going into the season.

On court one were junior Oliver Landert and sophomore Mateo Ruiz going against seniors Greg Almeida and Pablo Lopez.

On court two were sophomore Ezequiel Cerreni and freshman Felipe Ramirez going against sophomore Jose Plazas and Juan Diego Ruiz.

On court three, sophomore Javier Fernandez and senior Pedro Carle faced senior Alvaro Barrera and junior David Ocampo.

Cerreni and Ramirez quickly ousted Plaza and Juan Diego Ruiz 6-1 before Fernandez and Carle secured the second match 6-4 to win the doubles portions. Although Landert and Mateo Ruiz did not have to continue because it was best out of three, they still continued to play for ITF ranking points and won 6-4 in the third doubles match.

Going into the singles matches, a sudden realization came to me: this was the home debuts for both Ramirez and Carle, and I was lucky to see the new freshman and walk-on senior play.

All six matches ended in straight sets. Fernandez finished the first match 6-1, 6-0 against Plazas. 

Mateo Ruiz would follow with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Juan Diego Ruiz.

Cerreni would seal the team win with a 6-1, 6-2 straight set against Ocampo.

Despite winning the series of matches, Landert finished with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Almeida, while Ramirez, who made his season and home opening debut finished with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Barrera. Carle, who also made his singles debut at home finished the shutout with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lopez.

Senior Andres Alfonzo and redshirt sophomores Austin Bates and Sam Chaffin were in attendance but were inactive to play due to injuries.

Aside from the airhorns and whistles going off from Chi Omega's charity event across the way, the attendance was pretty good, and some of the other FGCU athletes were in attendance including A-Sun Men's Soccer Player of the year, Albert Ruiz, members of the FGCU women's soccer team and Olympic swimmer Evita Leter to help support the tennis team

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday at 6 pm when they face off against FAU.

Below are some photos and a few videos of the doubles and singles matches I took the liberty of taking.

Final Scores from Courts 1-3

Cerreni and Ramirez watch action on court one after their doubles win

Landert and Ruiz setup for the next point

Landert sets to serve in the first set

Carle reacts after earning a point

Fernadez and Carle set for Bethune to serve

Home Meet+Senior Day+FGCU Swimming and Diving= The End of Home Meets

A moment of greatness has been set at the FGCU swim complex, but there was also moments of sadness along with the greatness.

Six seniors from the FGCU swimming and diving team swam and dove in their last home swim meet: Mikala Buening (diver), Barbara Caraballo (swimmer), Evita Leter (swimmer), Sandra Wilk (swimmer), Marcella Marinheiro (swimmer) and Ashley Wright (diver).

The Eagles faced FAU in their final home swim meet. I was unable to see the first few events including the 1650 yard freestyle. A source told me that sophomore Melissa Marinheiro had a come from behind win against Danielle Zacharias and Julia Alberti of FAU in a time of 17:46.39.

Aside from the first few events, I was able to see events 4-13 at the meet.

In the 50 yard freestyle, Caraballo and Leter finished first and second with times of 24.13 (Caraballo) and 24.70 (Leter). Junior Sommer Harris finished third while Wilk finished seventh.

During the diving portions, Wright finished second and Buening finished third in the three meter dive. Freshmen Stevie Meyerson and Natalie Keffer finished fifth and seventh while sophomore Morgot Kessler finished sixth.

In the one meter dive, Wright finished in first with a score of 271.42 while Buening finished third with a score of 246.22.

Back at the swimming area, sophomores Fanny Teijonsalo, Christina Kaas Elmgreen and Doris Eichorn and junior Yee Ching Wong won first through fourth in the 200 yard individual medley.

Freshman Cassidy Fry and sophomore Kiley Eble finished first and second respectively in the 100 yard butterfly.

Junior Madi Clarke and sophomore Linda Shaw finished first and second respectively in the 100 yard freestyle.

Sophomore Katie Latham, freshman Lindsay Manganiello and senior Marcella Marinheiro respectively finished first, second and third in the 100 yard backstroke.

In the 500 yard freestyle, sophomore Georgie Gardner finished first with a time of 5:09.34, while in the 100 yard breastroke, freshman Lizzy White, junior Vanessa Rivas and freshman Karin Schienvar finished first through third respectively.

Finally, in the last event of the meet, the 200 yard freestyle relay, FGCU finished first, third and fourth in the event.

In the end, FGCU won their swim meet 177-63 in all 13 events and when I showed a poster to the six seniors, they were in awe and thought I was really sweet to make them a poster to make them feel special.

It is sad that this was the last home meet, but it was wonderful that the FGCU swimming and diving finished on a good note with a win before they leave for Florida International University (FIU) for their final meet of the season before preparing for the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championship in Athens, Georgia before taking their attempts at the NCAA national tournament in Indianapolis.

Tune in for my next blog as I will be covering the FGCU men's tennis teams' official home match as they set off to play Bethune-Cookman University.

freshman diver Stevie Meyerson in her second attempt

FAU and FGCU swimmers take off in the 100 yard butterfly

Result of the 50 yard freestyle

FAU and FGCU Swimmer take off in the 100 yard backstroke

Senior Ashley Wright sets up for her second attempt in the one meter dive

My VIP List

The people on my VIP list include the following individuals:

1. Andres Alfonzo- Senior from the FGCU men's tennis team


2. Riley Randolph- sophomore from the FGCU softball team
3. Kenton Hering- redshirt junior from the baseball team
4. Breana Stampfli- senior from the women's tennis team

 


5. Leigh Pudwill- senior formally from the indoor volleyball and now for the beach volleyball team