FGCU S&D @ FAU, Princeton Recap

After technical difficulties with scoring, the FGCU swimming and diving team (3-5) pulled off a split in their tri-match as they fell to Princeton (2-0) 179-120 before bouncing back and defeating host FAU (3-3) 185-115.

"We faced a lot of adversity today through weather delays, meet delays and logistical issues all outside of our control," said assistant coach Melissa Steele. "Our ladies did a great job of keeping the focus on each other and what we wanted to accomplish. I'm really proud of the way we cheered, raced and took care of the little things. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything comes together at the Georgia Tech Invitational in two weeks."

"We've had a great week of training," said Princeton head coach Bret Lundgaard. "As for the meet, the main theme was probably the contribution of the freshmen. Many of them scored highly in multiple events and are nicely inserting themselves into the competitive identity of this team.

"Although they are tired from the hard work they have put in the pool in the past month, our swimmers and divers are executing their races & dives well," said FAU head coach Lara Preacco. "They are far stronger athletes than they were at this same time last year. These are exciting times for us and for FAU."

The Eagles were off to a hot start in the first three events of the meet after finishing second in the 200 medley relay as junior Elizabeth Zeiger and senior Hannah Burdge (200 free) placed second and third in their respective events. Zeiger's time would prove to be a season-best mark.

In the 100 breast, sophomore Petra Halmai finished wih time of 1:04.97, which was good for second overall as FGCU's first of six first-place finishes would start to build, beginning with the 200 fly.

In that event, senior Christina Kaas Elmgreen touched the pads in 2:02.27 to take the title – a season-best time.

Fellow senior Gracie Redding snagged another first-place finish in the 50 free with a swim of 23.59. Burdge would place third with a time of 24.11.

Meanwhile, sophomore Rebecca Moynihan snagged the 100 free crown as she kicked to a time 51.75. Halmai gave the Eagles' fourth top finish in the 100 breast (2:20.32) while sophomore Megan Wakefield scored a season-high mark of 293.65 on the 3-meter dive for first with fellow sophomore Melissa Novak placing second (276.10).

FGCU's final top finish would come in the 200 free relay. The team of Moynihan, freshman Wiktoria Czarnecka, Redding and Burdge combined for a time of 1:35.81 to finish two seconds ahead of Princeton and nearly five seconds ahead of the hosts.

All said the Eagles capped off the meet placing swimmers and divers in the top-5 of each event on 14 occasions.

Up Next:
FGCU will be back in action in Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Invitational on Thursday, Nov. 15 through Saturday, Nov. 17.