Before the meet, the Eagles honored their 10 seniors, Antonia Baerens, Hannah Burdge, Kiley Eble, Doris Eichhorn, Christina Kaas Elmgreen, Margot Kessler, Lindsay Manganiello, Nicole Oppel, Gracie Redding, and Linda Shaw.
"We had phenomenal energy from the very beginning," said head coach Dave Rollins. "To get started by honoring all of our seniors was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Then having to deal with a delay but having our 200-yard medley relay team start with an in-season best time was really awesome. The girls raced really well all day as well as the divers with their performances. At the end of the day, we just ran out of events to close the gap a little bit."
"It was great to see the team rally together to get this win," Miami head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. "This one was definitely a total team effort. Our team showed a lot of grit at the end of our races, and got their hands on the wall. That is a result of the hard work they have been putting in. Our front end speed is still developing, and by the time ACC's comes around we will have all systems in place. I can't wait to see the how fast they swim."
As they've been doing all season, the Eagles came out strong in the opening relay race, claiming first in the 200-yard medley. Eichhorn, sophomore Petra Halmai, Redding and sophomore Rebecca Moynihan clocked in a time of 1:43.68 to take the early lead. Swimming in her signature 1000 free, Shaw's performance of 10:26.52 helped her claim second. Meanwhile, Burdge placed third in the 200-yard free (1:53.53) as Redding produced FGCU's first top overall finish in the 50-yard free (23.42).
Meanwhile, on the 3-meter spring, the Eagles placed second, third and fourth, respectively, with sophomore Megan Wakefield missing out on first place by 12 points with a score of 279.02. Kessler, the lone senior diver, finished third in the 3-meter with a score of 218.92.
Over the next two events, FGCU placed either first or second as junior Cassidy Fry took first in the 100-yard fly (56.01) and Moynihan with the top spot in the 100-yard free (51.21). Elmgreen (100-yard fly, 56.11), Burdge (100-yard free, 51.72) and Eichhorn (100-yard back, 57.36) all collected second-place finishes to keep FGCU within distance.
Shaw came away in first place in the 500-yard free (5:05.69) as Halmai (1:03.99) and junior Emily Glinecke (1:06.05) took second and third, respectively, to set FGCU for a close finish. In the final event of the evening, the 200-yard free relay, the team of Redding, Moynihan, freshman Wiktoria Czarnecka, and Burdge combined for a time of 1:34.81. Despite the first-place outing, it would not be enough as UM edged the Eagles 126-116.
UP NEXT
FGCU will travel to Miami for a dual meet against FIU (1-1) on Jan. 26 at noon.
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