The FGCU swimming and diving team (2-0, 2-0 CCSA) picked up a pair of wins on Friday afternoon as the team defeated host UNF (0-2, 0-2 CCSA) and Campbell (1-1, 1-1 CCSA) at the Bolles School. The Eagles downed the Ospreys 185-76 and edged out the Camels 133-128.
"It's no secret that we have a young team, but that's what makes it so exciting," said head coach Dave Rollins. "Bringing these girls together for a road trip against CCSA competition was the perfect way for us to start the year. Plus, getting to see some first-time Eagle wins is always special. We are focused on what we need to do to get better week to week, meet to meet. There are some details that we need to clean up, but that's to be expected early in the season. The most important thing is how they react in the moment and how they mentally respond when faced with a challenge."
"We swam against two good teams in our conference today," said UNF head coach Ian Coffey. "I'm very happy with the way raced. We still have some things to work on, but we have made a lot of progress. I am starting to see our hard work paying off and now we get ready for our meet in two weeks."
The quartet of freshman Lucija Sulenta, junior Petra Halmai, senior Cassidy Fry and freshman Kaja Reinhardt won the first event of the meet, dominating the 400-yard medley relay by almost a full three seconds.
The freshman class had a strong showing in its first official meet for FGCU. Freshman Hannah VanDress won the 1000-yard freestyle by seven seconds, laying down her second-fastest split time in the final 50 yards. Sulenta was 0.68 seconds off the winning time in the 100 Back and freshman Anna Hogan finished in the top three of the 100-yard breaststroke. The top three times in Hogan's race were separated by just 0.43 seconds. Reinhardt also added points, taking home first place in the 500 Free.
"Congratulations to Lucy, Kaja and Hannah on earning their first-ever wins as Eagles," said Rollins. "It's something I'm sure they will always remember. It was especially exciting to see Kaja win, as she had never swam the 500-yard freestyle and she was extremely consistent."
Halmai and senior Elizabeth White also claimed a pair of first-place finishes in the opening events of the meet. Halmai won the 200 Fly, while White came out on top of the tightly-contested 100 Breast event.
Through the first seven events, the Eagles held an 89.5-40.5 point advantage over UNF and a 66-64 point edge over Campbell.
Down the stretch, FGCU continued to pick up victories that provided vital points to the team. Fry claimed the 100 Fly and classmate Elizabeth Zeiger earned a first-place finish in the 200 IM, followed by runner-up Hogan.
The Eagles swept the 200 Breast, as Halmai picked up her second individual win of the meet, while White and Hogan rounded out the top three. In the final event of the day, the team of freshman Hailey Jerew, Reinhardt, Sulenta and Fry finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Sulenta, Reinhardt, VanDress, Hogan and Jerew all made their FGCU debuts along with Claire McAtee, Julia Rodriguez, Jackie Greeves and Michaela Sizemore.
Up Next:
The team will be back in action tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 5) to take on CCSA foes Campbell and Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. at the Recreation Activity Center. The meet is set for a Noon start time.
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