FGCU topped Notre Dame at home with a final score of 158-104 while the Irish were in Florida on a fall training trip.
FGCU Press Release:
The No. 28 FGCU swimming & diving program turned in 12 season-best times and improved its dual meet record to 2-0 on the season after defeating Notre Dame by a final score of 158-104 at the FGCU Aquatics Center. The Eagles won 11 of 14 events during the meet.
“I was really pleased with the way the girls swam,” said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. “We knew we would have our hands full with Notre Dame coming in, but the team responded well and was able to get out to an early lead. We’ll look to keep the momentum going in the coming meets.”
Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) highlighted the evening with a pair of pool records in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. The sophomore touched the pads in times of 1:01.73 and 2:15.69, respectively, and edged out her own time in the 100-yard race and Ohio State’s Taylor Vargo’s time in the 200-yard event. Both efforts also qualified Armitage for the NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Also, swimming in the first meet of her FGCU career after gaining NCAA eligibility earlier this week, Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) earned a pair of wins in the 100 and 200 backstrokes after clocking season-best times of 54.41 seconds and 2:00.26 seconds, respectively. Like Armitage, Haan’s time in the 100 backstroke earned her NCAA ‘B’ cut qualifications.
The 200 medley relay team of Haan, Armitage, Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls’ School) and Kristin Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Stephen’s College) got the meet started with a season-best time of 1:41.74 in the event and set the table for what was to come.
Lani Cabrera (Bridgetown, Barbados/St. Ursala’s Secondary School) then swam to a season- and personal-best time in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:11.92. Her pace was also good for the fourth-best mark in program history. Later, Cabrera finished second in the 500 freestyle in a season-best time of 4:57.32.
Wong turned in yet another season-best effort in the 200 butterfly as she touched the pads in 2:02.19. In the following events, Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood’s School) swam to a pair of victories and recorded season-best times in both the 50 freestyle (23.03) and 100 freestyle (50.14). Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS) turned in the final season-best time of the meet as she clocked a 2:02.76 in the 200 IM and defeated the field by nearly four seconds.
Lastly, FGCU’s 400 freestyle relay quartet of Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy), Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS), Latham and Haan capped off the meet with a victory in a time of 3:24.38, just .09 seconds off of a season-best pace and pool record.
FGCU SEASON-BEST TIMES
200 Medley Relay: 1:41.74 (Haan, Armitage, Wong, Julien)
1000 Free: 10:11:92 (Lani Cabrera)
T-200 Free: 1:51.98 (Hannah Burdge)
100 Back: 54.41 (Elise Haan) – NCAA ‘B’ cut
100 Breast: 1:01.73 (Katie Armitage) – NCAA ‘B’ Cut/FGCU Aquatics Center Record
200 Fly: 2:02.19 (Yee Ching Wong)
T-50 Free: 23.03 (Katie Latham)
100 Free: 50.14 (Katie Latham)
200 Back: 2:00.26 (Elise Haan)
200 Breast: 2:15.69 (Katie Armitage) – NCAA ‘B’ Cut/FGCU Aquatics Center Record
500 Free: 4:57.32 (Lani Cabrera)
200 IM: 2:02.76 (Barbara Caraballo)
UP NEXT
Following their dual meet against the Fighting Irish, the Eagles will continue action with a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, to take on Utah and Boise State on Friday Oct. 30.
Notre Dame Press Release:
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team spent the week of fall break training in Fort Myers, Florida, culminating in a dual meet with No. 29 Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. The Irish lost to the Eagles, 158-104, but gained valuable experience in the process.
“We don’t ever like to lose, but just because we lost tonight doesn’t mean we didn’t take away anything valuable from the meet,” Irish head coach Mike Litzinger says. “Our training trip this week was two-fold – to get away from campus, and to increase the speed and quality of our training. By doing so, we are in a much better place at this point in the season than our team was at this time last year.”
The Irish put in strong performances in many events, notably taking second in the 200 medley relay (1:42.64), 200 fly (Nicole Smith, 2:02.72) and 200 back (Alice Treuth, 2:00.64). Notre Dame earned three individual first-place finishes, in the 200 free (Ella Moynihan, 1:50.19), 500 free (Moynihan, 4:57.06) and 100 fly (Catherine Galletti, 55.02). Galletti also came in second in the 50 free (23.70).
“This was a good meet for us to compete at; to swim against a ranked team is good experience for us,” states Litzinger. “Florida Gulf Coast is ranked because they’ve already had three dual meets, this was their fourth. They’re in that competitive mindset, and that’s something we’re working towards having. By swimming in meets like this one, and the ones next week against Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State, those will help us to challenge and push ourselves throughout the remainder of the fall schedule.”
The Irish are next in action on Friday, October 30th, when they host Michigan State at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Irish have chosen to participate in a national, head-to-head challenge to raise funds for breast cancer research, and will be selling $15 t-shirts and accepting donations at the meet. All proceeds go to support River Bend Cancer Services of Mishawaka.
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Will Scofield, I saw. Very impressive!
Teri Lane Plotkin
I guess I didn’t realize what a powerhouse they are. Beautiful college and facilities. Congratulations!