By Abby Boone, Swimming World College Intern
Sunshine State swimming squads Florida Southern College (FSC), Rollins College, Lynn University, St. Leo University, and University of Tampa all traveled to compete at the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational. With only the out-of-state additions of Lenoir Rhyne University and UNC-Asheville, the meet is a miniature preview of the conference meet, which will be held in Orlando in two months.
Tampa took the win for both men and women, but Nova and Florida Southern were both close behind, with Nova coming in second for the men and FSC in second for the women.
The meet began with Alli Crenshaw (FSC) winning the 1000 free in a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 9:53.07, twelve seconds ahead of Tampa’s Brit Bayes (10:05.66). For the men’s 1000 free, FSC’s Juan Tolosa (9:09.36) and Raul Garrastazu (9:23.17) went one-two, followed by Tampa’s Tommy Reminger (9:25.43).
Alli Crenshaw also won the 200 free (1:49.38), the 500 free (4:51.35), and the 1650 (16:44.78). Tolosa also won the 500 (4:23.89) and the 1650 (15:17.80). In the 100 back, Lauren Reynolds and Marco Palacios continued FSC’s success, coming in at 55.70 and 48.80 respectively. Reynolds (1:59.89) and Luis Rojas (1:47.56) won the 200 backstroke as well, while Jesus Marin won the 200 free with a time of 1:39.50.
Tampa’s men broke the meet record in the 200 free relay, with Khalid Aldaboos, Jeremy Parker, Runar Borgen, and Derek Krell finishing in 1:19.84. Aldaboos finished second (20.46) in the 50 free behind Nova’s Thiago Sickert (20.22) and second in the 100 free (44.27), also behind Sickert (43.65). Zane Hranac won the 200 fly in 1:48.40.
The Tampa women had no first place finishes, but they continually placed in the A final. Erin Plachy and Marisa Barton came in second and third in the 50 free. Alexandra Webb placed third in the 400 IM with a time of 4:29.67, Briana Murphy came in second in the 200 free (1:51.18), and Brit Bayes came in second in the 500 free (4:56.02). Allison Chandler finished second in the 100 back with a time of 57.84 and third in the 200 back in 2:02.83.
For Nova, Thaigo Sickert placed first in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly (47.71). He came in second (1:39.60) in the 200 free behind FSC’s Jesus Marin (1:39.50), and third in the 200 fly behind Tampa’s Zane Hranac and FSC’s Raul Garrastazu, and in the 200 IM behind teammate Marco Aldabe (1:49.84) and FSC’s Luis Rojas. Marco Aldabe also won the 400 IM with a time of 3:55.99, and Anton Lobanov won the 100 breast in 53.64.
On Nova’s women’s side, Courtney DeVeny placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.89, and Malin Westman came in second in the 400 IM in 4:29.62 and won the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.03. Bryndis Hansen won the 50 free in 23.10, the 100 free in 49.40 and the 100 fly in 54.83 in front of teammate Emma Lawrenz (56.21). DeVeny and Lawrenz placed one-two in the 200 fly (2:06.51 and 2:08.37 respectively).
Rollin’s Taylor Wilks placed sixth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.94 and the 200 breast with a time of 2:24.48. Raoul Rajani also placed sixth for the men’s 200 breast, coming in at 2:11.13.
Rebecca Matthews marked Lynn’s only wins in the 200 IM (2:02.25), 400 IM (4:22.03), and 100 breast (1:03.05) and 200 breast (2:15.68). Tyne Potgieter came in second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.40.
The meet only offers predictions of what will happen, but Nova, Tampa and FSC all will put up a strong fight at the conference meet, as they all continually post fast times and place highly.
Results: Nova Southeastern Invite