MIAMI – TCU swimming nearly pulled off a clean sweep at a quad meet with Central Connecticut, Florida Atlantic and Florida International on Thursday.
TCU Press Release
The TCU swimming and diving teams picked up three victories in the four team meet with Central Connecticut, Florida Atlantic and Florida International on Thursday in Miami, Fla.
The overall scores from the meet:
TCU men defeated FAU men, 149-101.
TCU women defeated FAU women, 151-149.
TCU women defeated CCSU women, 199-101.
FIU women defeated TCU women, 212-88.
The men’s squad opened the meet with seven straight wins to help improve their overall record to 4-0. The women’s team moved to 5-3 this season.
“We are in a hard training phase of our season right now,” head coach Richard Sybesma said. “I thought our team raced well today.”
In the men’s 200 medley relay, Cooper Robinson, Ford Story, Garrett Hills and Josh Mangus posted a first-place mark for the second time this season, clocking in at 1:33.82.
On the women’s side, the team of Ashley Alspaugh, Devin Newton, Emily Gibson and Julia Sanders paced to a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.82.
The Horned Frogs swept the top three spots in the men’s 1000 free event. Senior Thor Stenfjord claimed the top time at 9:48.68, the third time this season he’s recorded a first-place mark. Freshmen Connor Dobbs and Owen Pink finished second and third, with times of 9:51.16 and 9:53.12, respectively.
Senior Adam Szilagyi racked up his second top-time of the season in the men’s 200 free, clocking in at 1:45.50. TCU also posted the third, fourth and fifth-place times in the event.
On the women’s side, junior Mikayla Winkler finished third in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.70.
TCU grabbed the two best times in the men’s 100 back thanks to senior Robinson and sophomore Jake Powell. The duo recorded times of 50.56 and 53.44, respectively. It was the third time this season Robinson has finished first in the event.
Robinson also claimed the 200 back for the third time this season behind a time of 1:50.27. Sophomores Chris Hearl (1:59.20) and Powell (2:00.59) and freshman Jonah Beri (2:01.41) finished directly behind Robinson.
Later in the day in the men’s 100 breast, TCU earned the top three times again led by junior Ford Story’s mark of 58.36. It was the third time this season he won the event. Freshman Destin Hall (1:00.05) and sophomore Evan Schmitzberger (1:00.16) placed second and third.
Freshman Devin Newton finished second in the women’s 100 breast, with a time of 1:06.91.
The Horned Frogs posted the four best times in the men’s 200 fly. Freshman Carlos Hunnicutt led the way with a mark of 1:52.59, it was his third win of the year in the event. Freshman Matt Spallas (1:56.30), junior Cameron Rattray (1:58.60) and Dobbs (2:03.49) followed after him.
Sophomore Julia Grace Sanders won her fourth women’s 50 free race of the season, tallying a mark of 24.55.
On the men’s side, Hills also put up the best time in the 50 free for the third time this season at 21.56.
In the men’s 200 breast, sophomore John Remetta placed first, clocking in at 2:08.24. It was his second win of the season in the event.
Freshman Ty Sides racked up a third-place mark in the women’s 1-meter dive, tallying a score of 230.62. In the 3-meter dive, junior Kristen Connolly recorded the team’s best score at 233.43.
The men’s team recorded five season-high marks in the 1- and 3-meter dive events on Thursday. Senior Ricky Bradley achieved the highest score in the 1-meter for the Horned Frogs at 291.68. Seniors Curtis Muller (248.55) and Evan Folan (177.15) also put up new bests in the event.
In the 3-meter dive, Muller posted the top mark at 267.30 and Folan’s score of 197.92 were the duo’s season highs.
The Horned Frogs hit the road again for a date with the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday, Jan. 16, in Morgantown, W.Va., at 6 p.m.
FIU Press Release
The FIU swimming and diving team improved to a perfect 7-0 in dual meets this season by knocking off TCU (212-88) and Central Connecticut State (239-61) on Thursday afternoon at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
“Today was one the best ‘team days’ we have had this session,” said Head Coach Randy Horner. “We had lots of swims that were best dual meet times. To do that at the end of our winter training, I’m impressed!”
The Panthers were led by freshman Silvia Scalia, who earned an impressive three individual victories to help pace FIU. The Italy native was dominant in the backstroke events, earning the 100 (56.04) and 200 (2:01.02) back titles. Scalia also earned a victory in the 200 IM event, posting a time of 2:07.49.
Also earning an individual victory on the day was senior Johanna Gustafsdottir, who clocked a mark of 5:04.64 in the 500 freestyle. The Iceland native also was part of FIU’s 400 freestlye relay team that earned a first place finish in the meet. Joining Gustafsdottir was sophomore Jenifer Diest, freshman Paulina Zelazna and senior Klara Anderson. The four put together a time of 3:33.21 to earn the first place finish.
In the diving events, sophomore Lily Kaufmann picked up a victory in the 1-meter dive, posting a score of 235.80.
CCSU Press Release
The Central Connecticut women’s swimming and diving team fell in a quad-meet at Florida International University on Thursday afternoon. Joining the Blue Devils at the meet were FIU, Texas Christian University and Florida Atlantic University. In head-to-head competition, the Blue Devils fell to FIU 239-61, TCU 199-101 and FAU 178-119. Central was led by freshman swimmer Maddy Garber at the meet, who finished the day with two individual victories.
Garber, who was named the Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week yesterday, picked up two individual victories in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke. In the 100 breast Garber took gold with a time of 1:05.17. She earned her second gold medal of the day in the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.98, which was more than five seconds faster than the second-place swimmer.
Garber was also the first representative for CCSU in the 200 yard individual medley with a sixth place finish. The rookie touched the wall with a time of 2:12.76 to record her sixth place finish.
Garber’s impressive day in the pool did not stop there, as she also helped the 200 yard medley relay team to a fourth place finish. The team consisted of Garber, senior Helene Neuhaus and sophomores Sabree Thomas and Christine Rasile. The squad combined to log a time of 1:49.47, which was less than two seconds behind the leader, to earn their fourth place finish.
In the 1,000 yard freestyle, the Blue Devils were led by junior Selene Chilton. Chilton swam to a time of 10:35.78 to earn a fourth place finish for CCSU. Chilton was also the first to touch the wall for Central in the 200 yard butterfly. The Chelmsford, MA native earned a seventh place finish with a time of 2:13.35.
The Blue Devils took sixth, seventh and eighth place out of 15 swimmers in the 100 yard freestyle. Neuhaus led the way for Central in sixth recording a time of 54.72. Christine Rasile was next with a final time of 54.74 and freshman Lauren Czulewicz took eighth with a time of 55.33.
Junior Kaitlyn Beaver and senior Kaitlyn Dwyer led the way for the Blue Devils off the diving board at FIU. Beaver picked up a seventh place finish from the 1-meter board with a score of 213.97 and a tenth place finish from 3-meter board with a score of 214.05 in six dive attempts. Dwyer recorded a pair of ninth place finishes from the 1-meter and 3-meter boards with respective scores of 206.47 and 215.55.
Freshman Annemarie Durham was also a bright spot for CCSU as she had the best day of her career so far as a Blue Devil diver. The rookie recorded career-best diving scores from both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the meet. She scored 212.47 from the 1-meter which was good for an eighth place finish and 180.30 from the 3-meter board in six dive attempts.
FAU Press Release
Florida Atlantic University men’s and women’s swimming and diving accumulated 12 first place finishes in Thursday’s meet against Central Connecticut State and Texas Christian with the women claiming victory over CCSU.
The Owls came away with a win in the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay. The team of Rachel Crino, Hannah Roper, Frida Nilsson, and Agnes Bucz finished with a time of 1:47.66. The men’s team of John Brennock, John Nolte, Torbjorn Persson, and Cole Wisecarver earned second in the event with a final time of 1:36.85.
The first individual victory came from junior Abbey King in the 1000 free where she put up a time of 10:20.56. Bridget Belcik and Sahra El-Hamaki both set lifetime bests in the event with times of 10:57.27 and 11:01.99, respectively. Aaron Spence put up a career-high time of 10:05.74, which earned him fourth place.
King followed her performance in the 1000 free with a second-place finish in the 500 free (5:06.10). Joseph Steele saw victory in the men’s 500 free with a final time of 5:04.42. Bean finished in second (5:08.12) and Zachary Kitzis took third (5:09.23).
Bucz saw her next win of the day in the 200 free (1:51.83). Freshman Bennet Bean was the men’s top performer in the 200 free, taking second place in 1:44.55. With her third win of the day, junior Bucz took the 100 free in 52.28. Nolte saw his first win in the 100 free with a time of 46.95.
In the 50 free, Nilsson was the women’s top finisher earning fifth place (24.72). Persson saw his second top-three finish of the meet in the 50 free where he took second place with a time of 21.62.
Coming in second in the 100 back was veteran Iwona Lefanowicz (58.76) followed by Crino in fourth (59.63). Brennock took third on the men’s side with a time of 54.25. Lefanowicz also claimed second place in the 200 back (2:07.77) again with Crino right behind her in third (2:07.90).
Senior Anett Kovacs claimed her first win of the day in the 200 fly (2:03.42). Spence finished fifth in the men’s 200 fly with a time of 2:03.98. The women battled it out in the 100 fly with Frida Nilsson coming in first (56.51) just two one-hundredths of a second ahead of Kovacs who earned second (56.53). Persson took first in the 100 fly (52.87) followed by Malachi Oakes in second (54.47) and Austin Olivares in third (57.04).
Kovacs had a fifth place finish in the 200 IM (2:12.15) while Nolte took first for the men (1:58.38). The 400 free relay team of Nilsson, Kovacs, Katie Dodge and Bucz came in third (3:35.81). The men’s group of Persson, Brennock, Hunter Swartsel and Wisecarver earned first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:13.33.
With another strong performance, Kiley Kuether claimed first place in 3 meter diving with a final score of 275.18. Fellow freshman Alexa Elkins took fourth place with a score of 236.18.
The women’s team defeated CCSU 178 to 119 and just barely fell to TCU with a final score of 151 to 149. The men fell to TCU 149 to 101. The team will host its final two meets of the spring season at home on Friday, Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. versus FIU and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. against Indian River State College.