Last one down and postseason to go for the Nova Southeastern University men’s and women’s swimming teams. On Saturday, both the Sharks swim teams concluded the inaugural regular season falling to NCAA Division I foes Florida International and Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Competing head-to-head, the NSU men fell to the FAU Owls 105-92, while the women dropped both to the FIU Golden Panthers 175-40 and FAU 187-28.
"Overall we had a great dual meet season,” head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron said. “The men and women have both done a solid job standing up to the competition in our conference and around the state."
The Sharks opened the meet with the 200-yard medley relay. Devin Martin (So., Duluth, Ga.), Ewa Jamborska (Jr., Katowice, Poland), Nichole Schultz (Fr., Roseville, Calif.) and Ashley Bransford (Fr., Santa Cruz, Aruba) teamed up for a fourth place finish at 1:55.09, while Josh Davis (Fr., Huron, S.D.), Armin Hornikel (Jr., Goose Creek, S.C.), Jorge Ospina (Jr., Lazumillos, Venezuela) and Ash Dougan (Jr., Tewksbury, England) teamed up for the win on the men’s side at 1:36.86. Illya Prikhodko (Fr., Orlando, Fla.), Cameron Pfahler (So., Neptune Beach, Fla.), Darren Rubenchik (Fr., Ontario, Canada), and Jim Shelley (Fr., Charlottesville, Va.) finished fourth at 1:42.37, while John Michael Hayes (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.), Jonathan Key (Fr., Biltmore Lakes, N.C.), Roberto Duran (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) and Eddie Bandi (Fr., Valrico, Fla.) combined for a fifth-place finish at 1:44.27.
Kristen Ghandour (Fr., South Neptune Beach, Fla.) finished eighth in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle at 13:00.41 to start off the distance events for NSU. Nathan Caldwell (Fr., Naples, Fla.) followed on the men’s side finishing third at 10:05.17. Chris Norris (Fr., Tallahassee, Fla.) finished fourth at 10:11.15, while Alex Tarr (Jr., Everett, Wash.) finished fifth at 10:16.18.
Bransford posted a fifth-place finish in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.49, while Davis paced the men in fourth place at 1:48.33. Dougan (1:49.04) followed in fifth, while Bandi (1:51.01) finished sixth.
William Bunge (Jr., Springfiled, Mo.) topped the NSU men in the 50-yard freestyle finishing fourth with a time of 0:22.91, followed by Pfahler (0.22.92) and Shelley (0:23.26) in fifth and sixth respectively. Alex Zatylny (Fr., Quebec, Canada) finished eighth on the women’s side with a time of 0:25.84.
Jamborska continued to shine against top competition with a second-place finish in the women’s 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:38.44. Jonas Grundstrom (Jr., Fagersta, Sweden) posted the top finish for the men in fourth at a time of 4:14.42. Duran (4:19.96) and Key (4:24.77) finished fifth and sixth respectively, while Tyler Wilson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) finished seventh at 4:27.01.
After a bit of diving, Schultz posted an eighth-place finish in the women’s 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.50, while Ospina (0:50.65) posted the Sharks first win of the day in the same event. Dougan (0:54.34) and Hayes (0:55.26) finished fourth and fifth, while Josh Anderson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) turned in a time of 0:58.28 for seventh place.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Zatylny finished ninth with a time of 0:58.24, while Hornikel posted the top NSU men’s time at 0:48.81 for fifth. Bunge (0:49.82), Caldwell (0:51.20) and Shelley (0:51.98) finished sixth through eighth respectively.
Finishing eighth in the women’s 100-yard backstroke, Marin posted a time of 1:04.29, while Schultz swam an exhibition time of 1:09.35. On the men’s side, Davis (0:53.81) finished third, while Prikhodko (0:55.56) and Rubenchik (0:56.04) finished fifth and sixth. Wilson turned in a time of 1:01.66.
Turning the attention to the middle distance events, Zatylny finished eighth in the women’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:34.12, while Ghandour finished 10th at 6:24.45. Ospina turned in his second win of the day on the men’s side with a first-place finish in the 500-yard free at 4:43.01, while Grundstrom finished second at 4:45.69. Norris swam a time of 4:57.73, while Tarr finished at 5:01.76.
Heading into the final segment of racing, Jamborska posted a second-place finish in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.34, while Bransford swam an exhibition time of 1:09.59. Hornikel (0:59.61) posted top time on the men’s side, followed by Pfahler (1:02.91), Key (1:04.46) and Anderson (1:06.58).
Rounding out the day with the 200-yard freestyle relay, Schultz, Ghandour, Martin and Bransford teamed up for a time of 1:50.73, while Caldwell, Grundstrom, Prikhodko, and Bunge posted the top NSU men’s time at 1:30.83. Tarr, Anderson, Norris and Duran finished at 1:34.08.
With a tough regular season now behind them, the inaugural NSU men’s and women’s swimming teams now turn their focus toward the postseason.
"We have worked hard all season without seeing any rest,” Bonewit-Cron said. “We have competed in back-to-back meets in the fall and went solid weeks of demanding winter training after our holiday break. I look forward to our taper phase and seeing even better performances at the conference meet. I'm looking forward to seeing how this team performs in a competitive setting where every swimmer will be ready to race."
The Sharks will return to action at the Sunshine State Conference Championships hosted in Orlando, Fla. Feb. 17-20 hosted by Rollins College.
