The No. 21 ranked West Florida women’s swimming and diving team made history on the first day of the Delta State Christmas Invitational on Saturday, as the Argonauts earned NCAA B-cut qualifying times in five different events. UWF ranks third in the seven-team women’s field with 218 points, as No. 16 Lindenwood leads at 271.5 and No. 22 Delta State is second at 236.5.
“I’m very proud of our team’s efforts, both the swimmers and the divers,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “We swam our best today, in all events across the board. We dropped a lot of our times in all events. We’ve seen some great results and some rewards for the hard work we’ve put in over the course of the season. Today we had some outstanding swims that will put UWF on the map at the national level.”
NCAA championships qualifying standards are set with A- and B-cut times in the various events. Posting an A-cut time earns a swimmer or relay team automatic qualification for the NCAA Division II Championships on Mar. 12-15 in Geneva, Ohio, and a B-cut time puts the swimmer into a group for consideration at a later date. Diver Josie McKee (Canton, Ohio/Malone) had already earned a qualifying score at the Emory Diving Invitational, but on Saturday the Argonauts earned their first ever NCAA-qualifying times in the races.
Sophomore Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa/Drury) swam a B-cut qualifying time in the 50 Free prelim, posting a time of 23.38. She followed that with a time of 23.32 in the finals to earn first place in the event and set a new school record. Her time of 23.32 is currently the fastest in Division II this year and set a new facility record at the DSU Aquatics Center.
Freshman Carla Robles (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef HS) was right behind de Villiers in the 50 Free and posted B-cut times in both the prelims (24.02) and the finals (23.96). Robles finished second in the race with a new personal record time.
Junior Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany/Darton State) also earned a B-cut time in the prelims, and hers came in the 200 IM. Her time of 2:06.71 earned her NCAA consideration, and she topped that with a time of 2:04.41 in the finals. Macht placed second in the event and set a new school record, and her new time ranks seventh in Division II.
The UWF relay teams in the 200 Free and the 200 Medley also earned B-cut times. The 200 Free team of Emily Mitchell (Allen Park, Mich./Darton State), de Villiers, Robles and Macht posted a time of 1:34.85 to place first in the event and set a new school record. The 200 Medley relay team of Cheryl Corvo (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast), Mitchell, de Villiers and Macht had a time of 1:46.85 to place third, and that time also set a new school record.
Freshman Savannah Antonetz (Lake Charles, La./Barbe HS) had UWF’s top time in the 500 Free, finishing 14th in the event with a school record time of 5:11.85.
McKee excelled in the 3 meter dive, placing first with a score of 462.60. Her score now ranks first in the nation in the event. Freshman Meghan Zets (Grovetown, Ga./Grovetown HS) also posted her best score of the year at 384.40 to place third.
