The West Florida women’s swimming and diving team had a successful Saturday, as the Argonauts placed second at the Brenau Invitational and diver Josie McKee (Canton, Ohio/Malone) qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships with strong scores at the Emory Diving Invitational in the 1 and 3 meter events.
At the Brenau Invitational the Argonauts finished with 682.5 points, and NAIA No. 1 ranked SCAD took the team win with 692.5. Limestone, who entered the invitational ranked ahead of the Argos in the CollegeSwimming.com Division II rankings, finished a close third at 636.
“I’m very proud of our team in a number of different areas,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “We showed tenacity and resilience to be able to compete as well as we did. We finished ahead of our Division II competition, including Limestone who was ranked higher than us. We also finished just behind a perennial powerhouse in the NAIA in SCAD, a team with incredible tradition. As a new program, I couldn’t be happier with what we were able to accomplish.”
Multiple school records were broken by UWF, including the 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams. The 400 free team of Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany/Darton State), Carla Robles (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef HS), Cheryl Corvo (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast) and Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa/Drury) posted a time of 3:36.23 to win the event. The Argos’ 800 free team of de Villiers, Corvo, Savannah Antonetz (Lake Charles, La./Barbe HS) and Macht also took first with a school record time of 7:51.21.
Two Argos broke individual school records in the butterfly, including de Villiers in the 100 fly and Allison Lehr (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale HS) in the 200 fly. Lehr posted a time of 2:11.09 in the 200 and de Villiers finished at 58.98 in the 100.
UWF posted six first place finishes in all on Saturday, including all three relay events. Macht also finished first in the 100 breast (1:08.18) and 400 IM (4:35.87), and de Villiers won the 100 free (52.96).
At the Emory Diving Invitational, Josie McKee posted NCAA qualifying scores in the 11-dive events at 1 meter (407.30) and 3 meters (421.40). McKee is now eligible to compete at the NCAA Division II Championships qualifying event in March in Geneva, Ohio.
"It's exciting to have a diver qualify this early in the season,” said UWF diving coach Barbara Parker. “Josie has been working hard and is getting to see her efforts pay off. We will continue to train hard, but it's great to know that we are already ahead of the game.”
Emory was the team winner at the invitational, followed by Darton State in second and West Florida in third.
The Argonauts will return to action on Dec. 14-16 at the Delta State Christmas Invitational.
At the Brenau Invitational the Argonauts finished with 682.5 points, and NAIA No. 1 ranked SCAD took the team win with 692.5. Limestone, who entered the invitational ranked ahead of the Argos in the CollegeSwimming.com Division II rankings, finished a close third at 636.
“I’m very proud of our team in a number of different areas,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “We showed tenacity and resilience to be able to compete as well as we did. We finished ahead of our Division II competition, including Limestone who was ranked higher than us. We also finished just behind a perennial powerhouse in the NAIA in SCAD, a team with incredible tradition. As a new program, I couldn’t be happier with what we were able to accomplish.”
Multiple school records were broken by UWF, including the 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams. The 400 free team of Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany/Darton State), Carla Robles (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef HS), Cheryl Corvo (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast) and Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa/Drury) posted a time of 3:36.23 to win the event. The Argos’ 800 free team of de Villiers, Corvo, Savannah Antonetz (Lake Charles, La./Barbe HS) and Macht also took first with a school record time of 7:51.21.
Two Argos broke individual school records in the butterfly, including de Villiers in the 100 fly and Allison Lehr (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale HS) in the 200 fly. Lehr posted a time of 2:11.09 in the 200 and de Villiers finished at 58.98 in the 100.
UWF posted six first place finishes in all on Saturday, including all three relay events. Macht also finished first in the 100 breast (1:08.18) and 400 IM (4:35.87), and de Villiers won the 100 free (52.96).
At the Emory Diving Invitational, Josie McKee posted NCAA qualifying scores in the 11-dive events at 1 meter (407.30) and 3 meters (421.40). McKee is now eligible to compete at the NCAA Division II Championships qualifying event in March in Geneva, Ohio.
"It's exciting to have a diver qualify this early in the season,” said UWF diving coach Barbara Parker. “Josie has been working hard and is getting to see her efforts pay off. We will continue to train hard, but it's great to know that we are already ahead of the game.”
Emory was the team winner at the invitational, followed by Darton State in second and West Florida in third.
The Argonauts will return to action on Dec. 14-16 at the Delta State Christmas Invitational.
