The Nova Southeastern swimming and diving teams wrapped up the fourth and final day of the third annual Shark Invitational Monday afternoon at the NSU Aquatic Center. The women took the Shark Invitational title with 1,059.50. The men came in third place with 848 points.
"This is always a great meet for our swimmers to compete as we are able to race against some of the best athletes in the country. It is a great training meet for us to gauge what we need to work on from now until the end of the season," said head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron. "I feel we did well racing, but we still have some work to do. I'm proud of both the men and women with how we worked each day to race tough. I'm looking forward to the end of our season when we can put more pieces together to be great."
Erin Black (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) won the Michael D. Fish individual high point award. Black had a total of 117 points that she accumulated during the meet. Black broke three meet records this weekend in the 1,000, 500, and 200-yard freestyle events. This is Black’s second time earning the award.
Tonight's final started off with a new meet record set by Oskar Nordstrand (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) with a time of 15:37.51. Addison Cates (So., Port Charlotte, Fla.) , Cameron Chambers (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.) , and Chris Norris( Jr., Tallahassee, Fla.) took the fifth, sixth and seventh spots with times of 16:09.48, 16:10.55, and 16:11.66, respectively.
Black was the top finisher for the Sharks in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of a time of 2:05.80, which was good for fourth place. Following Black in the 200-yard backstroke were teammates Lauren Chapple (So., London, England), and Devan Martin (Sr., Duluth, Ga.) who placed seventh and eighth with times of 2:07.41, and 2:09.74, respectively. Lauryn Howell (So., Clearwater, Fla.) was the lone finalist in the “B” final and placed 18th with a time of 2:09.90.
On the men’s side, Josh Davis (Jr., Huron, S.D.) was the top finisher in the event with a time of 1:54.04 which landed him at sixth place. Following Davis in the “A” final was Darren Rubenchik (Jr., Ontario, Canada), who finished ninth with a time of 1:56.74. Michael Zislin (So., Lighthouse Point, Fla.) was the lone qualifier in the “B” final and finished 13th with a time of 1:58.76.
In the women’s 100-yard freestyle, Kristen Ann Zielinski (Fr., Cheasapeake,Va.) was the top Shark in the event with a time of the 53.10, that earned her a fourth place finish. Zielinski was the sole qualifier in the “A” final. Kimba Collymore (Sr., St. James, Trindad) took the top spot in the “B” final with a time of 53.01.
In the men’s 100-yard freestyle, Florian Mehlan (Jr., Moers, Germany) was the lone qualifier in the “B” final with a time of 46.55 which landed him at the 13th spot.
In the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, Ashley Bransford (Jr., Santa Cruz, Aruba) finished on top for the Sharks finishing in third place with a time of 2:23.90. Sammy Akoubian (Jr., Run Dacula, Ga.) followed behind Bransford in the “A” final for eighth place with a time of 2:27.36. Stephanie Shober (So., Pheonix, Az.), and Collymore came in 18th and 19th with times of 2:34.84 and 2:37.66, respectively.
In the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, Thomas Aycart (Jr., Miami,Fla.) led the way for the Sharks as the team’s top finisher in the event, coming in at sixth place with a time of 2:07.77. Cameron Pfahler ( Jr., Neptune Beach ,Fla.) followed behind Aycart in eighth place with a time of 2:08.32. Patrick Hayes (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) led the Sharks in the “B” final with the top time of 2:10.45, which landed him in 14th place.
The women’s 200-yard butterfly was stacked in the”A” final by three swimmers.Chapple had the fastest time of 2:05.67, that landed her in third place .Following Chapple were Miranda Schumes (Fr., Bloomington, Ind.), and Emma Lawrenz (So., Minnetonka, Minn.), who finished fifth and ninth with times of 2:09.37, and 2:11.84, respectively. Nichole Schultz (Jr., Roseville, Ca.) captured the “B” final with a time of 2:13.65, where she took the 13th spot.
In the men’s 200-yard butterfly, there were two Sharks in the “A” final. Santiago Pombo (So., Bogota, Columbia) placed fourth with time of 1:52.35. John Michael Hayes (Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.), placed eighth coming into the wall at 1:58.51. In the “B” final Rubenchik and Norris represented the Sharks as they finished at 14th and 20th place with times of 1:58.51, and 2:06.13, respectively.
In the final event of the day the 400-yard freestyle, the ”A” relay team of Black, Zielinkski, Alexandra Zatylny (Jr., Quebec, Canada), and Collymore came in third place with a time of 3:31.75.
On the men’s side, the “A” relay team of Nordstrand, Mehlan, Hayes, and Jim Shelley (Jr., Charlottesville, Va.) swam to a fifth place finish with a time of 3:07.57.
The Sharks will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 2, to host Grand Valley State at 3:00 p.m. at the NSU Aquatic Center.
Florida International
FIU junior Sonia Perez set her third FIU record during the 2012-13 season as she broke the school record in the 1000 Freestyle event by nearly six seconds, helping FIU to a third-place finish at the Sharks Invitational hosted by Nova Southeastern University.
Perez broke the eight-year-old FIU record set by Claudia Barsi with a time of 10:11.36 in the first event of the Invitational. She also found herself victorious in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.87 and the 400 IM, touching the wall at 4:21.21. She then capped off the Invite with an 18-second victory in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 16:57.92, the second-best time in FIU history.
“Sonia broke a record that has been in the books for quite a while here at FIU,” Head Coach Randy Horner said. “Her record was even more impressive since we practiced that morning for two hours in addition to lifting weights and traveling the same day. It was one of the more impressive swims I’ve been associated with as a coach.”
Perez also helped her 800 Freestyle Relay team of Danielle Albright, Johanna Gustafsdottir and Marina Ribi to a third place finish with a time of 7:37.68 on the first day of the event.
Also having a successful Invite was sophomore Gustafsdottir who compiled two second place and two third-place finishes over the four-day event. She took the silver in the 500 Freestyle (5:01.38) and the 400 IM (4:25.00) while coming in third in the 1650 Freestyle (17:22.96) and the 200 Backstroke (2:03.81).
In the 100 Butterfly, senior Ribi finished third with a time of 57.73.
The entire team swam the 1000 Freestyle and 1650 Freestyle events scoring a total of 79 points in the 1000 and 130 in the 1650,
“This weekend was a productive weekend for our team,” Horner said. “We had some good swims as well as some season and lifetime bests. Even though we didn’t win the meet, I feel like the experience will prepare us for the conference championships, which is our ultimate goal of the season. Now it’s time for a short break for the holidays with family and friends and then Key Largo, Fla., for training camp in the new year.”
The Panthers will return to the pool on Jan. 3, 2013, when they participate in the Orange Bowl Classic in Key Largo, Fla. FIU’s next home meet will take place on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, at Noon ET at the Biscayne Bay Aquatics Center on the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus. Admission to all FIU swimming and diving home meets is free to the public.
Rollins
Rollins’ men’s and women’s swim teams closed the calendar year in a big way, setting more records on the final day of the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational.
The Tars women finished fifth in the event, totaling 341 points. Host NSU won with 1059.5, followed by Tampa (1047) and Florida International (1002.5). Rollins men’s team was sixth with 284 points. Tampa edged Florida Southern 1210-1208.5 to win the championship.
As had been the case all weekend, the women provided most of the fireworks from the pool. Sunday’s highlight was an assault on the 100-yard freestyle record. Coming into the day, the two-year old record stood at 53.84. Jenny Nilson then posted a time of 53.66 in the prelims to set a new standard. Her finals time of 53.81 was good enough for ninth place and still better than the previous mark.
Only a few hours old, the 100-yard freestyle record was again broken, this time by Audrey Kula as the freshman led off the 400-yard freestyle relay in a 52.64 split. Kula, Nilson, Maddie Minetree and Jessica Spiegel went on to finish fifth in the event with a NCAA B cut time of 3:33.55.
In between the 100 and relay, Kula swam perhaps one of the best races in program history, winning the 200-yard butterfly. She set the tone for the event earlier in the day, swimming the top prelim time by more than three seconds. In the final, Kula posted a Rollins and meet record, 2:03.71 - the eighth-fastest time in Division II this season.
Rollins also had top finishes in three other events. Grace Alexander was 16th in the 1650-yard freestyle in a time of 17:54.84 while Callie Singleton took 19th in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 2:14.24. Molly Spencer finished 10th in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:28.19, setting a new school record.
Mike Weinstein led the Rollins men, finishing seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a NCAA B cut time of 46.23. Dan Mazur also earned a top-10 finish, taking ninth in the 1650-yard freestyle in 16:29.52. Eric Solloway was 12th in the event (17:22.00).
In the 200-yard backstroke, Will Tarkenton was 12th in 1:57.62 and Ben Getchell was 19th in 2:11.26. Garrett Graham was 17th in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:13.24.
In the 200-yard fly, David Relihan was 14th (1:58.51) and Brian Sanborn took 16th (2:00.51). The Tars 400-yard relay team of Weinstein, Solloway, Taylor Wright and Taylor Powers finished eighth in 3:10.44.
Rollins will now take off for the holiday and be back in the pool on Jan. 7th, hosting Gordon in Winter Park.
Catawba
Catawba concluded the NSU Shark Invitational on Monday with the men placing fourth and the women sixth. Nova Southeastern hosted the meet at the NSU Aquatic Center. Sebastian Holmberg (Akersberga, SWEDEN) closed with another school record and helped the 400 free relay team to a NCAA II A cut swim.
Holmberg set a new standard in the 100 free as he claimed a B cut with his second place finish in a time of 45.23. The freshman joined with Toomas Goutt (Saint Witz, FRANCE), Theo Zatterstrom (Stockholm, SWEDEN) and Magnus Lindgren (Alvsjo, SWEDEN) in the 400 free relay. They posted a time of 3:03.73 and was third.
Katia Kruglov (Karmiel, ISRAEL) had two finals swims for the women and also set a school record. She went sixth in the 200 back (2:06.09) and eighth in the 100 free (53.42). Her time of 53.30 in the 100 free prelim was just .06 seconds off the school record, but she would go under the mark in the leadoff leg of the 400 free relay with a time of 53.18.
Janin Kassner (Geisen, GERMANY) also had a top 10 swim for the women, finishing seventh in the 200 breast (2:26.85) with a lifetime best. In the men’s 200 breast, Jevgenij Gamper (Vilnius, LITHUANIA) was second in a time of 2:05.85, while Finn Furstenwerth (Hamburg, GERMANY went fifth (2:06.51). Goutt swam a lifetime best to post a seventh place finish in the 200 back (1:54.35).
