The Spartan Invitational came to a close in Florida on Monday.
Nova Southeastern Press Release
FORT LAUDERDALE – The Nova Southeastern University men's and women's swim teams had a strong finish to the 2016 Spartan Invitational on Monday night at the Long Center with three individual swimmers earning NCAA automatic qualifying times. The NSU women's team ended up taking home the victory on the women's side with 1,103 total points, while the Sharks' men's team finished third overall with 830.5 points.
"This was a nice weekend for the Sharks in the pool," said head coach Ben Hewitt. "We were able to compete against tremendous competition over a four-day event that will simulate the SSC and NCAA championship format. I was pleased with how well our team raced all weekend. We learned and grew throughout the entire weekend. We were able to achieve several A-Cut time standards and position many others for an opportunity to receive an invitation to the NCAA Championships in March."
The trio of swimmers, who earned automatic bids to the NCAA postseason were Emma Wahlstrom, Franco Lupoli and Anton Lobanov. Wahlstrom. Lupoli was the first on the day picking up a winning time of 15:20.27 in the men's 1,650 freestyle event. Wahstrom followed with a qualifying time of 1:57.60 in the 200 backstroke, while Lobanov, a two-time national champion in the 200 breaststroke event, posted a qualifying time of 1:55.88.
Tampa Press Release
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The University of Tampa women's swimming team finished second overall in the four-day Spartan Invite that was hosted by UT at the Long Center.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Total Scores (Through Three Days:) Nova Southeastern (1,103), Tampa (1,019), Indian River (662), Florida Southern (621.5), Lenoir-Rhyne (169.5), Rollins (125)
Location: The Long Center | Clearwater, Fla.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• There were a total of six women's events on Monday, five of which happened at the 5 p.m., finals. The 1,650 was at the 11 a.m., distance session.
• Nova Southeastern took first-place in each event of the day, including the 1,650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly and the 400 Free Relay.
• Tampa defeated Sunshine State Conference opponents Florida Southern and Rollins along with JUCO national powerhouse Indian River.
TOP PERFORMERS:
• Brittany Bayes began the day for the Spartans with a second-place performance in the 1,650 Free. Her time was clocked at 17:22.67. Emma Hutchings was seventh at 17:53.34.
• The 200 Breast resulted in a sixth-place effort from Allison Chandler as she was timed at 2:05.58. Nelly Hansson was eighth with a time of 2:09.86.
• Courtney Markle (51.97) and Molly O'Hara (52.01) were fifth and sixth respectively in the 100 Free.
• In the 200 Breast, McKenzie Street was then runner-up after she finished in 2:21.32. Ali Lombardi was fifth at 2:21.28 while Page Fox was eighth at 2:29.78.
• For UT, the 200 Fly was paced by Izzy Spalding as she finish second with a time of 2:04.37. Victoria Horsman (2:06.82) and Sophie Long (2:07.34) also raced, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
• Tampa finished the Invite with a second-place showing in the 400 Free Relay. UT also had teams finish sixth, seventh and eighth in the meet's final race. The runner-up team of Long, Markle, O'Hara and Marisa Barton were timed at 3:27.88.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The University of Tampa men's swimming team finished second overall in the four-day Spartan Invite that was hosted by UT at the Long Center.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Total Scores (Through Three Days:) Indian River (955), Tampa (937.5), Nova Southeastern (830.5), Florida Southern (763), Lenoir-Rhyne (181), Rollins (44)
Location: The Long Center | Clearwater, Fla.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• There were a total of six men's events on Monday, five of which happened at the 5 p.m., finals. The 1,650 was at the 11 a.m., distance session.
• Nova Southeastern took first-place in the 1,650 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast and the 400 Free Relay. Tampa won the 100 Free as Indian River championed the 200 Fly.
• Tampa defeated Sunshine State Conference opponents Nova Southeastern, Florida Southern and Rollins.
TOP PERFORMERS:
• The 1,650 Free saw a second-place finish from Tampa's Tommy Reminger with a time of 15:39.77. Nick Tinucci also raced to a fifth-place effort with a time of 16:02.66.
• A trio of Spartans were in the top seven in the 200 Back including Brett Saunders (fifth, 1:48.22), Christian Berg (sixth, 1:48.69) and Dominic Russo (seventh, 1:49.70).
• Martin Hammer took first-place in the 100 Free as the senior won with a time of 44.63. Marc-Olivier Caron was fifth at 45.26.
• In the 200 Breast, Saunders was seventh (2:03.55) while Nicholas Stoski was eighth (2:06.57).
• A second-place finish was registered by UT's Sean Rodney in the 200 Fly. His time was 1:48.78. Tomas Manso-Fraga was sixth (1:53.50) while Victor Philaire was seventh (1:53.79).
• The final race of the Spartan Invite was the 400 Free Relay, as UT had teams finish fourth and seventh. The team of Hammer, Caron, Stefano Vrolijk and Berg had a time of 3:00.72.
Florida Southern Press Release
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Junior Haley DeGrace finished second in the 200-breaststroke with her second NCAA provisional qualifying time of the meet, while junior Peyton Breault and freshman Kyra Fraser had top-five backstroke finishes for the second time in the meet on the final day of the 2016 Spartan Invitational.
Nova Southeastern held on to its lead to win the team title by 84 points over host Tampa with a final total of 1,103. Indian River State held a 40½-point lead over Florida Southern for third place (662-621½), Lenoir-Rhyne was fifth with 169½, and Rollins was sixth with 125.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Florida Southern’s only two competitors in the 1,650-freestyle were seniors Madi Rowan and Riley McClendon, who placed eighth and 13th. Nova Southeastern’s Madison Yelle, who had won the 1,000-freestyle on Friday, also won the 1,650 in 16:57.64. It was the first time this season the Moccasins swam in a meet where the 1,650 was held.
The Moccasins received third- and fourth-place finishes from Breault and Fraser in the 200-backstroke, with Breault hitting an NCAA “B” time of 2:03.03, and Fraser coming in 2.33 seconds behind her. Emma Wahlstrom won the event for Nova Southeastern by swimming the 200-back in an automatic qualifying time of 1:57.60, and her teammate Courtney DeVeny was second.
Sophomore Krystal Karas was the Mocs’ top swimmer in the 100-freestyle, placing eighth in 52.14 seconds. That left her just 0.02 seconds away from an NCAA provisional time. She had already posted a provisional time in the 50-freestyle earlier in the meet. Taking first place was Wahlstrom, who won her fifth event of the weekend for Nova Southeastern, and it came after she finished third in Monday morning’s prelims.
DeGrace gave Florida Southern its best individual finish of the night with her second-place showing in the 200-breaststroke. Malin Westman won the title for Nova Southeastern in 2:16.10 after also winning the 100 one night earlier, an event where DeGrace finished third. Just as she did in the 100 on Sunday, DeGrace had an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 200-breast on Monday, swimming it in 2:20.20. Junior Jacinda Whittenburg was fourth with another provisional time of 2:20.43.
While Florida Southern did not have anyone qualify for the championship finals of the 200-butterfly, three Moccasins were in the consolation finals where Rowan, and freshmen Madelyn Snodgrass and Mallary Meyer scored points. Meyer dropped almost exactly four seconds off her time coming into the meet, the best improvement of that trio.
In the only relay race of the night, Florida Southern’s 400-freestyle team of Breault, Karas, Whittenburg and sophomore Rebeka Dics placed fourth in 3:30.15, which gave the Moccasins an NCAA “B” time. Nova Southeastern won the event in 3:23.89.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Senior Leah Haney reached the consolation finals of the 200-backstroke after doing the same in the 100-back on Sunday.
Dics was in the consolation finals of the 100-freestyle after reaching the championship finals in the 50-free on Saturday.
Freshman Erin Daugherty was in the consolation finals of the 200-breaststroke.
CLEARWATER, FLA. – Juniors Noah Franz and Luis Jasso had runner-up finishes in the final two individual races, and the Moccasins added third-place finishes in three other events on the final day of the 2016 Spartan Invitational.
Indian River State was able to hold off Tampa for the team title, outscoring the Spartans in the final standings by 17½ points (955-937½). Nova Southeastern was third with 830½ points, and Florida Southern was fourth with 763. Lenoir-Rhyne finished fifth with 181 points, and Rollins was sixth with 44.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With Florida Southern competing in the 1,650-freestyle for the first time this season, sophomore Luka Planinc finished third in that event with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 15:54.29. The 1,650 was won by Franco Lupoli in 15:20.27, an NCAA automatic qualifying time. The Sharks had four of the top eight swimmers in the 1,650.
Senior Marco Palacios placed third in the 200-backstroke and had a provisional time of 1:48.12. Senior Evan Coleman, who finished eighth missed a provisional time by four-tenths of a second. Marco Aldabe of Nova Southeastern won the 200-back in 1:46.04
Florida Southern had three swimmers advance to the championship finals of the 100-freestyle, led by Franz who was runner-up to Tampa’s Martin Hammer, who posted a winning time of 44.63 seconds. Franz (45.08), senior Diego Gimenez (45.43) and sophomore Nico Campbell (45.64) all had NCAA provisional qualifying times, though Gimenez and Campbell had slightly better times in prelims.
The Moccasins had another runner-up in the 200-breaststroke as Jasso clocked in at 1:57.03, which was 1.15 seconds behind Anton Lobanov from Nova Southeastern, though still an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Sophomores Sean Kim and Matthew Holmes were fifth and sixth respectively after Kim missed his own provisional time by one tenth of a second during the prelims Monday morning.
Senior Antonio Nunez-Alvarez was the only point producer in the 200-butterfly, placing fifth in a time of 1:52.13. Earlier in the day though, he swam a 1:48.55 in prelims, which gave him an NCAA “B” time in that event. Gabriele Sasia of Indian River State won the 200-fly in 1:47.29.
In the only relay race of the night, Florida Southern’s 400-freestyle team of Franz, Gimenez, Campbell and Palacios finished third in 2:59.17, which gave the Moccasins an NCAA “B” time. The Moccasins’ second entry in the 400-freestyle relay, which featured Holmes, junior Luka Matacin, Nunez-Alvarez and Planinc, almost had an NCAA “B” time too, falling just 0.07 seconds short. Nova Southeastern won the event in 2:57.16.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Sophomores Charles Gotsch and Esteban Velasquez, and freshman Jonathan Sawyer finished 1.4 seconds apart in the 1,650-freestyle, joining Planinc as point scorers in that event.
Matacin and freshman Talor Hamilton reached the consolation finals of the 200-backstroke, and Matacin was a little over half a second short of an NCAA “B” time.
The fastest time recorded by any swimmer in the 100-freestyle came from Thiago Sickert of Nova Southeastern who nearly had an automatic qualifying time. However, it came in the consolation finals after he finished 10th in prelims.
