The LSU women came from behind to knock off Ohio State for the women's title, while Virginia Tech raced to the men's crown at the FGCU Classic.
WOMEN
1. #20 LSU – 495
2. #18 OSU – 492
3. Virginia Tech – 476
4. FGCU – 466
5. Utah – 407
6. Rutgers – 364
MEN
1. #24 Virginia Tech – 553
2. Utah – 509
3. LSU – 505
Virginia Tech Press Release
FORT MEYERS, Fla. -- The men’s swimmers representing the Virginia Tech swimming and diving program took first, topping Utah and LSU, with a score of 553 at they wrapped up the FGCU Classic on Saturday.
The H2Okie men were propelled by senior Robert Owen, who swam in the first leg of the 400 medley relay and took first in the 200 individual medley. Senior Fiona Donnelly earned 40 points after taking first in both the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley as the Tech women finished third.
“We felt very good about our weekend here in Florida. We saw some great racing and posted strong times for as early is it is,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “Fiona and Robert were rock solid for us. I am very proud of all of our seniors and their excellent leadership. This meet should be a good start to build on the momentum over the next few meets as we get to swim at home which is always fun.”
Owen turned in a time of 1:49.63 in the 200 IM. Sophomore Norbert Szabo picked up where he left off last season as the Budapest native finished Saturday with the top times in the 100 IM and 200 butterfly.
In the 500 freestyle, senior Jessica Hespeler earned 20 points for the H2Okies with a first place time of 4:49.72. Freshman Grace Kowal, experiencing her first taste of collegiate this weekend, took first in the B-Final of the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:56.51.
The H2Okies will next face Penn State in its first home meet of the season on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. at the Christiansburg Aquatics Center.
FGCU Press Release
FORT MYERS, Fla. – After a highly competitive and entertaining two-day event against five Power-Five opponents and two nationally-ranked programs, the FGCU swimming & diving team finished fourth at the FGCU Classic Saturday afternoon at the FGCU Aquatics Center.
The Eagles finished in the top-three in each of the final five events to finish the classic strong with 466 total points but ultimately came up shy of #20 LSU (495), #18 Ohio State (492) and Virginia Tech (476) – all teams that finished in the top-27 at last year's NCAA Championships. Utah (407) and Rutgers (364) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to round of the women's field.
The Eagles turned in season-best efforts in eight of nine events Saturday and capped off the weekend with 15 season-best times out of 17 total events. During Saturday's final events, FGCU finished in the top-three in the 'A' finals in six events to go along with a pair of individual wins in the 'B' finals.
"The girls did a great job finishing off the races," said FGCU head coach Dave Rollins. "That was something we needed to improve on from last night to this morning, and they did a very good job of that. Competing and hanging tough with programs of this caliber gets our girls attention and also gets the attention of the other programs. We have a very strong team, and we're looking to see if we can build off of this meet and into the rest of the season."
In Saturday's individual events, Fanny Teijonsalo (Espoo, Finland/Makelanrinteen Lukio) got things started with a runner-up finish in the 100 IM as she touched the pads in 56.80 seconds – just 0.02 seconds shy of her school record turned in during last weekend's Green-Blue Scrimmage. Later in the meet, reigning CCSA Swimmer of the Week Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) finished second in the 200 fly and clocked a NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:59.22, which registers as the fifth fastest time in program history. Already the school record holder in the event, Kaas Elmgreen now holds four of the top-five times in the event in school history.
Also finishing in the top-three in Saturday's 'A' finals was senior captain Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/ Newsome HS) and sophomore Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, UK/Sir Roger Manwood's School). In her first individual event, Caraballo finished third in the 100 back with a time of 56.86 seconds and later followed it up with another third-place finish in the 200 IM after touching the pads in 2:03.63. Latham finished less than a second shy of registering another NCAA 'B' cut time as she finished the 100 free in 50.79 seconds.
Highlighting Saturday's 'B' finals, senior captain Sandra Wilk (Lexington, Ky./Paul Lawrence Dunbar HS) and Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan's Girls School) won the 100 back and 200 fly, respectively, with times of 56.77 seconds and 2:04.20. Wilk's mark in the 100 back registered as the third-fastest time in the event overall, while Wong used the fastest closing split in her heat to finish first.
Additionally, Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) clocked a time of 51.23 seconds in the 100 free and finished just 0.02 seconds off her personal record turned in during last night's 400 free relay. Freshman Elizabeth Zeiger (Cumberland, R.I./Crimson Aquatics) swam an impressive final 50 yards in the 500 free to turn in a time of 4:57.16 – the fourth fastest overall time in the event – and also finished second in the 200 IM 'B' final while clocking the fastest final leg out of any swimmer in 28.27 seconds.
To cap off the afternoon and the FGCU Classic, the Eagles went head to head with both Ohio State and LSU in the 200 free relay, but were out-touched by the Buckeyes by 0.11 seconds. FGCU made the final transition with a slight advantage, but, for the second consecutive day, Ohio State's Zhesi Li's impressive split gave the Buckeye's the win despite Burdge's final split of 22.66 seconds – just one of three swimmers to go under 23.00 seconds.
Ohio State Press Release
The 2016 edition of the FGCU Classic wrapped up today, and Ohio State finished in second place, just three points behind the winning team (LSU).
The Buckeyes notched three events wins on the day: Meg Bailey took first place in the 100 IM with a time of 56.62; Liz Li won the 100 freestyle with an NCAA B time of 49.94; and the foursome of Macie McNichols, Maria Coy, Chantel Wynn, and Li won the 200 freestyle relay to close out the competition, edging out the relay team from Florida Gulf Coast (1:32.06 to 1:32.17).
The day began with the 400 medley relay, in which Ohio State took second place. Kaitlyn Ferrara, Molly Washko, Li, and McNichols posted a time of 3:43.86. Two of OSU’s NCAA participants from last season had the top Buckeye finishes in the next two races: Lindsey Clary swam to a time of 4:49.86 in the 500 freestyle and Taylor Vargo followed that up with a 2:19.26 mark in the 200 breaststroke. Freshman Molly Kowal also appeared in that event, finishing with a time of 2:21.83.
Zulal Zeren was the top Ohio State finisher in the 100 backstroke (57.03) and Li followed that up with her 100 freestyle performance. The final two individual events of the day were the 200 butterfly and 200 IM; Bailey was the top finisher in the former (2:01.23) while Clary took that honor for the latter (2:04.68).
While the season has now started for 12 Buckeyes swimmers, the rest of the team starts its regular season on Oct. 28 with a home dual meet against Kenyon.
LSU Press Release
FORT MYERS, Fla. -In the final day of the Florida Gulf Coast Classic, the LSU women’s team vaulted to first place overall, and the men’s team took third to conclude the event Saturday at the FGCU Aquatics Complex.
The remaining squad members also competed in New Orleans against Loyola and returned home with victories.
“Overall, there are a lot of positives to take from the meet,” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “It’s the time of year with our training where we are either on the competitive wise or we are not, and we saw that through the two days.”
“I think we did some great adjustments form a technical aspect from some things we saw yesterday. For the men, it was our first weekend of racing and a different environment for them. For the women, it’s nice to walk away with a team win.”
On day two of the FGCU Classic, the women’s 400 medley relay team of Makenna Wilson, Colleen O’Neil, Kara Kopcso and Leah Troskot finished first with a time of 3:42.50.
Kopcso placed third in the 100 IM with a time of 56.84. In the 500 free, Devon Dabney also tallied a third place finish, completing the event at 4:58.18. O’Neil touched the wall first in the 200 breast, securing a time of 2:16.65.
Wilson took second in the 100 back with a time of 56.46, and Troskot also garnered a second place finish in the 100 free, tallying a time of 50.24.
In the 200 fly, Kopsco finished third, completing the event with a time of 1:59.86. Sophie Weber came in second place at 2:03.10 in the 200 IM.
The team of Kate Zimmer, Haylee Knight, Troskot and Dabney combined for third place in the 200 free relay, lifting the women’s team to first place overall over Ohio State in the FGCU Classic.
For the men’s squad, Karl Luht, Silas Dejean, Logan Rysemus, and Jake Markham came in second in the 400 medley relay, finishing at 3:18.88. Brandon Goldman also earned a second place finish in the 100 IM at 51.84.
Freshman Sven Saemundsson earned his first career win as a Tiger in the 500 free, completing the event with a time of 4:28.24. In the 200 breast, Garrett House came in third with a final time of 2:03.02.
Rysemus touched the wall first in the 100 back, securing a time of 48.06. In the 200 fly, Alarii Levreault-Lopez claimed second place with a final time of 1:49.81.
Joao Mescolote, Tyler Harper, Luht and Rysemus wrapped up the meet with another second place finish in the 200 free relay, completing the event at 1:22.31.
In the final meet of the day against Loyola, LSU took first place in 23 of 24 events in New Orleans Saturday afternoon at the University Sports Complex. Six freshmen earned their first collegiate victory on the day.
Lewis Clough and Matt Klotz won four events, including two individual events. Clough took first in the 100 fly and 200 free, and Klotz earned victories in the 100 and 200 back. Nicole Rozier also tallied two individual wins for the women’s team in the 200 IM and the 100 back.
Utah Press Release
The men finished second overall during the two-day competition, with the women placing fifth.
Jack Burton took the top spot in both the 100 and 200 breast while, on the women’s side, Stina Colleou took third in the 100 breast (1:03.96) and second in the 200 breast (2:17.51).
Another top finish for the Utes was turned in by Liam O’Haimhirgin in the 100 free, touching in at 45.25.
In the 400 IM, Ethan Dillard took third with a time of 4:01.53 while Jordan Anderson took fourth (4:23.64) for the women. Dillard later took second in the 100 IM (51.12) and the 200 IM (1:51.18).
Rahiti De Vos was second in the 200 free touching in at 1:38. Sarah Lott also took second in the event (1:50.57) for the women’s team. In the 500 free, De Vos took second with a time of 4:28.70, while Anderson took fourth (5:00.56) for the women.
McKay King finished third in the 50 free with a time of 20.96 and on the women’s side, Gillian St. John took fourth (22.96).
In the 100 fly, Ben Scott took third with a time of 50.06 while, Darby Wayner was fifth (55.91) in the event. Wayner also took fifth in the 100 IM (57.50) and the 200 IM (2:05.60) for the Utes.
Cole Avery was third in the 200 back (1:51.22) and on the other side, Megan Kawaguchi was sixth with a time of 2:04.55.
In the 100 back, Kawaguchi was fifth (57.57) with Paul Unger placing third for the men touching in at 49.70.
In relay action, a team of Unger, Burton, Scott and King took second in the 200 medley with a time of 1:30.20. The Utah quartet of Shayla Archer, Mariah Gassaway, Kristina Pataray and St. John took third (1:42.79).
In the 400 medley relay, Unger, Burton, Colten Montgomery and Liam O’Haimhirgin were third touching in at 3:20.59. Kawaguchi, Colleou, Wayner and Dorien Butter took sixth (3:48.98).
Unger, King, O’Haimhirgin and Montgomery teamed together for a third-place finish in the 200 free relay touching in at 1:22.80. Butter, Lott, Pataray and St.Jonh were fifth (1:35.12) for the women’s team
Finally, the grouping of of O’Haimhirgin, King, Montgomery and Tommy Baker took second in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:02.17. Butter, Lott, St.John and Wayner were fifth (3:29.26).
Rutgers Press Release
FORT MYERS, Fla. (Oct. 8, 2016) – In its season debut, Rutgers swimming and diving concluded action at the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic Saturday morning in Fort Myers, Florida. The Scarlet Knights finished with 364 team points in the highly-competitive field.
“We saw a lot of good things this weekend and lot of great responses to what we have been targeting in workouts the last three weeks,” said head coach Petra Martin. “This is very early in the year for us and we still have a lot of things to work on and to turn into consistent habits, but we can definitely see the progression and that is important at this point. I'm proud of the team for their efforts, focus and energy over the weekend.”
LSU captured the team title with 495 points, followed by Big Ten Conference member Ohio State (492) and Virginia Tech (476).
During the second day of competition, senior Rachel Stoddard finished first in the B-Final of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.01. The result was the fifth-fastest mark in the entire field. Junior Larissa Neilan competed in the A-Final of the 200 breaststroke, as Neilan and Stoddard combined for 22 points towards the team’s final result.
Rookie Alexandra Fabugais-Inaba had another impressive performance in her first collegiate invitational. Fabugais-Inaba finished fifth in the A-Final of the 500 freestyle and sixth in the A-Final of the 200 IM. The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, native placed third in the A-Final of the 200 freestyle to highlight Friday action the night prior.
In the 200 butterfly, sophomore Francesca Stoppa finished fifth in the A-Final. Stoppa hit the wall with a time of 2:02.77, also the fifth-fastest mark overall in the event.
In relay action, Rutgers finished sixth overall in the 200 freestyle relay. Junior Karli Rymer, senior Meghan Kiely and freshmen Sarah Davis and Vanessa Ruiz combined for a time of 1:35.80.
The Scarlet Knights return to action on Saturday, Oct. 15 with their annual Alumni Meet at the RU Aquatics Center. The meet is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.
