Florida Southern Press Release
LAKELAND, FLA. – Trailing by 12 points with three events remaining, 21st-ranked Florida Southern came from behind by winning all three races and completed the comeback with a victory in the final race of the day to pick up a 106-99 decision over Indian River State on Friday. It was the final regular season meet of the year for the Moccasins.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
· The Moccasins were down 81-69 when their comeback began in the 500-freestyle. Swimming that event for the first time in her college career, junior Jacinda Whittenburg won the race in 5:10.35, finishing 1.94 seconds ahead of another Moccasin junior, Peyton Breault. That gave the Mocs 13 of the 19 points available in the 500-free and cut the deficit down to 87-82 at the final break of the meet.
· When the meet resumed, sophomore Haley DeGrace won the 100-breaststroke in 1:04.69, her second NCAA “B” time of the season in that event. She was 1.42 seconds faster than Indian River’s Courtney Perrett. With senior Kourtney Gavin placing fourth in her first 100-breaststroke race of the season, the Moccasins outscored the Pioneers 11-8 in that event to pull within two points.
· Florida Southern completed its come-from-behind meet victory with a 0.94-second win in the 400-freestyle relay. The Mocs had Breault on the leadoff leg, Whittenburg on anchor, and sophomores Rebeka Dics and Krystal Karas in the middle. The Moccasins were 0.32 seconds behind going into the final leg of that race.
· Indian River State won the first four races, which included the opening 200-medley relay where the Mocs’ two teams placed second and third. Led by senior Madi Rowan’s runner-up finish in the 1,000-freestyle, the Mocs also took three of the five point positions in the second race of the day.
· Even though Indian River also won the next two events, Florida Southern claimed the 2-3-4 spots in both the 200-free and 50-free to virtually nullify any advantage the Pioneers could gain. Breault, senior Riley McClendon and junior Allie Kaufmann were there in the 200-free, while Karas, Dics and sophomore Rachel Ringley were 2-3-4 in the 50-free.
· Whittenburg gave Florida Southern its first individual win by taking the 400-IM by nearly 10 seconds over Natalie Grothe, and a 1-2 finish by Gavin and Karas in the 100-butterfly put the Moccasins ahead by four points roughly halfway through the meet.
· The Pioneers reclaimed the lead after winning the 100-free and 100-back. A second-place finish by Dics in the first of those, and a second-place finish by senior Leah Haney in the backstroke race kept the Mocs within striking distance just prior to the meet-ending winning streak.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
· Indian River State has won the last 38 national titles at the junior college level. The Moccasins have beaten the Pioneers eight years in a row, but Saturday’s meet was the closest, surpassing a 106-98 win during the 2012-13 season.
· Though Gavin was swimming the 100-breast for the first time this year, she swam the 200-breast at Florida Gulf Coast, and has been in the 200-breast several times in her career. Her only other appearance in the 100 came in October of her freshman year.
· Florida Southern’s win in the 400-freestyle relay was its first such win of the season though the Moccasins had previously won in both the 200-medley and 400-medley relays.
LAKELAND, FLA. – With the two teams never separated by more than eight points, and having split each of the first 10 races held on Friday, Indian River State was able to pull out a 106-99 meet victory over 9th-ranked Florida Southern by winning the 400-freestyle relay finale. It was the final regular season meet of the year for the Moccasins.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
· In a sign of how close the battle would be, Indian River State won the 200-medley relay to start the meet by 0.34 seconds, and Florida Southern sophomore Matthew Holmes won the 1,000-freestyle by 1.67 seconds. Aided by second- and third-place finishes in the opening relay, it left the two teams tied with 18 points apiece after two races.
· The Pioneers won the 200-free and 50-free to take the largest lead for either team all afternoon, putting them ahead 41-33 four events into the meet. Sophomore Nico Campbell and junior Noah Franz were second and third respectively in the 200, and senior Diego Gimenez and freshman Talor Hamilton were second and third in the 50.
· Senior Antonio Nunez-Alvarez got Florida Southern another individual win in the 400-IM, defeating Gabriele Sasia by 3.02 seconds. A third-place finish by junior Luis Jasso ensured the Moccasins would out-score the Pioneers in that race and go into the first break trailing only by a single point.
· The second session began with Indian River’s Nicholas Loomis winning the 100-butterfly by 1.17 seconds over FSC senior Marco Palacios, and Campbell winning the 100-freestyle over IRSC’s Guillaume Bolivard by 0.06 seconds. That left the Pioneers ahead by five points.
· The Moccasins took their first lead of the day when Palacios and senior Evan Coleman finished 1-2 in the 100-backstroke where they were separated by 0.12 seconds. The Mocs then expanded on that lead when Holmes picked up his second win of the afternoon by beating out Luka Tomic of IRSC in the 500-freestyle by 2.72 seconds. That sent the Mocs into the second break ahead 88-81 with two events still to be held.
· Indian River’s John Fauteux won the 100-breast with a 0.08-second margin of victory, but with Jasso and sophomore Sean Kim coming in second and third, the Moccasins still had the overall lead at 95-93.
· In yet another extremely close race, the Pioneers 400-freestyle relay team of Gavin Erdmann, Cameron Newton, Luka Tomic and Guillaume Bolivard edged out the Mocs’ team of Holmes, Franz, sophomore Luka Planinc and Nunez-Alvarez by 0.39 seconds. That gave them enough points to come from behind for the meet victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
· Indian River State has won the last 42 national titles at the junior college level. The Moccasins and Pioneers have now split their last four meetings.
· Holmes was in the 1,000 for the first time this year and only the second time in his 2-year college career. His winning time of 9:37.03 was 2.14 seconds away from a provisional NCAA qualifying time.
· The 400-freestyle relay team of Holmes, Franz, Planinc and Nunez-Alvarez gave Florida Southern its second NCAA “B” time of the year in that race.
