Florida State Seminoles Sweep Florida Atlantic, Florida International

MIAMI, Florida, October 20. THE Florida State swimming and diving teams continued to keep a perfect record (Women 4-0, Men 1-0) as it grabbed three wins against Florida Atlantic and Florida International this afternoon.

The men began their dual meet schedule with a 208-80 victory over Florida Atlantic, while the women picked up two wins, defeating Florida International with a score of 189-101 and Florida Atlantic at 181-114.

“I thought we were confident coming into the meet today,” head coach Neil Harper said. “We did well, I was happy with response from the women's team. They went faster than yesterday for the most part and we got to switch up the events a little bit, getting some of those girls into their third events. In addition, some of our ladies swam in their first dual meet of the year, but overall it was fun and I thought it went well for us.”

The women answered coach Harper's challenge by returning to the pool to swim faster on the second day of a back-to-back dual meet challenge. Starting that trend was freshman Madison Jacobi, who won the 1000 free with a time of 10:12.86, swimming the race about a second faster than on Friday against Miami.

The Seminoles followed with a one-two punch in the 200 free as sophomore Kaitlyn Dressel stepped up and won the event with a time of 1:51.59. Junior Julia Henkel followed in second with a mark of 1:53.07.

Improving her time from yesterday, junior Ashley Hicks led the way with a victory in the 100 back, posting a season-best of 56.46. Freshman Bianca Spinazzola touched the wall in second with a time of 57.37.

After a disappointing swim on Friday in the 200 fly, sophomore Elizabeth Pepper bounced back and touched first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.32.

Junior Tiffany Oliver was able to win the 50 free with a time of 23.31 and sophomore Katie Cook followed in second with a 24.27.

After the break, Dressel swam a season top time in the 100 free at 50.10 en route to a first place finish. Sophomore Haley Powell touched behind her in second with a mark of 52.76.

Junior McKayla Lightbourn stayed consistent in the 200 back, picking up her second win in the event on the year with a time of 2:02.98.

Senior Ariel Rittenhouse won both the 1-meter (312.60) and 3-meter events (361.75). Her score on 3-meter of 361.75 was just under four points shy of the school record which was set during the 2010-11 season by Lisi Rowland at 365.65.

The men won 13 out of the 16 events, starting off with a sweep in the 1000 free. Touching in first was junior Jack Deedrick with a time of 9:35.66, just ahead of freshman Derek Pridemore who turned in a time of 9:35.73. Junior Lucas Akker was third at 9:43.15 and senior John Jessell placed fourth with a mark of 9:51.51.

Senior Trice Bailey held on to win the 200 free with a time of 1:42.18, while sophomore Kevin Rogers took third at 1:44.11.

The next three events for the Seminoles were sweeps. In the 100 back, the charge was led by senior Brad Morrison with a time of 51.76. Following in second was sophomore Harrison Brogden at 52.94 and rounding out the field in third was senior Tyler Ball with a mark of 53.96.

In the 100 breast, junior Jared Pike picked up the win with a time of 57.71. In second was junior Alex Rodriguez at a mark of 58.34 and junior Richard Hildebrand placed third with a read out of 58.43.

Sophomore Connor Knight posted a career-best time in the 200 fly by two seconds with a time of 1:49.47 en route to winning the event. Following in second was senior Danny Nguyen at 1:51.89 and in third was Cole Hensley with a read out of 1:53.04. Freshman Kyle Doxtater was fourth with a time of 1:59.08.

“It's good for him to get under the 1:50 mark and show his potential, “Harper said. “He's confident and the fact that he's already done it – going a lifetime best in the first dual meet is great. Hopefully he can continue to build off of that this season.”

In the splash-and-dash 50 free race, senior Mark Weber won the event with a time of 20.56 while senior David Sanders placed third with a mark of 21.71. Weber would take second in the 100 free with a time of 46.16 behind Bailey who posted a mark of 45.89.

Swimming to another sweep in the 200 back, Rogers dominated the field with a time of 1:52.24. It was a tight race for second through fourth as Brogden touched in at 1:55.11 in the two-spot while senior Mike Thomas was third at 1:55.28. Morrison was on the outside in fourth at 1:55.59.

Knight continued to be consistent in the 100 fly by posting another lifetime best in the event, playing first in the race with a 49.12 ahead of teammates Nguyen who was second at 51.08 and Sanders (52.88) who placed third.

In the 400 IM, Thomas was the winner with a time of 4:04.68, while freshman Nicholas Brown was just behind him in second with a mark of 4:05.93. Doxtater placed third with a read out of 4:08.79.

In diving, the Seminole trio was nothing short of dominant as they posted two one-two-three sweeps on both boards. Junior Tom Neubacher was first on 1-meter with a score of 360.30, while senior Nick Klein was second at 344.75. Junior Mikey Lewark placed third just behind Klein with a mark of 341.80.

On the 3-meter board, Klein was way out in front in first with a score of 356.75. Neubacher was second at 328.10 and Lewark was third with a score of 322.65.

“The main thing was that we competed well today,” Harper said. “It's good to know that we can do that two days in a row. It doesn't matter who we swim or where we are, we need to be able to come back and compete on the second day and I thought our ladies did that. I was really happy from top to bottom and now we can relax and get ready to watch the Noles play tonight.”

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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