Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p>\n
TALLAHASSEE – Florida State swimming picked up a pair of victories against in-state rival Florida Southern with the men winning 168-119 and the women claiming a 171-114 triumph.<\/p>\n
In front of family and friends on Homecoming Weekend, the Florida State swimming teams picked up a pair of victories over Florida Southern on Friday at the Morcom Aquatics Center. Both squads moved to 1-2 on the year with the women\u2019s team winning by a score of 171-114, while the men pulled out a 168-119 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re finally swimming with some aggression,\u201d FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to put the pieces together. We had some kids swim some best times today and that is very rare for this time of the year. We\u2019re growing into the team I know we\u2019re capable of being.\u201d<\/p>\n
In session one, the Seminoles combined to win 12 events starting with the first two relays.<\/p>\n
The team of Bianca Spinazzola, Natalie Pierce, Colby Harvey and Kaitlyn Dressel touched in first with a time of 1:40.83. The men\u2019s team countered with a victory with Kevin Rogers, Storm Hewitt, Connor Knight and Jason McCormick, who posted a 1:31.07.<\/p>\n
Sami Pochowski turned in a career best in the 200 free, winning with a time of 1:49.73 while Daniella Van den Berg placed third with a time of 1:53.56 just ahead of Katy Stringfield who was fourth (1:53.85).<\/p>\n
In the 50 free, the Seminoles swept the race with Dressel touching in first with a season best of 22.64 ahead of Alexi Smith (23.31) and Spinazzola, who was third at 23.32. Haley Powell was fourth touching with a time of 23.52.<\/p>\n
Florida State put up another sweep in the 200 fly with junior Josie Cuda touching first with a time of 2:05.50 ahead of Mary Elizabeth King (2:05.75) and Harvey (2:06.79).<\/p>\n
Leading the 500 free was junior Madison Jacobi, who touched in first with a 4:55.36.<\/p>\n
Caroline Neil turned in a near-best time in the 200 breast, winning the event with a 2:16.98 ahead of Pierce (2:17.78) and Meghan Haila (2:23.67).<\/p>\n
The Seminoles finished the session with a victory in the 200 free relay with the team of Dressel, Smith, Lydia War and Pochowski with a time of 1:33.30.<\/p>\n
Jason McCormick posted a 20.26 in the men\u2019s 50 free for the win before Josh Friedel hung on for first place in the 200 back with a time of 1:49.08.<\/p>\n
Knight and Cole Hensley posted a one-two punch in the 200 fly with Knight cruising to victory with a 1:45.04 while Hensley swam a time of 1:47.91.<\/p>\n
Hewitt picked up his first collegiate victory of his career in the 200 breast with a time of 2:06.62, finishing ahead of Marc Rojas (2:08.24) who was second while Connor Kalisz followed in third (2:13.26).<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s team ended the morning with a win in the 200 free relay with the team of McCormick, Cadell Lyons, Chad Mylin and Knight.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon portion of the meet, FSU traded in its Garnet and Gold for pink in order to support the \u2018Paint it Pink\u2019 campaign. Both teams once again opened with victories in the medley relays.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s team of Spinazzola, Pierce, Harvey and Dressel led the way with a 3:42.53, while Friedel, Hewitt, Knight and McCormick won with a 3:19.45.<\/p>\n
Neil picked up her second victory on the day in the 400 IM, winning with a time of 4:26.82 ahead of Van den Berg, who was second with a 4:31.20.<\/p>\n
Chelsea Britt swam a season best in the 100 fly with a time of 53.11, finishing ahead of Harvey (55.38) and Cuda (56.12).<\/p>\n
Dressel continued to dominate the sprint races, swimming a season-best of 49.20 in the 100 free for the win. Smith took second at 50.76 while Ware was third (51.37) and Powell was fourth (51.42).<\/p>\n
Spinazzola took home the 100 back, touching with a time of 54.21 before Pochowski (1:02.19) held off Pierce (1:02.40) for the win in the 100 breast.<\/p>\n
Van den Berg finished her day with a victory in the 1000 free, posting a time of 10:06.21 while Jacobi took second with a 10:07.17.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Daniella would be great depth to our team,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cShe had a great meet today and swam some tough races. It will be great for us if she continues to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team of Dressel, Smith, Pochowski and Brenna Ruth closed out the meet with win in the 400 free relay, posting a time of 3:24.84.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s 400 IM, Kyle Doxtater led the sweep for the Seminoles, with a 4:00.81, while Kalisz was second (4:02.10) and Trevor Hine was third (4:03.84).<\/p>\n
Knight and Hensley teamed up for their second one-two punch of the meet as Knight led the 100 fly with a time of 47.23 while Hensley turned in a 48.32. Lyons touched in third at 48.83.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like how Connor and Cole raced in those fly events today,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cThey both have been pushing each other in practice and they are both making great strides. I\u2019m anxious to see how they perform down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCormick continued his solid day with another season best time in the 100 free, winning with a 44.31 before Hewitt picked up her second win in the 100 breast at a 57.74.<\/p>\n
\u201cJason had a great day,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cHe was very big in the sprint races and I think he picked up where he left off last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Seminoles concluded with a win in the 400 free relay behind Knight, McCormick, Anthony Lyons and Rogers with a time of 3:01.69.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of swimming today,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cSome kids were able to swim six times and that is quite a load, but I thought we handled it well. We have two invite meets to close out the semester and it will give us enough time to make adjustments. We\u2019ll see what we need to work on, ramp up the training before we prepare for championship season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida Southern\u2019s trip to Florida State on Friday for a split meet with the Seminoles produced numerous personal-bests, season-bests, and even more importantly, a whole collection of NCAA qualifying times. The Moccasins also got a few wins in the process against a top-25 Division I program, provided by juniors Jesus Marin and Juan Tolosa, and sophomore Marco Palacios.<\/p>\n
The two schools competed in 16 different races Friday, with eight in the morning and eight later in the afternoon. That gave the Moccasins plenty of opportunity to hit Division II time standards, which they did in 11 events.<\/p>\n
The Moccasins got two wins in the morning session from Marin (Cumana, Venezuela) in the 200-freestyle and Tolosa (Guipuzcoa, Spain) in the 500-freestyle. They also got six second-place finishes, with Marin among that number too, while junior college transfer Luis Flores (Gurabo, P.R.) had an impressive debut as an individual, and as part of two 2nd-place relay teams. Flores then had another second place in the afternoon coming in the 100-freestyle, and Palacios (Madrid, Spain) and Tolosa gave the Mocs a pair of wins in the 100-backstroke and 1,000-freestyle.<\/p>\n
The Mocs started strong with a 2nd-place finish in the 200-medley relay that featured a final-leg, 50-freestyle time of 19.89 seconds from Flores. Though Flores\u2019 time came in a relay event, the NCAA \u201cA\u201d time in the 50 is 19.96 seconds. Sophomore Marco Palacios (Madrid, Spain), senior Dylan Lake (Los Alamos, N.M.), and junior Edson Lima (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) all contributed to the Mocs\u2019 NCAA \u201cB\u201d time of 1:31.20, which was only 0.13 seconds behind Florida State.
\nMarin and Tolosa then placed first and third in the 200-freestyle with two more NCAA \u201cB\u201d times, and Flores and senior Allan Gutierrez (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) were second and third in the 50-freestyle. Flores\u2019 time of 20.43 seconds gave him his first individual NCAA \u201cB\u201d time, and Gutierrez barely missed one as well.<\/p>\n
After a third-place finish by junior Raul Garrastazu (Dorado, P.R.) in the 200-butterfly and a runner-up by Palacios in the 200-backstroke, the Moccasins turned in their best performance of the meet in the 500-freestyle with Tolosa winning in a time of 4:31.74, and Marin placing second in 4:35.33. Both of those were NCAA \u201cB\u201d time, and Garrastazu missed one by just 0.35 seconds with his fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n
Senior Luis Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela) gave Florida Southern its fifth runner-up spot of the morning in the 200-breaststroke, and the Mocs finished the morning session strong with an NCAA \u201cB\u201d time in the 200-freestyle relay behind Flores, Gutierrez, Lima, and freshman Dan Pliss (Largo, Fla.).<\/p>\n
In the afternoon, Lima gave the Mocs another \u201cB\u201d time in the 100-butterfly before three Moccasins (Flores, Marin, and Gutierrez) achieved that standard in the 100-freestyle). Then it was time for Palacios to win the 100-backstroke in a \u201cB\u201d time of 50.07 seconds.<\/p>\n
Following a second-place finish by Lake in the 100-breaststroke, the Mocs got another win from Tolosa in the 1,000-freestyle where his \u201cB\u201d time gave him a 1.07-second winning margin. They then finished the meet with a \u201cB\u201d time in the 400-freestyle relay, manned by Flores, sophomore Diego Gimenez (Burgos, Spain), Gutierrez, and Marin.<\/p>\n
The Moccasins will be off from competition for a little over a month before taking part in the Shark Invitational hosted by Nova Southeastern, December 18-21.<\/p>\n
Florida Southern\u2019s trip to Florida State on Friday for a split meet with the Seminoles produced numerous personal-bests, season-bests, and even more importantly, a whole collection of NCAA qualifying times. The Moccasins also got a win from junior Lauren Reynolds and three very close seconds from junior Alli Crenshaw, while fellow junior Kelsey Gouge and sophomore Cassie Ley helped them achieve NCAA \u201cB\u201d times in three different relays.<\/p>\n
The two schools competed in 16 different races Friday, with eight in the morning and eight later in the afternoon. That gave the Moccasins plenty of opportunity to hit Division II time standards, and they did so in five individual events and three relays.<\/p>\n
Florida Southern got a morning victory from Reynolds (South Elgin, Ill.) in the 200-backstroke, and Crenshaw (Marietta, Ga.) came agonizingly close in three different races throughout the day. She finished less than one second out of first in both the 200-freestyle and 1,000-freestyle, and within two seconds of first in the 500-freestyle. Along with Gouge (Snellville, Ga.) and Ley (Hilton Head, S.C.), they also helped the Mocs to a runner-up in the 200-freestyle relay.<\/p>\n
The Moccasins earned their first NCAA provisional qualifying time in the first race of the day where Reynolds, Gouge, sophomore Alex Ballard (Kingfisher, Okla.) and Ley clocked in at 1:46.65 in the 200-medley relay. Crenshaw and Gouge then each picked up individual qualifying times in the 200-freestyle and 50-freestyle respectively. Crenshaw finished second in her race by less than a second.<\/p>\n
After sophomore Madi Rowan (Matthews, N.C.) posted her best time of the season in the 200-butterfly as the Mocs\u2019 top swimmer, Reynolds was victorious in the 200-backstroke with an NCAA \u201cB\u201d time of 2:01.33, beating out Caroline Page of Florida State by 3.97 seconds. Crenshaw nearly made it two in a row for Florida Southern in the next race, the 500-freestyle, but finished two seconds behind FSU\u2019s Madison Jacobi, still with a \u201cB\u201d time of 4:55.36.<\/p>\n
The morning ended with junior Morgan Burns (Hilton, N.Y.) as the Mocs\u2019 top performer in the 200-breaststroke, and the 200-freestyle relay team comprised of Gouge, Ley, Reynolds and Crenshaw finishing second with another \u201cB\u201d qualifying mark.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon, freshman Jacinda Whittenburg (Lakewood, Colo.) was the Mocs\u2019 #1 swimmer in the 400-IM where she finished just a quarter-second ahead of Burns, with both of them making big jumps from their previous times this season. The same was true of Ballard and freshman Britt Aubley (Jacksonville, Fla.) in the 100-butterfly where they were the Mocs\u2019 best performers.
\nReynolds just missed her second NCAA \u201cB\u201d time when she placed third in the 100-backstroke, and Gouge was the team leader in the 100-breaststroke that followed. Crenshaw then gave Florida Southern another runner-up finish with an NCAA \u201cB\u201d time of 10:06.72 in the 1,000-freestyle where she was half a second behind the Seminoles\u2019 Daniella Van Den Berg.<\/p>\n
The Moccasins ended the meet with Gouge, Reynolds, Ley, and Crenshaw posting yet another NCAA \u201cB\u201d time in the 400-freestyle relay at 3:31.96.<\/p>\n
Florida Southern will be off from competition for a little over a month before taking part in the Shark Invitational hosted by Nova Southeastern, December 18-21.<\/p>\n