GREENSBORO, N.C. –Behind
Kira Toussaint in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard medley relay team of
Katie Armitage,
Emma Svensson,
Kristin Julien and Toussaint, the FGCU swimming & diving team (10-2, 3-0 CCSA) climbed up the standings during day two of the 2015 NCAA Championships on Friday, Mar. 20, at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
After
Svensson (Upsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) touched in 22.12 seconds to place 12th for the second-straight NCAA Championship which gave the Eagles 4.5 points after day one, the Green and Blue added 33 points for a total of 37.5 points which has them in 21st place after two days. With one day left at the meet FGCU has already surpassed their previous high of 22, which came in last year's NCAA Championships.
The Eagles kicked off the day with a splash as the 200-yard relay team consisting of
Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands/Keizer Karel College),
Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey),
Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Stephen's College) and Svensson touched the pads in 1:37.05 which was good for sixth place and FGCU's first ever relay team to reach the final event at the NCAA Championships. In Friday night's final, the time picked up 22 points for the Green and Blue when they finished in eighth place with a time of 1:37.55.
Toussaint continued her excellent form in the 100-yard backstroke when she finished eighth in the prelims with a time 51.73 to qualify for her the Friday night's 'A' final. In the final, Toussaint finished eighth once again with a time of 52.92 to give the Eagles another 11 points.
"We had a great morning and that is the key to getting in to scoring positions," said head coach
Neal Studd. "Tonight we did not move up but enjoyed the position we put ourselves in. Being in the Top 25 is surreal for me and we are all very proud of these tremendously talented young ladies."
A look at the results through day two shows how incredible FGCU's performance at this year's NCAA Championships has been thus far, as they sit ahead of notorious powerhouse programs Auburn (34), FSU (30), Miami (Florida) (26), SMU (25.5), Miami (Ohio) (24), Purdue (24), ULCA (22) and Alabama (17).
Svensson competed in the 100-yard butterfly preliminaries and finished 48th with a time of 53.22 while Armitage swam in the 100-yard breaststroke prelims and touched the pads in 1:01.78 to finish in 46th place, both missed the finals.
The Green and Blue will get back to action starting on Saturday, Mar. 21, at 11 a.m. at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. FGCU will start the final day of the NCAA Championships with Toussaint swimming in the 200-yard backstroke preliminaries after qualifying for the event in a time of 1:53.79.
Svennson then gets back in the pool for the 100-yard freestyle prelim before Armitage swims in her second ever individual event, the 200-yard breaststroke prelim, both qualified in times of 48.59 and 1:55.31, respectively.
The Eagles will conclude the 2015 NCAA Championships with the 400-yard freestyle relay team
of Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy), Armitage, Toussaint and Svennsson. The team qualified for the event with a time of 3:17.85
ESPN3.com will stream finals sessions on Saturday live while the preliminaries, will be streamed live on www.NCAA.com.
Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 31. Live results for the championships will be available on www.NCAA.com.
FGCU rewrote the CCSA history books last month when it won its sixth conference championship in seven years. The Eagles' 1575 points were 688 more than the previous high in CCSA Championship history – 887 set by FGCU in 2009.
For complete coverage of FGCU women's swimming and diving at the 2015 NCAA Championships, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of the meet.FGCU is led by Neal Studd, who has garnered five CCSA Coach of the Year awards, won six CCSA Championships (2009-13, 2015) and guided the Eagles to a 28-1 CCSA all-time record since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just four years of postseason eligibility, Studd has coached NCAA Championship Meet qualifiers and competitors each of the four years, with 2014 yielding the best results to date as the Eagles claimed 32nd place and produced two CSCAA All-America honorees.FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness. Team Rankings - Through Day Two 1. California 383.5
2. Georgia 299.5
3. Stanford 264
4. Virginia 168
5. Texas A&M 153.5
6. Louisville 151
7. Southern California 128
8. Texas 115
9. Tennessee 110
10. Missouri 90
11. Indiana 82
12. Arizona 81
13. Florida 66
13. Minnesota 66
15. Wisconsin 59
16. NC State 51
17. Penn State 50
18. UNC 45.5
19. Kentucky 44
20. Notre Dame 40
21. FGCU 37.5 22. Auburn 34
23. Florida State 30
24. Miami (Florida) 26
25. So. Methodist 25.5
26. Miami (Ohio) 24
26. Purdue 24
28. UCLA 22
29. Alabama 17
29. Denver 17
31. Nevada 16
32. Michigan 13
32. Virginia Tech 13
34. Illinois State 12
35. LSU 8
36. Ohio State 5
37. Hawaii (W) 4
37. Kansas 4
37. Iowa 4
37. San Diego State 4
41. Arkansas 2
42. Cincinnati 1
