FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 29 FGCU swimming and diving team earned a pair of dual-meet wins versus CCSA-foe Liberty (240-67) and Central Connecticut State (255-52), but suffered its first loss of the season against No. 17 N.C. State (169-139) on Saturday at the FGCU Aquatics Center.
 
With the results from today's quad meet, the Eagles move to 9-1 in dual meets and improve to 2-0 against CCSA competition this season. The win against Liberty improves FGCU's all-time dual-meet record versus conference opponents to 32-1, with the lone loss coming in the program's first year of competition during the 2007-08 season. Additionally, today's loss versus N.C. State is FGCU's first dual-meet loss in nearly a year as the Green and Blue last fell to in-state rival FIU by a final margin of 167-133 on Jan. 24, 2015.
 
"We had a good meet with two nice wins over Liberty and CCSU but unfortunately ran into the brick wall that was N.C. State and they beat us up a little bit," said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. "That's where we want to be, though. We want to be in the conversation with programs like that. Overall, I thought the girls competed well."
 
Highlighting today's events for the Eagles was sophomore Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey), who won both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke in season-best times of 1:01.27 and 2:14.90, respectively, and earned her 11th and 12th individual wins of the season. The school record holder in both events registered the second- and third-fastest times in program history during today's meet. Additionally, the Bushey native not only finished second in the 100-yard IM, but also set a program record in the event as she touched the pads in 57.42 seconds.
 
Freshman Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) also earned a win in the 100-yard backstroke after turning in a time of 54.83 seconds and improved her unblemished record in the event to 6-0 this season. Later, Haan placed second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.78.
 
Junior Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS) turned in FGCU's fourth win of the day in the 200-yard IM as she touched the pads in 2:05.29. The Green and Blue swept the event as sophomore Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girl's School) and freshman Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) finished second and third with times of 2:07.82 and 2:09.26, respectively. Caraballo also turned in a top-three finish as she finished third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.99, while Wong finished second in the 100-yard butterfly (56.56 seconds) and third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.19).
 
Senior Lani Cabrera (Bridgetown, Barbados/St. Ursala's Secondary School) had a busy day in the pool and turned in a pair of podium finishes in the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyles with times of 5:02.15 and 10:16.21, respectively. Cabrera edged freshman Melissa Marinheiro (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) in the 500-yard event by half a second.
 
Additional top-three individual finishes during today's meet include junior Evita Leter (Paramaribo, Suriname/Doral Academy) in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.88), freshman Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood's School) in the 50-yard freestyle (23.42 seconds) and, in her first meet as a collegiate student-athlete, freshman Fanny Teijonsalo (Espoo, Finland/Makelanrinteen Lukio) in the 100-yard IM (58.08 seconds).
 
The Eagles capped off the meet with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the quartet of Latham, Armitage, Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy) and Haan touched the pads in 3:23.84, the team's second-best time this season. Finishing second in the event was FGCU's foursome of Kirsten Jamison (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona/Catalina Foothills HS), Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS), Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay HS) and Cabrera. The Green and Blue saw another relay team finish runner up during Saturday's competition as the 200-yard medley relay of Haan, Leter, Teijonsalo and Latham were narrowly defeated by the Wolfpack after touching the pads in 1:42.13 in the meet's opening event.  
 
SEASON-BEST TIMES SATURDAY
100 Breast: 1:01.27 (Katie Armitage)
100 IM: 57.42 (Katie Armitage)
200 Breast: 2:14.90 (Katie Armitage)
 
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's quad meet, FGCU will hit the road for the first time in 2016 as they travel to Coral Gables, Fla., for a dual meet against in-state rival Miami on Friday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. The Eagles defeated the Hurricanes by a final score of 195-104 a season ago.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date coverage of FGCU women's swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.
                                                                       
HEAD COACH NEAL STUDD
Neal Studd has garnered five CCSA Coach of the Year awards, won six CCSA Championships (2009-13, 2015) and guided the Eagles to a 32-1 (.970) 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 2015 yielding the best results to date as the Eagles finished a mid-major best 26th and produced four CSCAA All-America honorees.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
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.