ATLANTA, GA – The FGCU swimming and diving team (2-4) took down SCAD (0-4) 200-34, but fell to ACC foes in Georgia Tech (3-1), 159-84, and were narrowly edged by Miami (3-1), 121-119, Friday afternoon at the McAuley Aquatic Center.  

"We took it on the chin today, no doubt about it," said head coach Dave Rollins. "We had some areas where we performed really well and getting wins from seniors Hannah Burdge, Gracie Redding, and Christina Elmgreen was amazing. Not to mention the 200 free relay to end the meet, are all definite high notes but there were a lot of areas where we can improve."  

In the first event of the evening, the 400-yard medley relay, the quartet of Doris Eichhorn (Berlin, Germany/HTW Berlin), Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School), Cassidy Fry (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood HS) and Rebecca Moynihan (Palmerston North, New Zealand/Waiopehu College) produced a swim of 3:51.75 for a third-place finish.

Meanwhile, the team of Kellie Fischer (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial High School), Emily Glinecke (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove High School/ASU), Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) and Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland./Liceum nr 10 w Lublinie) finished fifth (3:55.06).  

Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) gave the Eagles a huge boost in the 200 free as she placed second with a time of 1:53.07 – season-best time. It didn't take long for FGCU to snag a top-finish as Gracie Redding (Orlando, Fla./The First Academy/FSU) downed the 50 free field, touching out in 23.40, another season-best mark for the Eagles. Czarnecka rounded out the top-5 as the newcomer etched a time of 24.37
 
In the 200 IM, the Green and Blue put three swimmers in the top-10 as Halmai (5th), Elmgreen (6th), and Eichhorn (9th) rounded the list, before transitioning into the diving portion. On the 1-meter board, Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) led the Eagles placing sixth with a score of 206.40 as Melissa Novak (Frederick, Md./Oakdale HS), Natalie Keffer (San Gabriel, Calif./Gabrielino HS) and Margot Kessler (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community HS) finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

Elmgreen produced FGCU's second overall title of the afternoon, taking home the 200 fly title with a swim of 2:02.85 while Moynihan nearly missed out on the top spot in the 100 free as the New Zealand native marked a time of 51.42. Burdge (51.67) and Redding (52.12) were right behind their teammate placing third and fourth, respectively.

This time on the 3-meter board, Wakefield placed third with a score of 259.75 to give the Eagles some momentum going into the final two events. In the 200 breast, a trio of Eagles finished in the top-10, led by Halmai with a third-place outing. FGCU ended the meet on a strong note capturing the 200 free relay over Georgia Tech and Miami as Redding, Burdge, Moynihan and Czarnecka touched out in 1:34.45 for the victory – currently the FGCU 200 free relay team is ranked 17th in the country after today's meet.  

"We have an opportunity to learn from these moments," stated Rollins. "No one likes to lose. So how do we respond to it? We have possibly our toughest meet tomorrow against Auburn. They are a phenomenal team, very well coached and deep. It's our opportunity to either give into the high level of competition or compete. The team did a great job supporting one another today which we love to see. Now we get to take that team spirit and support into a whole new environment. I designed this meet schedule to challenge us and to learn how to compete against higher levels of competition. We have an opportunity to do that tomorrow."  

UP NEXT  
FGCU is back in the pool tomorrow when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to face the Tigers (0-0) at 12 p.m.

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 DAVE ROLLINS
Entering into his third season, head coach, Dave Rollins is only the second head coach in program history, taking over on Sept. 1, 2016. In his second season, Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles, as well as the program's fourth-straight and ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in each of his two seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men's swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans along with multiple conference champions. A standout collegiate athlete in his own right, Rollins was inducted into the University of Arizona's Hall of Fame in 2017 as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.

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.