FORT MYERS, Fla. – In its first meet of 2020, the FGCU swimming & diving team (7-5-1, 4-1 CCSA) finished with a 1-1-1 mark against Illinois State, Tulane and Liberty on Saturday at the FGCU Aquatics Complex. The Eagles downed the Red Birds 183-35, earned a 112-112 draw against Tulane and were defeated by CCSA rival Liberty by a score of 131-93.

"There were a lot of good things that happened today and it was great to see Joely (Merriman) get a chance to compete for the first time for us," head coach Dave Rollins said. "The girls were really tough today. Tori (Czarnecka) had another strong performance in the 50 Free and Petra (Halmai) was as competitive as she has been throughout the whole season. It's been really fun watching the two of them compete week in and week out. I never know what to expect coming off the holidays, but it was great to see everyone back and racing again. We have plenty of time before CCSAs when we will see Liberty again."

In the first event of the afternoon, the Green and Blue quartet of freshman Julia Rodriguez, junior Petra Halmai, senior Cassidy Fry and sophomore Wiktoria Czarnecka earned a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The team beat out third-place Tulane (1-5, 0-0 American) by almost a full second.

Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Komel Secondari Grammar School) then found individual success in the 400 IM, as she picked up a second-place finish. She also earned crucial points for the Eagles in the 100-yard butterfly (second palce) and the 100 Breast (second place).

Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum nr 10 w Lublinie) earned the team's only first-place finish of the day in a swimming event as she took home the 50 Free. She bested Liberty (7-2, 3-0 CCSA) senior Colleen Donlin by a little over 0.3 seconds en route to the win. The sophomore also scored points for FGCU in the 100 Free, where her time of 53.35 was good for a fourth-place finish.

The team also picked up early points in the 3m dive, as a trio of Eagle freshmen scored in the event. Reese Wakefield earned her fourth title on the 3m board with a score of 264.00. Delaney Nelson and Isabeau Keene rounded out the scoring with third and fourth place finishes to add 13 points to the team's total.

While Halmai paced the Eagles in the 100 Fly, she was followed closely by Fry (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood HS) and Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) who finished third and fourth, respectively. Rodriguez earned her highest individual finish of the day in the 100-yard backstroke, where she touched the wall second.

Seniors Elizabeth White and Emily Glinecke finished within 0.3 seconds of each other in the 100 Breast. White's (Fort Myers, Fla./Riverdale HS) time of 1:07.09 earned her a fifth-place finish. She and Halmai combined for five points, while Glinecke (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove HS) finished just outside of the scoring cut-off in sixth place.

In the last swimming event of the day, the team of Czarnecka, Fry, sophomore Joely Merriman (Shawnee Mission, Kan./Arizona State) and freshman Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund) finished fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. While Liberty had secured its win over FGCU at this point, Tulane only held a slight edge over the home team.

The final score of the meet was determined by the 1m diving event. Luckily for the Eagles, the trio of Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonelle CHS), Nelson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and Keene (Demorest, Ga./Tallulah Falls HS) delivered and finished first, third and fourth like they did on the 3m board. Wakefield's win in the final event was the third of her rookie campaign.

"The divers continued to do a phenomenal job," Rollins commented. "It's been a long time since we've had such a strong group of divers. To have them perform as well as they did was exciting to see and they kept us in it against Tulane."

Though the Eagles did drop their first conference match of the season by falling to Liberty, the team was able to close in on the Tulane squad that finished fourth at the Phill Hansel Invitational. At that invite, the Green Wave outscored FGCU by 162 points. FGCU also earned its largest margin of victory of the 2019-20 season, besting Illinois State (1-2, 0-1 Valley) by 148 points.

Up Next
FGCU will remain at the Nest and prepare to host Stony Brook (4-4, 0-1 America East) in an 11 a.m. meet on Saturday, Jan. 11. The competition against the SeaWolves will be held on Staff Appreciation Day at the FGCU Aquatics Complex and fans are encouraged to participate in a white out.

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
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 31-17-1 (.645) dual meet record, which includes an 11-2 (.846) mark against CCSA opponents, in his fourth season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), as well as the program's fourth-straight title in 2018, marking the ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his 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 helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and 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.

#FEEDFGCU
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.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 80 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--