FORT MYERS,Fla./ATLANTA, Ga. – The FGCU swim and dive team continued their strong week on Friday at both the Eagle Invitational and the Georgia Tech Invite.

"Another very solid day for the Eagles," said head coach Dave Rollins. "We started to see some life-time best times which is a pleasant surprise, and absolutely celebrated. Hailey Jerew's 100 breaststroke is now the 8th fastest in school history and our relays competed tough. Divers did a nice job as well in 3m prelims, should be a great final day!"

Junior Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) touched first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.58 for FGCU's first win of the evening.

Junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) followed with the most thrilling win of the evening as she used a 59.81 final 100 free to win the 400 IM with a total time of 4:22.83. She out-touched Amy Hornyak of Georgia Southern by just 0.17 seconds.

In the 200 free, the Eagles went 1-2 at the wall as senior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kansas/Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State) won with a time of 1:51.94 while Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) touched second at 1:52.32.

After picking up a win in the 50 free last night with the seventh-fastest time in program history, junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior HS) collected a second-place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.52, which is eighth-fastest in FGCU history. Sophomore Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS) touched third at 1:04.77.

In the 400-medley relay, freshman Macy Mullis (Colbert, Ga./Madison County), Jerew, Rodriguez, and Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) took second-place with a time of 3:47.49.

The Eagles ended the night going 1-2 in the 200-free relay as freshman Dani D'Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough HS), Hixenbaugh, senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas), and Jerew took first place with a time of 1:34.26.

After two days, the Eagles are in first place with 861 points while Georgia Southern has 625 points and North Florida has 588 points.

In Atlanta, seniors Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) and Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie) each competed in the "A" finals of their respective races against swimmers from the SEC and ACC.

Halmai was fourth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.72 while Czarnecka touched sixth in the 100 fly with a time 53.50. Earlier in the day during the prelims, Czarnecka swam 53.18, the third-fastest time in FGCU history.

"Tori and Petra continue to be amazing ambassadors for FGCU competing against some of the top schools in the country," continued Rollins. "Very proud of them and excited to see them compete tomorrow!"

The Eagles will be back in the pool tomorrow for the final days of both meets. The prelims will start at 10 a.m. in both Fort Myers and Atlanta. The finals at the Eagle Invitational will be at 5 p.m. while at Georgia Tech, it will begin at 5:30 p.m.

For complete coverage of FGCU swimming & diving, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCU_WSwimDive), Instagram (@FGCU_WSwimDive) and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU swimming & diving or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
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 34-23-1 (.595) dual meet record, which includes a 13-2 (.857) 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 before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. 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.
 
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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.