LYNCHBURG, Va. – Following the second day of competition at the 2021 CCSA Conference Championship, the FGCU swimming & diving team (2-2, 2-0 CCSA) ranks second in the team standings. The Eagles' 1,238.5 team points are just 59 shy of catching first-place Liberty (1,297.5).

Of the eight different events that took place on day two of the championship meet, the Green & Blue placed members on the podium in six of them. That effort was led by senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School), who defended her title in the 100 Breast and became the conference champion in the event for the third-consecutive year. Additionally, her time of 59.98 from the morning's prelim session broke the conference's meet record. 

"The team is definitely battling and it's exciting to be in such tight contention in the team standings," head coach Dave Rollins said. "We have to be ready in the morning, be committed to one another, and be prepared to leave it all in the pool. We love winning relays and to have been fortunate enough to do that twice tonight was awesome. The Medley is now our third-fastest time ever and Claire moved into eighth-best all-time with her backstroke. I'd also like to congratulate our three-time 100 Breast champion, Petra. It's going to be a barn-burner all the way to the finish." 

The Eagles opened up Tuesday's competition with their second relay win of the meet. Sophomore Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), Halmai, sophomore Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) and junior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum 10 NR W Lublinie), teamed up to capture the 400 Medley Relay, besting the second-place Liberty quartet by almost three seconds. The victory marked FGCU's first in the event since the 2017 season.

The Green & Blue divers then continued the scoring, as a trio of Eagles combined for 84 points on the 1m board. Sophomore Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) paced FGCU in the event, earning a third-place finish with a final score of 257.85. She was followed by classmates Delaney Nelson (Cincinatti, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and Isabeau Keene (Demorest, Ga./Tallulah Falls School), who finished fifth and seventh. Wakefield's medal was her second of the meet, as she placed second on the 3m board the night before.

After diving, FGCU placed an Eagle on the podium for its third-consecutive event when Czarnecka earned silver in the 100 Fly. She touched the wall with a final time of 53.51, which ranks as both an NCAA 'B' Cut and her new personal best. Rodriguez also contributed points in the event, finishing fifth overall with a final time of 55.25.

Though the Eagles went without top-three finishes for the next two events, the team was able to pick up crucial points. In the 400 IM, sophomore Sara Niepelova's (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) mark of 4:24.79 earned her a fourth-place finish and was just .50 seconds away from besting third-place Chloe Harris of Liberty. Niepelova was joined in the 'A' Final by freshman Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School), who finished fifth overall. Additionally, the Eagles received points from sophomore Hannah VanDress' (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot) 16th-place effort.

Junior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State) led FGCU in the 200 Free, touching the wall fifth overall. Merriman, freshman Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/ X Liceum Ogolnksztalcace  Mistrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie) and sophomore Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund) all finished within a second of one another, placing fifth, sixth and seventh. Both juniors Alexis Durlacher (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida State) and Meghan Schienvar (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel HS) picked up points in the event as well, checking in at 13th and 20th.

The Green & Blue got back onto the podium in the 100 Breast, thanks to Halmai's winning effort. The All-American laid down an NCAA 'B' Cut time of 1:00.11 and was less than half a second off her own conference record. She was joined in the 'A' Final by sophomore Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual School), who finished ninth.

In the final individual event of the day, McAtee swam a personal-best time of 54.60 and placed second in the 100 Back, earning her first individual conference medal. Including McAtee, FGCU had five different Eagles pick up points from that race, as the silver medalist was joined by freshman Alice Ulicka (Rybno, Poland/Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace IM.Wislawy Szymborskiej), Rodriguez, freshman Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) and Merriman. In order, the latter members of the group finished fourth, eighth, ninth and 11th.

FGCU then closed out the second day of competition with its third relay win, as the team of Czarnecka, Rabiniak, McAtee and Reinhardt took home the 200 Free Relay. The victory earned the Eagles their final 70 points of the evening.

The CCSA Championship will wrap up on Wednesday, Feb. 17 beginning with a morning session at 10 a.m. The final session was originally slated for a 6 p.m. start, but may be bumped up in order to avoid the possibility of teams having to travel in inclement weather. All updates will be announced on the CCSA's social media pages, as well as the FGCU swimming & diving accounts.

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.

Standings, Day Two
1. Liberty - 1,297.5
2. FGCU - 1,238.5
3. UIW - 932
4. UNC Asheville - 666.5
5. Campbell - 651
6. Georgia Southern - 577
7. Gardner-Webb - 553.5
8. Bellarmine - 337

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 34-22-1 (.609) 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. 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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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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.
 
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