iLYNCHBURG, Va. – The FGCU swim and dive team concluded the 2022 CCSA Championships on Saturday, finishing in second place with 1586 points, only behind Liberty who took home the title with 1830.5 points.

"Congratulations to these amazing young women," said head coach Dave Rollins. "They caught every moment and were the best team a coach could ask for. So many incredible moments, Co-Diver and Swimmers of the meet, 4 Relay wins, new top times and dives in school history, numerous lifetime bests and many memories they will hold for years to come. Thankful to be a part of it and looking forward to what the future holds."

The Eagles picked up some major awards as senior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum 10 NR W Lublinie) and redshirt-senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) shared Swimmer of the Meet Honors after combining for 12 medals, including 10 gold.

It is the 11th time in 15 years that FGCU has produced the Swimmer of the Meet.

Halmai, named Swimmer of the Meet for the second-straight year, made some history on the final day as she won the 200 breast for the fourth straight year. She becomes the first FGCU swimmer to four-peat in multiple events as she also picked up her fourth straight gold in the 100 breast yesterday. She is also just the second swimmer in CCSA history to accomplish the feat after Lindsey Martin of Davidson accomplished the feat in the 50 and 100 free from 2008-11.

Czarnecka picked up her sixth and seventh medals of the week tonight as she took silver in the 100 free with a time of 49.65 before taking home the gold in the 400 free relay with junior Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund), senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas), and junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) with a time of 3:20.25. Of the seven medals for Czarnecka, six of them were gold, including two individual races and four relays.

Junior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonnelle CHS) also picked up a major award as she was named Co-Diver of the Meet. She won gold in the 3-meter on night one before taking home the bronze in the 1-meter yesterday. It is also the second time in her career earning Diver of the Meet after earning the honor in 2020 and the ninth time overall that an FGCU diver has taken home the award.

In other events on the final night, sophomore Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) qualified for the 'A' final with a time of 1:59.73, the ninth-fastest time in school history. In the finals on Saturday evening, she finished in sixth place with a time of 2:00.93.

In the 100 free, Jerew and Reinhardt tied for fourth place with a time of 50.39 while in the 200 breast, junior Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual HS) finished sixth with a time of 2:17.88 and sophomore Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School) placed eighth at 2:19.16.

Final Results

1	Liberty	1,830.50
2	FGCU	1,586
3	UNC Asheville	1,387.50
4	Incarnate Word	1,024
5	Campbell	937
6	Georgia Southern	814.50
7	Gardner-Webb	624.50
8	North Florida	572.50
9	Bellarmine	416.50

Up next for the Eagles is the UF Last Chance Meet on February 26-27. As the name of the meet says, the Eagles will have one last chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Halmai and Czarnecka have already qualified for NCAAs by swimming times under the 'B' cut standard while Wakefield, senior Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) junior Delaney Nelson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and junior Isabeau Keene (Demorest, Ga./Tallulah Falls School) have all qualified for NCAA Zone Diving on March 6-8. The NCAA Swimming Championships will take place from March 16-19.

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 35-26-1 (.573) dual meet record, which includes a 14-2 (.875) mark against CCSA opponents, in his sixth 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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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.