FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU Swimming and Diving team looks to get back to its winning ways Wednesday, as the Eagles welcome Florida International at 4 p.m. at the Lee County/FGCU Aquatics Complex.

Admission is free and live results can be found on the Meet Mobile App. Ginger Tompkins will be making a special guest appearance as a part of the Title IX celebrations.

The Eagles enter Wednesday's action 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after dropping a pair of meets last Friday against both Miami (225-70) and Houston (229.50-69.50). Both meets witnessed FGCU score its lowest points tally of the season.  

FGCU is 11-6 all-time against FIU, but the Panthers have gotten the better of the Eagles as of late. In fact, FIU has won the last five dual meets -- with the last Eagles victory (154-146) occurring in 2018.

FIU is 4-2 this season and has not participated in a dual meet since Dec. 16, 2022 -- a 191-108 victory over Marshall. FIU placed first of seven competing programs at the FIU Sprint Invite on Jan. 3 with 1,555 points, besting second-place South Dakota by 927.5 points.

FIU's only defeats on the year have come at the hands of Miami in its season opener and against Illinois on Nov. 5.

Junior Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) will be a FGCU swimmer to watch Wednesday. Hixenbaugh highlighted FGCU's effort in Coral Gables, snatching a silver medal in the 200 yard backstroke (2:05.37) -- narrowly missing out on gold by .34.

After earning her victory over Houston in the 200 yard backstroke, Hixenbaugh followed that up with another win over the Cougars in the 100 yard event, placing fourth overall at 58.08.

Freshman Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy HS) leads all Eagles in gold medals won this season with eight, five individual events and eight total counting relays. In total, FGCU has accounted for 21 golds, 24 counting relays, on the season as 10 different Eagles have captured at least one first-place finish on the podium in 2022-23.

Kuriger is also one of four Eagles to post a top 10 time in FGCU history this season. Kuriger's 1:59.63 in the 200 fly marked the fifth fastest in program history, while her 53.94 effort in the 100 fly was the ninth fastest. Both of her marks continue to sit atop CCSA as far as season-best times. 

Hixenbaugh, senior Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md. Mount de Sales Academy/UMBC) and junior Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS) have each recorded a top-10 time on the year as well. Gwinn's 1:02.40 mark in the 100 breast was good enough for eighth on the charts, and Merton's  2:17.81 in the 200 breast was the ninth fastest ever in the Green & Blue.

In diving, senior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) continues to hold the CCSA's top scores on the year, 221.20 in 3m and 236.75 in 1m.

Teammate junior Kylie Palian (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora HS) has won FGCU's only CCSA Swimmer or Diver of the Week honor this season for her gold medal performance against Eastern Michigan.

Order of Events:
200 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
3m Diving
100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
100 Fly
1m Diving
400 IM
400 Free Relay

TOP TIMES IN THE CCSA:
200 Fly 
1. Cameron Kuriger - 1:59.63 (5th fastest in FGCU history)
100 Fly
1. Cameron Kuriger - 53.94 (9th fastest in FGCU history)
200 Back
1. Emma Hixenbaugh - 1:59.90 (9th fastest in FGCU history)
1M Diving
1. Reese Wakefield - 236.75
3M Diving
1. Reese Wakefield - 221.10

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 39-29-1 (.565) dual meet record, which includes a 16-3 (.842) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 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.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.  

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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