KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The FGCU swimming & diving team finished fourth Saturday at the 2023 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships.

FGCU won five medals throughout the four-day championship event. The Eagles won one gold, three silver, and one bronze.

'Very happy with how we came together and performed as a team this week," said FGCU head swimming & diving coach Dave Rollins. "This season hasn't been without its challenges, and for us to be able to perform as well as we did -- celebrating podium performances, new all time top 10 times, best times and season best performances -- was very special. The conference has changed a lot this past year, and it'll be exciting moving forward. A very big thank you to our special group of seniors. They have been through it all: a pandemic, a hurricane, injuries, and championships. Looking forward to reflecting and turning the page to 2023-2024 season."

Liberty won the conference title with a combined 1,441.5 team score. James Madison finished second with 1,339 points, while Queens (N.C) took third with 1,119 points. FGCU finished with 931 points.

Senior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) won two silver medals in 3-meter and 1-meter diving events. She won silver Thursday in 3-meter diving with a 232.00 score, just 2.85 points shy of gold. Wakefield then won another silver Saturday in 1-meter event behind a 305.30 performance, her second silver of the 2023 CCSAs and the fourth of her career.

Earlier this season, Wakefield's 1-meter diving score of 271.78 against FIU qualified herself for postseason action at the upcoming NCAA Zone Diving Championships on March 5-8 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Freshman Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy HS) captured FGCU's lone CCSAs gold in the 200 fly -- finishing in 1:59.16 which is the fourth-fastest in FGCU history. 

Kuriger also won a silver, FGCU's third of the championships, in the 100 fly with the ninth-fastest mark in program history at 53.30.

The Eagles won bronze Wednesday in the 200 medley relay, as the squad of Kuriger, senior Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija i ekonomska skola Benedikta Kotruljevica), senior Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Sales Academy/UMBC) and senior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) captured the first Eagles medal of the CCSAs.

Jerew posted the eighth-fastest 50 free time in program history during the finals, flying at a 22.90 pace.

In all, the Eagles witnessed six new top-10 times. Gwinn's 1:01.84 in the 100 breast finals was the seventh-fastest in school history, placing fourth. Sulenta recorded the ninth-fastest 100 back mark at 54.68. And junior Izabela Zekuciova (Drmoul, Czech Republic/North Texas) posted the 10th-fastest 200 back swim at 2:00.22. 

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 FGCUswimming & diving or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

2023 CCSA Championships Final Standings:
1 Liberty: 1,441.5
2 James Madison: 1,339
3 Queens (N.C.): 1,119
4 FGCU: 931
5 UNC Asheville: 791
6 Campbell: 546
7 Georgia Southern: 526
8 Old Dominion: 475
9 Gardner-Webb: 332
10 North Florida: 293.5
11 Bellarmine: 192

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 40-30-1 (.563) dual-meet record, which includes a 17-3 (.850) 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.
 
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 93 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 46 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), 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 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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