The No. 24 FGCU swimming and diving team finished the first day at the Georgia Tech Invite in second place after turning in a pair of school records and finishing first in two other events at the McAuley Aquatics Center on Thursday night.
“It was a great day one for the girls as they started fast and put themselves in a good position for the rest of the weekend,” said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. “We had a number of girls achieve NCAA qualifying times and broke a couple school records with Barbara and Lani. Overall, we showed a lot of depth and are excited to keep it rolling tomorrow.”
The 200-yard freestyle relay of Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood’s School), Kristin Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Stephen’s College), Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS) andKatie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) got the final events started as they edged quartets from nationally-ranked Arkansas and Alabama to win the event in a season-best time of 1:30.61.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Lani Cabrera (Bridgetown, Barbados/St. Ursala’s Secondary School) set a school record after touching the pads in 4:47.43, breaking Leah Daniel’s mark that had stood since 2011. She finished fourth and achieved a NCAA ‘B’ cut in the event. Earlier in the day, Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay HS) set a personal-best time of 4:59.88 in the preliminaries, good for the third-fastest time in program history. Shaw finished fifth in the finals with a time of 4:50.16, while teammate Melissa Marinheiro (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) finished eighth in 4:54.18.
In the morning session, Caraballo set another FGCU school record and achieved a NCAA ‘B’ cut in the 200-yard IM after clocking a time of 2:00.53 in the preliminary event. In the finals, she finished eighth after touching the pads in 2:02.02. Armitage finished second in the ‘B’ final in a personal-best time of 2:01.94.
Later, Latham notched the Eagles second win of the session as she finished first in the 50-yard freestyle in a personal- and season-best time of 22.32 seconds. The United Kingdom native not only achieved a NCAA ‘B’ cut and set a meet record in the event, but also turned in the fifth-fastest time in program history. Teammate Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy) placed eighth in a personal-best time of 23.29 seconds, while Julien set a personal record and won the ‘B’ final in a time 23.09 seconds.
To cap off the swimming events for day one, the 400-yard medley relay of Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS), Armitage, Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls’ School) and Latham turned in yet another season-best time of 3:37.39 and finished second in the event behind the Crimson Tide.
Entering day two on Friday, the Green and Blue trail No. 21 Arkansas by 75 points and lead No. 18 Alabama and No. 46 South Carolina, among other prominent programs.
FGCU SEASON-BEST TIMES THURSDAY
200 Free Relay: 1:30.61 (Latham, Julien, Caraballo, Armitage)
500 Free: 4:47.43 (Lani Cabrera) – NCAA ‘B’ cut
200 IM: 2:00.53 (Barbara Caraballo; prelim) – NCAA ‘B’ cut
50 Free: 22.32 (Katie Latham) – NCAA ‘B’ cut; meet record
400 Medley Relay: 3:37.39 (Haan, Armitage, Wong, Latham)
Bold – indicates program record
WOMEN’S TEAM STANDINGS
1. Arkansas – 338
2. FGCU – 263
3. Alabama – 258
4. South Carolina – 253
5. UNLV – 151
6. Georgia Tech – 92
7. Indian River – 80
8. Minnesota – 70
9. Carson-Newman – 66
10. Campbell – 63
11. FAU – 62
12. Georgia Southern – 57
13. UNC Asheville – 52
14. Hawaii – 37
15. Stanford – 29
16. Auburn – 9
SCHEDULE OF COMPETITION (FGCU SEASON BESTS)
Friday – Prelims: 10 a.m.; Finals: 6 p.m.
200 Medley Relay (Haan, Armitage, Wong, Latham – 1:41.19)
400 IM (Barbara Caraballo – 4:26.62)
100 Fly (Yee Ching Wong – 55.98)
200 Free (Elise Haan – 1:49.26)
100 Breast (Katie Armitage – 1:01.73)
100 Back (Elise Haan – 54.41)
800 Free Relay (Latham, Shaw, Burdge, Jamison – 7:35.44)
3M Diving (Ashley Wright – 276.75)
Saturday – Prelims: 10 a.m.; Finals: 6 p.m.
1650 Free (Melissa Marinheiro – 17:27.18)
200 Back (Elise Haan – 2:00.26)
100 Free (Katie Latham – 50.14)
200 Breast (Katie Armitage – 2:15.69)
200 Fly (Christina Kaas Elmgreen – 2:01.88)
400 Free Relay (Burdge, Caraballo, Latham, Armitage – 3:24.29)
Platform Diving (Mikaila Buening – 126.55)
UP NEXT
The three-day meet in Atlanta is FGCU’s last of the fall season. The Green and Blue will resume competition as they host Rice at the FGCU Aquatics Center on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date coverage of FGCU women’s swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.
HEAD COACH NEAL STUDD
Neal Studd has garnered five CCSA Coach of the Year awards, won six CCSA Championships (2009-13, 2015) and guided the Eagles to a 29-1 (.967) CCSA all-time record since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just four years of postseason eligibility, Studd has coached NCAA Championship Meet qualifiers and competitors each of the four years, with 2015 yielding the best results to date as the Eagles finished a mid-major best 26th and produced four CSCAA All-America honorees.