FGCU Women, Gardner-Webb Men Go Undefeated At Bellarmine Duals

2022 Bellarmine Duals

• October 28-29, 2022
• Louisville, Ky.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Day 1 Results
• Day 2 Results

Courtesy: FGCU Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The FGCU swim team is heading back to Southwest Florida with three wins after sweeping the Bellarmine Duals. The Eagles took down the host Knights, 238-76, while also defeating another CCSA member Gardner-Webb, 204-109, and Southern Indiana, 265-49.

“Very happy to be returning home with a few wins under our belt,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “It was great to be able to get on the road and compete. We got to see our newest Eagles competing for the first time and for them to get their first wins as Eagles is huge for our program as we move forward into the season. We did a great job with our race strategies this weekend and will continue to clean up the details. Excited for what’s to come!”

The Saturday morning session got started the same way most of Friday went – with an Eagle victory. The 400 medley relay team of Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia), Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md.), Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio), and Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla.) touched first with a time of 3:55.10, the only team under four minutes.

Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky.) picked up her second individual win of the weekend in her hometown by winning the 200 back with a time of 2:05.61. With the win, she completed the backstroke sweep after touching first in the 100 back on Friday. Freshman Mia Burke (Owings Mills, Md.) also continued her solid first weekend by finishing second with a time of 2:07.04.

Gwinn kept the Eagles in the win column by taking home the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.58. Emma Bjoernholdt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark) finished third at 1:08.53.

After Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia) touched third in the 500 free, Burke collected FGCU’s fourth win of the day by claiming the 100 free with a time of 53.74 while Dani D’Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J.) touched third at 53.96.

Kuriger followed by winning her fourth event of her debut weekend, taking home the 200 fly with a time of 2:09.34.

In the 400 IM, Bjornholdt and Niepelova finished second and third with times of 4:41.66 and 4:45.26, respectively.

The Eagles ended the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 free relay as Sulenta, Burke, Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland), and Jerew clocked in with a time of 1:38.82.

FGCU will be back in the pool in a couple of weeks when the Eagles travel to Columbia, South Carolina to compete in the Gamecock Invite (Nov. 16-18). That same week, the divers will make their season debut at the Tennessee Diving Invite (Nov. 17-19) in Knoxville.

Eagles in 2022-23 CCSA Top-10
200 Back
Emma Hixenbaugh – 2:05.61, 5^th

100 Breast
Jenna Gwinn – 1:06.58, 8^th

400 IM
Emma Bjornholdt – 4:41.66, 9^th

400 Medley Relay
3:55.10, 6^th

200 Free Relay
1:38.82, 7th

Courtesy: Gardner-Webb Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gardner-Webb took home four victories in the Bellarmine Invitational over the weekend behind 13 first-place finishes.

The men defeated Southern Indiana 259 – 55. They also took down Bellarmine 166-149.

The first-place finishes for the Gardner-Webb men include the following:

• 200 Yard Medley Relay (1:32.50)
• 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:08.50) Austin Wheeler
• 50 Yard Freestyle (21.17) Brady Fields
• 200 Yard Freestyle (1:43.63) Logan Cornelison
• 400 Yard Free Relay (3:08.34)
• 400 Yard Medley Relay (3:25.91)
• 200 Yard Backstroke (1:53.76) Landon Clark
• 100 Yard Freestyle (46.78) Logan Cornelison
• 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:24.77)

The Runnin’ Bulldogs took three of the top four spots in three of those events. Other notable finishes include the 100 Yard Butterfly, where they placed second and third, and the 100 Yard Breaststroke, where they placed second, third, fourth, and fifth.

The women defeated Southern Indiana 254-59, and Bellarmine 195-114.

Their first-place finishes were as follows:

• 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3:34.97)
• 500 Yard Freestyle (5:13.08) Hailey Williams
• 400 Yard IM (4:37.71) Sarah-Michael Jann
• 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:38.50)

They took first, second, and fourth in the 500 Yard Freestyle, and touched first and third in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. Another notable finish was the second, third, and fifth place finishes for the women in the 200 Yard Freestyle.

The Gardner-Webb swim team is next in action Saturday, November 5, when it will take on Davidson and UNC Asheville. The meet is set to begin at 12 p.m. from Davidson University.

Courtesy: Bellarmine Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time this season, Bellarmine swimming competed at home, and both the men’s and women’s squads claimed a victory at the Bellarmine Invitational.

The Knights hosted Gardner-Webb and Southern Indiana, while the Florida Gulf Coast women’s team also competed, on Friday and Saturday.  The men’s team for Bellarmine bested USI 258-57, while the women’s team also beat Southern Indiana by a final score of 224-90.

Men’s Team Scores:
Bellarmine 258 – Southern Indiana 57
Gardner-Webb 166 – Bellarmine 149

Women’s Team Scores:
Bellarmine 224 – Southern Indiana 90
Gardner-Webb 195.5 – Bellarmine 114.5
FGCU 238 – Bellarmine 76

Individually, Lauren Diercks and Alexandra Pierce each earned first place finishes for the women, while eight different men’s swimmers claimed firsts – Liam Connelly, Blake Whiteley, Jacob Dray, Cason Henderson, Brandon Thomas, Greyson Williams, John Paul Metzner, Sam Jones, and Will O’Connor.

Notable finishes for the women’s team included:
Lauren Diercks – 1^st in the 200 IM (2:12.29), 3^rd in the 100 backstroke (58.67), and 3^rd in the 200 backstroke (2:08.62)
Alexandra Pierce – 1^st in the 200 breaststroke (2:24.20), 2^nd in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.23), and 2^nd in the 200 IM (2:12.75)
Anna Holt – 3^rd in the 200 butterfly (2:13.17)

Notable finishes for the men’s team included:
Liam Connelly – 1^st in the 1000 freestyle (9:46.14), 2^nd in the 400 IM (4:13.27)
Blake Whiteley – 1^st in the 100 backstroke (52.21), 2^nd in the 200 freestyle (1:43.64)
Jacob Dray – 1^st in the 100 butterfly (48.79), 2^nd in the 200 butterfly (1:55.59)
Cason Henderson – 1^st in the 200 butterfly (1:54.59), 2^nd in the 200 IM (1:59.03)
Brandon Thomas – 1^st in the 400 IM (4:11.07), 2^nd in the 500 freestyle (4:44.65)
Greyson Williams – 1^st in the 200 IM (1:58.12)
John Paul Metzner – 1^st in the 100 breaststroke (59.22)
Sam Jones – 1^st in the 500 freestyle (4:42.80)
Will O’Connor – 2^nd in the 50 freestyle (21.41)

Bellarmine’s final meet of the fall semester comes in a couple of weeks when the Knights head to the Southern Illinois Invitational Nov. 10-12.