2015 CCSA Championships
- Wednesday, February 18- Saturday, February 21
- Athens, GA – Gabrielsen Natatorium
- Prelims/Finals Wednesday 5 PM (diving)/6 PM, Thursday-Saturday 10 AM/6 PM (Eastern Time Zone)
- Championship Central
- Live results
Women’s Session
FGCU continued their successful meet for much of night three at the Gabrielsen Natatorium, but that wasn’t the case during the 400 IM. Last night’s 200 IM winner Alona Kyselova ran away with the win in the longer medley. The freshman set a new meet, CCSA, and school record as she came out with the victory in a time of 4:13.15. FGCU senior Karen Vilorio finished in second more than five seconds behind (4:18.31).
The 100 fly proved to those in attendance that Emma Svensson isn’t just a one-trick pony after her 21.98 50 freestyle win last night. The senior went well under the B cut in her 53.22 victory. Svennsson’s teammate Lani Cabrerea was able to claim the victory in the 200 free (1:49.93) when the next group of women dove into the water. Cabrerea was the only swimmer to dip under the 1:50 mark.
Keeping the ball rolling for FGCU was Katie Armitage in the 100 breaststroke. In her first CCSA conference meet the freshman stepped up and finished ahead with a 1:00.28. The top three swimmers all went under the B standard, but Armitage’s time should be enough to secure the invite.
Kira Toussaint made it 3 for 3 for the FGCU women in the 100 stroke races. Troussaint, like her teammates, also went under the B cut by swimming a 52.82. This time is on the bubble since the last invited time in 2014 was a 52.92, but the medley relay later on would prove that Troussaint wasn’t content with that. FGCU could possibly be bringing quite a few girls to NCAAs if everything falls into place.
After all the individual champions in the 100s tonight it was obvious that FGCU was going to show the crowd something special in the 400 medley relay. Swimming in clean water the Eagles were able to swim under the A Standard. Not feeling secure with the 52.82 time swam earlier in the night, Kira Toussaint lead off the relay with a powerful 52.33. This should put her at ease and should get her an invite to swim as an individual at NCAAs. With a 280 point lead FGCU has pretty much locked up another CCSA crown.
Men’s Session
Underclassman grit was on display to begin night three. David Moore of Incarnate Word was in third place going into the last 50 of the 400 IM, but his 25.93 finish showed his heart and determination to be crowed conference champion. His 3:53.11 was well off his CCSA Record of 3:47.16 from 2013, but it was enough to claim the win tonight.
The 100 fly then saw Gardner- Webb go 1-2 with Nathan Lile emerging as the winner in that battle. Greg Spoerlein from UMBC would then win a very tight race in the 200 free (1:37.61) with only .36 seconds separating 1st- 4th. Building off the excitement that his teammate had created, Leo Endres finished with the top time in the 100 breast (54.59).
Connor Bos from Gardner-Webb was able to break up run by UMBC by claiming the top spot in the 100 back (49.05). He was challenged by fellow sophomore Andrew Schrantz. The two split an very similar races (Bos- 23.38/25.67 Schrantz- 23.74/25.62), but Bos’ start ended up being the difference maker. Then, the 1 meter diving event saw a 1-2 finish by UMBC (Ryan Green and Pak Lam Wong). UMBC had 4 divers finish in the top four, compared to only two from Incarnate Word. This helped to extend UMBC’s lead as night three was nearing a close.
UMBC would end off night three with a win in the 400 medley relay. Nikola Trajkovic, Leo Endres, Andrew Schrantz, and Gregor Spoerlein did what they needed to do to build up a nice buffer going into the final day of competition tomorrow. UMBC leads University of Incarnate Word by 164 as the Retrievers look to defeat the defending champions.
Team Scores
Women
1. FGCU- 1114
2. Liberty University- 834
3. Georgia Southern University- 782.5
4. Gardner-Web University- 675.5
5. University of Incarnate Word- 618
6. Campbell University- 384
7. University North Carolina Asheville- 288
8. University of North Florida- 239
9. North Carolina A&T State University-161
10. Virginia Military Institute-151
11. Howard University- 102
Men
1. UMBC- 699
2. University of Incarnate Word -535
3. Gardner-Webb University- 484
4. New Jersey Institute of Tech- 190
5. Virginia Military Institute- 158
6. Howard University- 113