The No. 14 West Florida women’s swimming and diving team cruised to a 112-64 win over Ouachita Baptist in a dual meet at the UWF Aquatic Center on Saturday. The Argonauts placed first in 12 of 13 events to win their third dual meet win of the year and their first over a New South Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Conference opponent.
Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa) and Madeline Pitt (Trussville, Ala.) both placed first in two events; de Villiers won the 200 Freestyle (2:00.09) and the 100 Backstroke (1:02.52), while Pitt placed first in the 200 Individual Medley (2:15.07) and the 100 Butterfly (1:00.73). Pitt’s time in the 200 IM was a new personal record.
UWF had three other individual event winners who posted personal bests, Sophia Oliva (Plantation, Fla.) in the 1000 Freestyle (11:19.39), Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany) in the 50 Freestyle (25.62) and Nicole Machado (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) in the 100 Freestyle (55.72). Emily Mitchell (Allen Park, Mich.) also had a first place finish in the 100 Breaststroke (1:09.49).
The Argos fared well in both relay events, winning in the 200 Medley and the 200 Freestyle. The medley relay team of Macht, Ana Cristina de Paula (Santos, Brazil), Karisa Kostecki (Lithia, Fla.) and Mikaela Aponte (Pompano Beach, Fla.) posted a time of 1:56.78, and the freestyle relay team of de Villiers, Aponte, Angelina Gallastegui (Brandon, Fla.) and Jamie McDonald (Panama City, Fla.) finished in 1:44.52.
“I’m satisfied with our performance today,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “Today was a chance to measure ourselves against a conference school. Ouachita Baptist is a rebuilding program, but they have some great swimmers. For us to perform as well as we did is encouraging. Our girls were very business-like, and they did a great job preparing for today. There is a lot to be excited about moving forward.”
Josie McKee (Canton, Ohio) placed first in both exhibition diving events for UWF, and her score of 423.25 in the 11-dive, 1-meter event was an NCAA qualifying score. Meghan Zets (Grovetown, Ga.) and Megan Drake (Navarre, Fla.) also had solid performances in both diving events, including Drake who posted personal bests in the 11-dive 1 meter event (298.60) and the 6-dive 3 meter event (173.81).
“The kids had a renewed energy after the holiday break, and it showed in the way they all were diving today,” said UWF diving coach Barbara Parker. “We’re making our adjustments, and we’ll be in great shape for the conference meet.”
The Argos will be back in action on Jan. 16, facing two more conference opponents in Delta State and Henderson State. The double dual will take place at DSU in Cleveland, Miss. at 4 p.m. For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
Meet Results
College Swimming News courtesy of West Florida.