Eagles Off to Strong Begin at Gamecock Invitational

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The FGCU swim crew was again within the pool on Wednesday for day one of many Gamecock Invitational. After 5 occasions, the Eagles sit in 4^th place with 161 factors, forward of fellow CCSA groups Georgia Southern, North Florida, and Gardner-Webb.

“Our aim this weekend was to execute our races higher,” mentioned head coach Dave Rollins. “How can we discover methods to enhance technically and with our methods. Now we have executed an amazing job with these objects. The crew is racing powerful, and it has been nice to see. For the place we’re in our coaching, we’re doing nice! A handful of lifetime bests, highlights the day! Tomorrow is one other glorious alternative!”

The day received began with preliminaries the place 15 Eagles superior to the finals, Wednesday evening.

Within the evening session, the Eagles received off to an amazing begin within the 200-free relay as Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior Excessive), Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS), Liv Hettinger (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo HS), and Mia Burke (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh Faculty) completed fifth with a time of 1:33.85 besting CCSA rivals Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, and North Florida. The time can also be the highest time thus far within the CCSA this season.

Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) was the highest Eagle within the 500 free as she swam underneath 5 minutes with a time of 4:59.74 to complete 16^th. Emma Bjoernholdt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark/Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium/St. Leo College) additionally picked up factors for the Eagles, ending 19^th with a time of 5:01.77.

Within the 200 IM, Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy HS) and Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Guide HS) completed 14^th and 15^th, respectively with occasions of two:04.21 and a couple of:04.58. Kuriger’s time is the quickest within the CCSA this season.

Jerew was the highest particular person finisher of the evening for the Eagles as she picked up 17 factors with a 6^th-place end within the 50 free with a time of 23.33. Three different Eagles scored factors within the occasion as Burke completed 12^th (23.69), Hettinger completed 15^th (23.90), and Hixenbaugh completed 18^th (24.21). Jerew additionally went 23.09 main off the 200 free relay which is the highest time within the CCSA this season as nicely.

The evening ended sturdy for the Eagles because the crew of Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija I Ekonomska Skola Benedikta Kotruljevica), Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Gross sales Academy/UMBC), Kuriger, and Burke completed fifth within the 400 medley relay with a time of three:44.14, knocking over 10 seconds off their time from the Bellarmine Duals earlier this season. The Eagles additionally completed forward of its CCSA rivals in addition to the A-Crew from Vanderbilt.

The Gamecock Invitational will proceed tomorrow with finals for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 again in addition to the 200-medley relay and 800 free relay.

 

Crew Scores

1. South Carolina – 538
2. UNCW – 317
3. Vanderbilt – 205
4. FGCU – 161
5. Georgia Southern – 88
6. UNF – 76
7. Gardner- Webb

Eagles Getting into CCSA High-10

500 Free
Sara Niepelova – 4:59.74, 4th
Emma Bjoernholdt – 5:01.77, 8^th
 
200 IM
Cameron Kuriger – 2:04.21, 1^st
Anna Hogan – 2:04.58, 3^rd
Rebecca Winn – 2:07.53, 9^th
 
50 Free
Hailey Jerew – 23.09, 1st
Mia Burke – 23.69, 6^th
Liv Hettinger – 23.90, 9^th
 
200 Free Relay

1:33.85, 1st
 
400 Medley Relay
3:44.14, 2nd
 

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HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is just the second coach in program historical past. He was employed Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 38-26-1 (.592) twin meet file, which features a 16-2 (.889) mark towards CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), marking the ninth championship in 10 years earlier than successful the tenth championship in program historical past in 2021. As well as, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Yr in two of his seasons on the helm. Beforehand, Rollins was the affiliate head males’s swimming coach at The Ohio State College. Rollins brings over a decade of teaching expertise to The Nest, which incorporates serving to to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-People, together with a number of convention champions. A local of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his personal proper and was inducted into the College of Arizona’s Corridor of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, nationwide champion, faculty file holder and crew captain.
 
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU groups have mixed to win an unimaginable 93 convention common season and match titles in simply 15 seasons on the Division I stage. Moreover, in simply 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a mixed 45 groups or people compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the lads’s golf crew turned the primary program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Match. Eight FGCU packages have earned a top-25 nationwide rating of their respective sport – together with ladies’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), seashore volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and each males’s soccer (2018, 2019) and ladies’s soccer (2018) as 4 of the latest. In 2016-17, the Inexperienced and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place end within the DI-AAA Learfield Administrators’ Cup and top-100 displaying nationally, forward of a number of Energy-5 and FBS establishments. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida finest seven groups earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for his or her Educational Progress Fee of their sport. FGCU additionally collectively earned a file 3.50 GPA within the classroom within the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the overall College undergraduate inhabitants for 26 consecutive semesters. The previous 5 semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) noticed one other milestone reached as all 15 packages achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative crew GPA. The Eagles additionally served an all-time excessive 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being acknowledged as one in all two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Neighborhood Service Award offered by the Fiesta Bowl.