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Posted: Feb 20, 2018

FIT Swim Team Wins First-Ever District Championship

Courtesy of FIT

FIT women's swimming rewrote its team biographySunday, as the Tigers won the Northeast District Championship for the first time in the program's ten-year history.With wins in three out of five relays, three out of thirteen individual events, and depth across every race, FIT amassed 512 points to outpace runners-up Monroe Community College with 414 points.Along the way, the team took down seven school records.

Day 1 Recap

The meet beganFridaywith the 200 freestyle relay.Madison Michaels, Leah King, Mashlie Sanchez, and Maggie (Margaret) O'Connell teamed up for the silver and a new school record.Their time of 1:48.05 cut over two seconds from the previous mark, which had stood since 2010.

Following one-meter diving, King led a trio of swimmers in the A-final of the 500 freestyle.King's time of 5:49.12 was a season-best and secured her the event title.She became just the second FIT swimmer to win an individual event at this meet, after O'Connell swept the butterfly races here last year.Fourth and fifth places went to Julia Miglino (6:10.32) and Jordan Gifford (6:17.23), respectively, who also posted season bests.

The largest points-haul of the night for the Tigers came in the next event, the 200 IM, in which FIT showcased its depth and versatility by claiming fourth (O'Connell), fifth (Michaels), sixth (Damiana LoRusso), eighth (Tammy Gomez), and eleventh (Cassandra Fotos).LoRusso posted a four-second drop from prelims and a six-second drop on the season.Her time of 2:38.68 ranks just outside FIT's all-time top-ten.

Sanchez and Sabine Smith scored the remaining individual points of the night in the 50 freestyle.Sanchez qualified for the A-final, where she finished fifth in a season-best 27.72.She now ranks tenth all-time in the event at FIT.Smith won the B-final, earning seventh, also in a season-best, clocking 28.72.

In the night's final event, the 400 medley relay, the Tigers extended their lead in the standings with a first-ever relay win and a new school record by more than two and a half seconds.O'Connell, Sanchez, Michaels, and King combined for a time of 4:30.94, which topped the field by eight seconds.

Day 2 Recap

The same quartet to close the first night opened the second, and they did so in similar fashion.O'Connell, Sanchez, Michaels, and King roared to another relay win and another school record, this time in the 200 medley relay.Their time of 1:59.87 obliterated the old FIT record from 2010 by nearly three and half seconds, which also equaled the team's margin of victory in the race.

Alexa Landis and Fotos swam an all but synchronized race for the first 350 yards of the 400 IM.The pair collected silver and bronze, respectively, in 5:43.78 and 5:44.59.Landis' time stands just five seconds from her swim at last year's Nationals, while Fotos' time marked a tremendous 25-second improvement from prelims, a collegiate best, and a ninth-place rank all-time at FIT.

King and Michaels continued the podium run in the 100 butterfly.King garnered her second win of the meet with a time of 1:02.73, with Michaels two spots back in 1:03.94.The times also rank first and third all-time at FIT, as King clipped O'Connell's record from this meet last year by three one-hundredths of a second.

In the 200 freestyle, all three FIT swimmers posted season-best times.Miglino (2:18.35) earned her second fourth-place finish.Gifford (2:21.37) joined her in the championship final in sixth, just off her mark from Nationals last year.Smith, meanwhile, picked up her second consolation final win with a much-improved swim of 2:23.67.

The second and third individual school records went down in the following race.Sanchez broke both the 50 and 100 breaststroke marks, en route to a fourth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke.Her split time of 36.25 and final time of 1:17.22 both clipped the previous standards set in 2011.Veronika Vira and LoRusso added to the point-haul with times of 1:24.20 and 1:25.07, respectively, finishing in sixth and seventh.

O'Connell and Gomez swam to third and seventh, respectively, in the 100 backstroke.O'Connell came up just shy of her school record, touching in 1:05.60, while Gomez improved her best time yet again with a 1:13.25.She now stands within a second of the all-time top ten.

Completing the night for the Tigers, Landis, Miglino, Gifford, and Smith orchestrated a third-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay.Their time of 9:28.49 ranks eighth all-time at FIT, while Landis' lead-off time of 2:20.10 was a collegiate best.

The final day of competition began with the 1650 freestyle and not only another individual win but a one-two-four finish, with perhaps the most well-executed swims of the meet.No more than fifteen minutes removed from the prelims of the 200 butterfly, Landis returned to the blocks and captured a Northeast District title in the mile.She, Gifford, and Miglino each swam controlled, confident races that resulted in negative splits.Landis (21:36.34) steadily worked her way from fourth to first by the 500; Gifford (21:43.38) overtook second place near the 1100; and Miglino (21:58.34), who collected her third fourth-place finish of the meet, made a remarkable 44-second improvement from just one week ago, after committing to a few key technical adjustments.

O'Connell earned her second backstroke bronze, this time in the 200 in 2:26.31.She was followed by Fotos and Gomez in fifth and sixth, respectively.Both ladies swam season-bests as Gomez made her first A-final appearance and continued to close in on the FIT top-ten.

Smith was FIT's sole entrant in the 100 freestyle.She swam to her first top-six performance of the meet, touching fifth in a season-best 1:04.43 following notable improvements from prelims.

Sanchez, LoRusso, and Vira represented FIT in the championship final of the 200 breaststroke.The Tigers placed second (2:50.18), fifth (3:02.12), and sixth (3:03.87), respectively, as each swimmer set themselves up nicely for Nationals.

The final individual event of the meet, the 200 butterfly, was a commanding one for the Tigers, who had officially secured the team's victory following the 100 freestyle.King, Michaels, and Landis touched second through fourth, with King once more sneaking past O'Connell's record from last year, this time by 17 one-hundredths.Michaels earned her second butterfly bronze in as many nights, while Landis clobbered her best time and moved up to fifth all-time at FIT.

The meet concluded with a nail-biter.With two of the four legs still recovering from the 200 butterfly, the team of Michaels, King, Sanchez, and O'Connell came together to produce the second fastest time ever at FIT.On the final leg, O'Connell and her closest competitor dove in in unison, flipped at each wall in unison, and nearly finished in unison.In the end, the win went to FIT, 4:00.62 to 4:00.68.

In addition to being crowned Northeast District champions, the Tigers won their second straight Most Improved award, given to the team with the largest total point increase from the previous year's meet.David Hildebrand was also honored by his peers.He received Coach of the Year accolades for the second consecutive year, and the third timein four years.

FIT now prepares for the NJCAA National Championship.The meet will be held in Fort Pierce, FL at Indian River State College,March 7-10.Prelims sessions will begin daily at9:30amfollowed by finals at5:30pm.