FIT Tigers Claim First-Ever Non-Scholarship Team Swimming Title
Courtesy of FIT
Three weeks after winning its first-ever Northeast District championship, the FIT women's team won its first-ever team title in the non-scholarship division at NJCAA Nationals.The Tigers finished 7thoverall with 256 points.Indian River State College women won its 36thconsecutive championship with 1189 points.The IRSC men's team won its 44thconsecutive championship with 1245 points.
Day 1 Recap
In the first event of the meet, the 50 breaststroke, Mashlie Sanchez improved her school record, finishing 18thin 36.13.Veronika Vira and Damiana LoRusso tied for 22ndin matching 38.83s.
The distance swimmers all had commanding swims in the 1000 freestyle.Leah King led the way in 10thplace with a time of 12:00.47, which lifts her to third all-time at FIT; Alexa Landis (12thin 12:07.89), Julia Miglino (14thin 12:47.48), and Jordan Gifford (17thin 12:27.21) were all close behind, each with lifetime bests.They now stand fourth, fifth, and eighth, respectively, on the FIT all-time top-ten list.
All three swimmers in the 200 IM qualified for the consolation final, earning vital team points.Maggie (Margaret O'Connell) won the consolation in 2:21.96, one second off her school record.Cassandra Fotos (2:34.89) and Tammy Gomez (2:37.07) checked in at 12thand 13th, as both swam collegiate bests.Fotos now stands ninth all-time at FIT.
Sabine Smith slashed over a second from her best time, finishing 23rdin a very competitive 50 freestyle.Her 27.60 earned her the final spot on the FIT top-ten list.
In the last event of the night, the 200 medley relay squad of O'Connell, Sanchez, Madison Michaels, and Smith swam a 2:01.00 to claim ninth and take over the number two spot at FIT.
Day 2 Recap
Smith led off the 200 free relay by dropping another quarter second from her time the day before.Her 27.37 moved her up to ninth on the FIT leader board.Miglino, King, and O'Connell followed speedily behind to claim another school record as they finished seventh in 1:47.61.
O'Connell jumped right back in the water in the A heat of the 50 back.After breaking her own school record in prelims (29.58) she finished eighth in 29.75 and became the first FIT swimmer in that event to crack 30 seconds.Michaels finished 13thin 30.21, second behind O'Connell on the FIT leader board; Fotos finished 16thin 31.38, just hundredths off her collegiate best; and Gomez finished 19thin 33.19 to climb up to ninth all-time at FIT.
Landis had a remarkable swim in 400 IM.She swam a life-time best in prelims, then improved on every 50-split in finals en route to an eight-second improvement, clocking 5:30.31 for 11th.She now stands sixth all-time at FIT.
The lone FIT swimmer in the 100 butterfly, Michaels claimed her second 13thplace finish of the meet in 1:04.18, two tenths shy of her season-best.
King, Sanchez, Miglino, Gifford, and Smith all dropped the hammer with season- and lifetime-bests in the 200 freestyle.King and Sanchez each slashed two seconds from their prelim swims, with King claiming 11thin 2:05.16, just over a second shy of the school record, and Sanchez snaring 13thin 2:07.37 to move up to fifth all-time at FIT.Miglino (2:12.84), Gifford (2:15.31), and Smith (2:17.53) each produced personal bests in prelims to finish 18th, 20th, and 21st, respectively.Miglino's time makes her the tenth fastest performer ever at FIT.
The 400 medley team of O'Connell, Sanchez, Michaels, and King collected the team's second top-eight relay ranking.They finished eighth in 4:32.92, three seconds shy of their school record from Districts.
Day 3 Recap
O'Connell obliterated her school record in prelims of the 100 IM.She then lowered it again during the A final that night, finishing seventh in a swift 1:03.61.LoRusso (1:14.27) claimed 14thand moved into fifth all-time at FIT with her prelim swim of 1:13.58.Vira (1:14.70), who was the first alternate for finals, capitalized off a highly unusual opportunity, a last-second scratch, and dropped an impressive three seconds from the morning.She claimed 15thoverall and moved into sixth all-time at FIT.
The distance swimmers once again brought the heat in the 500 freestyle.King ran away from the field to win the consolation final by over a body length in 5:30.54, a time that moves her to second fastest ever at FIT.Miglino (5:47.70), Landis (5:51.59), and Gifford (5:59.62), all swam disciplined, aggressive races and all broke6:00for the first time in their careers.Miglino placed 12th, Landis 13th, and Gifford 18th.They now hold the fifth, sixth, and tenth fastest times, respectively, on the school top-ten list.
With the temperature dropping into the mid-50s and the wind blowing hard, Fotos produced a dominant 1:06.67 in the 100 backstroke.She improved from 15thto 12thin finals, matched her lifetime best, and lifted herself to third all-time at FIT.Joining her in the event, Gomez just missed her lifetime best at 1:14.82 from prelims, where she finished 20th.
Despite the weather conditions, it was all collegiate-bests for the 100 breaststrokers.Sanchez moved from 15thin prelims to tenth in finals with a time of 1:14.82.For the second time in as many meets, she broke both the 50 (35.33) and the 100 school records in the same race.Vira (1:21.03) and LoRusso (1:23.75) checked in at 18thand 20th, respectively, and rose to the number four and number seven spots on the FIT record board.
The third school record of the night came tumbling down in the final event, the 800 free relay. Sanchez, Miglino, King, and Landis teamed up to lower last year's record time by three seconds.The foursome finished in 8:50.38 to earn ninth overall.
Day 4 Recap
The final night of competition began with yet another FIT record, this time in the 50 butterfly.O'Connell reset the mark twice, first in prelims, then in finals, winning the B final in 27.74.
The distance crew proved indefatigable.Swimming in the 1650 freestyle, Landis, Gifford, and Miglino all improved on their seed rankings, all set personal bests, and all broke 21 minutes for the first time.Landis paced the race like a clock to finish 11thin 20:20.49.Gifford negative split in her traditional fashion, finishing 12thin 20:46.32.Miglino swam from the outside lane and cut an astounding 71 seconds from her best time from just three weeks ago.They now rank third, sixth, and seventh, respectively, at FIT.
King showed her enviable freestyle range with a time of 56.98 in the 100.She lowered her season-best by nearly two and half seconds to claim 12thin a packed sprint field.Smith joined her in prelims with a hard-fought 1:01.14.That was a season-best for Smith by three seconds and landed her one spot outside the top 16.
Fotos and Gomez represented in the 200 backstroke.Fotos swam a stellar season-best 2:25.99 during prelims, then came back for 13thin finals with a 2:27.02 amid a downpour that lasted throughout the session.Gomez swam a lifetime best by four seconds in prelims.Her 2:41.60 placed her 17thand fell just one second outside the FIT top-ten.
With the rain unrelenting, Sanchez powered through the 200 breaststroke consolation in 2:42.06.It was her fourth school record of the meet, as she had broken it by one one-hundredth in prelims and then again by more than two seconds at night.She claimed 10thoverall.LoRusso and Vira both swam lifetime bests in prelims and both broke the three-minute mark for the first time.LoRusso raced to a 2:56.46 to finish 18thand catapulted herself to third all-time at FIT.Vira swam a 2:59.91 to finish one spot back and moved to sixth all-time at FIT.
In the final event of the meet, with everyone exhausted, Sanchez, Miglino, King, and O'Connell popped a beautifully executed 3:53.64 in the 400 free relay.The time lowered the school record by nearly six seconds, as Sanchez (58.54) led off with the third fastest 100 freestyle ever at FIT.The squad finished ninth overall and secured the non-scholarship team title for the first time in school history by just 15 points.
The conclusion of the NJCAA National Championship marks the conclusion of the swim season, and the start of a well-deserved recess for the team.