Swimming & Diving
The University of Miami’s swimming and diving squad won 7 of 13 events in a quad meet Saturday afternoon at the Bay Vista Aquatic Center on the Biscayne Bay campus of cross-town rival Florida International. The Hurricanes (6-5, 0-3 ACC) swept the field, defeating FIU, 482-446, Florida A & M, 504-319, and New Orleans, 506-163.
The Hurricanes opened the meet with first and third place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. The ‘A’ relay team of Katalin Ferenczi, Colleen Adkins, Emerson Davis and Ashley Knapp touched first with a time of 1:52.15 and was followed by the ‘B’ team of Lindsay Knapp, Amy Caron, Casey Heffernan and Taylor McFarlane who came in with a time of 1:55.99.
In the next event, the 1000-yard freestyle, Miami again came away with first and third place finishes. Freshman standout Lauren Shue came in only 3.84 seconds behind her season-best mark with a time of 10:19.19 for first. Sophomore Tara Erwin finished with a time of 10:49.54 in third place.
Sophomore Nancy Gajos won her first of two events when she took first in the 200-yard freestyle, touching with a time of 1:58.50. She was followed by freshman Capria DeVenuto in second with a time of 2:01.06. Gajos went on to win the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.34.
Davis out-touched FIU’s Melanie Haslip for first in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 25.55-only nine one-hundredths of a second separated the two swimmers.
The Hurricanes finished 1-2-3 in both the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard freestyle. In the 200-IM, Ferenczi finished first with a time of 2:07.70. Heffernan won what turned out to be a close battle for second with a time of 2:15.41, followed by Caron in third with a 2:15.82. McFarlane won the 100-free with a comfortable lead, touching the wall with a time of 54.95. Davis followed in second (57.04) and Erwin in third (58.68).
FIU swept the diving competition, which took place Friday afternoon at the Norman Whitten Student Union Pool. Sophomore Heather Bounds came in second to FIU’s Megan Blakenbush in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Bounds posted a score of 252.22 in the 1-meter and a 270.30 in the 3-meter. Sophomore Julia Ilowecki made her collegiate debut, finishing third in the 1-meter with a score of 182.85.
The Hurricanes return to action when they travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to face in-state rival Florida Atlantic on Jan. 29 at 1:00 p.m.