Four School Records Fall on Day 2 of Panther Invitational In Swimming

By  //  November 21, 2015


Florida-Tech-Swimming-580-1REVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Hitting the pool at the Panther Aquatic Center for the second day of competition at its home invite, Florida Tech saw four school records broken on Day 2 of the Panther Invitational on Friday.

Freshman Eric Berg put on a show in the 100-yard backstroke, pulling away from the competition for the win and smashing the previous FIT record with an NCAA B-Cut time of 49.75.

Berg was a part of another record-breaking performance as he, Brian Dumont, Nir Barnea and Edward Ilako placed second in the 200-yard medley relay with a 1:30.08, another B-Cut time.

Nathan Hufnagel bested his own school-best time set in 2013 in the 200 IM, taking third with a time of 1:52.28. Another freshman, Emanuele Rossi entered the record-books, eclipsing the previous best time in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:31.02, good for third.

Head coach Justin Andrade had some glowing remarks for the record-breaking performers.

Justin Andrade
Justin Andrade

“They’re workhorses,” he said.

“The hard work that they put in is showing. It’s not just in the pool but also how they handle themselves across the board. They have very positive attitudes and they have a lot of confidence because of that hard work.”

The Panther men had a number of other outstanding performances on the day as well. Two additional Panthers set B-Cut times in the 500 free as Yagoh Kubagawa (4:33.96) and Ferruccio Rossi (4:37.44) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the 50 free, Barnea took runner up with a B-Cut time of 20.37. Filip Dujmic and Ilako also set NCAA qualifying times as Dujmic (20.79) placed fourth and Ilako (20.88) garnered fifth. In the prelims, Eric Berg hit the B-Cut standard right on the head at 20.91.

For the women, the 200 medley relay team of Paulina Bjorkbacka, Christie DeFlumerie, Jill Collins and Bernie Murphy snagged sixth with a 1:50.61. Carmen Montalvo improved significantly over her previous best 500 free time this season, taking 11th after touching in at 5:21.51.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Dar Raz was the second quickest with a 57.73. Julie Coen was next in line for FIT, placing seventh with a time of 58.65.

Shelby Pearce paced the Panthers in the 200 IM, staking claim to sixth-place after making the final touch in 2:11.27.

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Lauren Suarez was the fastest in the B Final of the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 24.62, nearly seven tenths of a second quicker than her preliminary time. Liana Soileau wasn’t far behind, finishing third in the B Final and 12th overall after recording a 25.03.

“As a team, we’re building some confidence,” Andrade continued.

“We realize that we can perform at a high level. We just have to trust in the hard work that we’ve put in to this point. There are a lot of things that we can do better but if we continue to execute it should be a good next couple of days.”

Action at the Panther Aquatic Center resumes with preliminary races at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the finals following at 6 p.m. The Panther Invitational will conclude on Sunday.