Florida Tech Swimmers Score Upset of No. 22 Lewis
By Space Coast Daily // January 2, 2014
Florida Tech’s women fall to Flyers, 124-81
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech rang in the New Year with a split against Lewis University Wednesday afternoon at the Panther Aquatic Center.
The men knocked off the 22nd-ranked Flyers 112-93 and the women fell 124-81.
The victory for the Panther men is the program’s first win over a ranked opponent in its three-year history. With the win, they improve to 3-3 on the season and the women now stand at 2-5.
“It’s great to be back in Melbourne after the winter break,” head coach Jeni Ritter said. “We have a lot of room for improvement. Our conference meet begins seven weeks from today. Moving forward, we need to focus on our weaknesses and fine tune our racing.”
Takashi Worrell began the day by earning his first of two wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle. The Daytona State junior transfer clocked in at 9:45.45, which was nearly 14 seconds faster than runner-up Bryant Jacobs from Lewis.
Nir Barnea and Jonah Rieman finished first and second in the 50-yard freestyle at 21.40 and 22.08, respectively. In the next event, the 200-yard IM, Brian Dumont and Camden Johnston placed in the top two. Dumont touched the timing pad at 2:00.27 and Johnston was right behind him at 2:01.37.
The Panthers padded their lead in the 100-yard backstroke where four Panthers grabbed the top five spots. They were led by a first-place finish from Tyler Phelps at 54.37. Kaikea Nakachi was second at 54.40, Sam Trible was fourth at 58.84 and Trevor Eastin was fifth at 1:00.68.
The Panthers padded their lead in the 100-yard backstroke where four Panthers grabbed the top five spots. They were led by a first-place finish from Tyler Phelps at 54.37. Kaikea Nakachi was second at 54.40, Sam Trible was fourth at 58.84 and Trevor Eastin was fifth at 1:00.68.
Worrell won his last race, the 500-yard freestyle, with a time of 4:45.22. Once again, he paced the pack by a significant margin as Jacobs was the next closest finisher at 4:57.55.
On the women’s side, Lauren Suarez and Dar Raz were victorious in their events. Suarez nabbed first in the 50-yard freestyle at 25.71 with Raz placing third at 26.12. Later on, Raz won the 100-yard backstroke over a pair of Lewis swimmers at 1:01.71.
Carmen Montalvo was edged out for the top spot in the 1,000-yard freestyle by just over one second. Lewis’ Kara Treacy won the event at 10:48.23 and Montalvo stopped her timer at 10:49.34. Finishing third was Evelyn Stein at 11:19.59.
In the 200-yard IM, Shelby Pearce posted a time of 2:20.38 for second place. Laura Holty rounded out the top five at 2:25.77.
Liana Soileau came in second in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:05.18. The next closest Panther was Faryn Duff, who finished fourth at 1:06.52.
FIT finished second through fourth in the 100-yard freestyle. Rachel Barczyk was the team’s top finisher at 57.95. She was followed by Suarez at 58.68 and Madison Hart at 59.27.
With the meet winding down, Montalvo earned one more second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. The Canton, Ga. native registered a time of 5:25.39. Stein was fourth at 5:31.96 and Bernie Murphy placed fifth at 5:35.35.
Schelli Linz finished second in the last individual event, the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:14.66.
The Panthers will host their second of three straight home meets on Sunday. Mount Union will travel to the Panther Aquatic Center for a 3 p.m. start.
