Hixenbaugh Wins Backstroke Silver to Highlight FGCU Against Miami, Houston
CORAL GABLES. Fla. – The FGCU swimming and diving team wrapped up competition on the road against both Miami and Houston on Friday.
Miami earned victories over both FGCU (225-70) and Houston (187-108) to sweep the tri-meet, as the host Hurricanes captured 14 of the 16 events. The Eagles suffered another setback in head-to-head action against Houston, falling 229.50-69.50.
FGCU dropped to 4-3 overall on the year, while Miami improved to 4-3. In the split, Houston continues its campaign at 3-2.
“We knew coming into today that we were not going to be our freshest,” said FGCU head swimming and diving head coach Dave Rollins. “However, we used the opportunity to focus on execution and how we improved our details from our last time out. As a team, we took advantage of the opportunity to race, and got some important race experience for our team. We are still figuring out relay orders as well as our conference scoring team. Today, Wednesday and our final meet will tell us exactly what we need.”
Junior Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) highlighted FGCU’s effort in Coral Gables, snatching a silver medal in the 200 yard backstroke (2:05.37) — narrowly missing out on gold by .34 one hundredths of a second.
After earning her victory over Houston in the 200 yard backstroke, Hixenbaugh followed that up with another win over the Cougars in the 100 yard event, placing fourth overall at 58.08. Senior Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija i ekonomska skola Benedikta Kotruljevica) touched the wall just .02 behind teammate Hixenbaugh to finish fifth. (58.10)
Senior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/East Carolina) finished fifth in the 1,000 yard freestyle (11:06.72), and the 1:06.51 performance by senior Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Sales Academy/UMBC) in the 100-yard breaststroke was good enough for sixth place.
In diving, senior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) led all Eagles in the 3m event, placing eighth with a score of 246.70. In the 1m, senior Delaney Nelson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) represented FGCU’s best, finishing seventh with a 246.30.
FGCU returns to the pool at 3 p.m. Wednesday, hosting in-state foe FIU at the Lee County/FGCU Aquatics Center.
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TOP TIMES IN THE CCSA:
200 Back
1. Emma Hixenbaugh – 1:59.90
100 Fly
1. Cameron Kuriger – 53.94
200 Fly
1. Cameron Kuriger – 1:59.63
HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 39-29-1 (.565) dual meet record, which includes a 16-3 (.842) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), marking the ninth championship in 10 years before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men’s swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Hall of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
—FGCUATHLETICS.COM—
