The New College of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined for four event victories Saturday against Ave Maria at the FGCU Aquatic Center in Fort Myers.
Mya Nemechek won the women's 100-yard freestyle, while the Mighty Banyans also captured the women's 200 freestyle relay. Zsombi Sipaki and Benjamin Macgregor earned individual victories for the NCF men in the 100 backstroke and 200 breaststroke, respectively.
Ave Maria won the women's dual 153-62 and the men's dual 168-56.
WOMEN'S RESULTS
NCF opened the afternoon with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, recording a time of 1:58.13. The Mighty Banyans finished just 1.11 seconds behind Ave Maria.
Isabella Chandler placed third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:18.93.
Saydee Herrera followed with a third-place performance in the 100 breaststroke, touching in 1:13.96. Her time was a personal best and placed her within 0.68 seconds of the winning mark.
Anna Tittel led four Mighty Banyans in the 50 freestyle, finishing second in 26.29 and just 0.08 seconds behind the winner. Nicole Angelova followed in third at 27.14, while Chandler placed fifth in 29.27 and Amy Barcena finished sixth in 29.98.
Nemechek delivered NCF's first individual victory of the afternoon in the 100 freestyle. The returning All-American touched in 54.67, finishing 2.48 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Tittel added a third-place finish in 57.71.
Nemechek returned for the 200 backstroke and earned second place with a time of 2:34.06.
Herrera and Barcena gave the Mighty Banyans two of the top three finishers in the 500 freestyle. Herrera placed second in 5:54.21, followed by Barcena in third at 6:18.32.
NCF also secured second and third in the 100 butterfly. Tittel finished second in 1:05.33, while Angelova touched in 1:06.46 for third. Angelova improved on her 1:07.19 performance at Rollins by 0.73 seconds.
Barcena rounded out her individual events with a third-place finish in the 200 IM, recording a time of 2:45.19.
The Mighty Banyans closed the women's competition with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay. NCF finished in 1:42.12, beating Ave Maria by 8.72 seconds and improving on its season-opening relay time by 1.77 seconds.
MEN'S RESULTS
The NCF men began the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, touching in 1:39.55. The time was slightly faster than the Mighty Banyans' 1:39.61 in their season opener.
Carlos Alberto Heredia Garcia led NCF in the 200 freestyle, finishing third in 2:02.37. He lowered his time from the Rollins meet by 2.59 seconds. Eduardo Perez Villalba followed in fourth with a time of 2:04.87.
Sipaki earned the first individual victory for the Mighty Banyan men in the 100 backstroke. He finished in 54.57, winning by 3.86 seconds.
Sidney Raditic Mehalso delivered a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke, touching in 1:03.95. His performance was 6.59 seconds faster than his time in the season opener.
Macgregor added a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.02.
Four Mighty Banyans competed in the 50 freestyle. Omar Khatter led the group in fourth at 22.72, followed by Ashton Miguel Juarez in fifth at 24.59, Macgregor in sixth at 24.76 and Perez Villalba in seventh at 25.07.
Juarez paced NCF in the 100 freestyle, finishing fourth in 53.62. Heredia Garcia placed fifth in 53.97, improving on his season-opening time by 2.59 seconds. Perez Villalba took sixth in 55.56.
Raditic Mehalso earned his second runner-up finish of the meet in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:02.84. Khatter followed in third at 2:19.45.
Macgregor then claimed the 200 breaststroke in a personal-best 2:02.84. He finished 5.26 seconds ahead of the runner-up to give the NCF men their second event victory.
Juarez placed third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.84, while Heredia Garcia finished fifth in 1:05.00.
Sipaki added a runner-up finish in the 200 IM, touching in 2:06.59.
BY THE NUMBERS
4: Event victories for the Mighty Banyans, with two apiece for the men and women.
3: Individual winners for NCF, with Nemechek, Sipaki and Macgregor each taking first in an event.
8.72: Seconds separating NCF's winning women's 200 freestyle relay from Ave Maria.
0.08: Seconds separating Tittel from first place in the women's 50 freestyle.
6.59: Seconds Raditic Mehalso dropped from his season-opening 100 breaststroke time.
2: Runner-up individual finishes for Raditic Mehalso, coming in the 100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke.
UP NEXT: New College returns to the FGCU Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 31, to face St. Thomas and Ave Maria at 11 a.m.
