The New College of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams will compete against Ave Maria and St. Thomas in the Ave Maria Halloween Invite Saturday, Oct. 31, at 11 a.m. at the FGCU Aquatic Center in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Mighty Banyans return to the same pool where they faced Ave Maria on Oct. 17. Saturday marks NCF's third meet of its second season under first-year head coach Emily Davis.
MEET NOTES
BACK IN FORT MYERS: NCF will face Ave Maria for the second consecutive meet while adding St. Thomas to Saturday's competition. In the Oct. 17 matchup, the Mighty Banyans fell 153-62 in the women's competition and 168-56 on the men's side.
NEMECHEK LEADS THE WOMEN: Senior Mya Nemechek earned a victory in the 100-yard freestyle against Ave Maria, touching the wall in 54.67. The returning All-American opened the season at Rollins with a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.48 and a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle in 2:02.35.
SIPAKI TAKES FIRST: Zsombi Sipaki won the men's 100 backstroke against Ave Maria in 54.57. The men's lone returner from NCF's inaugural season opened the year with a third-place finish in the 50 backstroke at Rollins in 25.21.
HERRERA CONTINUES STRONG START: Freshman Saydee Herrera recorded a personal-best 1:13.96 to finish third in the 100 breaststroke against Ave Maria. She also placed second in the 500 freestyle in 5:54.21. Herrera began her collegiate career at Rollins with a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle in 56.59.
MACGREGOR MAKES HIS MARK: Benjamin Macgregor earned a runner-up finish in the 200 butterfly against Ave Maria in 2:00.02. At Rollins, the junior placed third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.73 and fourth in both the 200 freestyle in 1:50.94 and 100 butterfly in 54.81.
WOMEN'S DEPTH CONTRIBUTES: Anna Tittel finished second in the 50 freestyle against Ave Maria in 26.29, followed by Nicole Angelova in third in 27.14. Angelova also placed third in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.46, improving on her season-opening 1:07.19 at Rollins. Amy Barcena added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle in 6:18.32.
RELAY SUCCESS: The NCF women won the 200 freestyle relay against Ave Maria in 1:42.12, improving by 1.77 seconds from their season-opening time of 1:43.89 at Rollins. The Mighty Banyans also recorded a 1:58.13 in the women's 200 medley relay, while the men finished the event in 1:39.55, slightly faster than their 1:39.61 in the opener.
UP NEXT: The Mighty Banyans will travel to Melbourne, Fla., for a tri-meet against Florida Tech and Barry on Saturday, Nov. 7.
