New College of Florida Women's Swimming and Diving picked up victories over Ave Maria and Thomas University to highlight a strong day for the Mighty Banyans at the Ave Maria Halloween Invite on Saturday.
The NCF women defeated Ave Maria 132-126 and Thomas 150-85, while falling to St. Thomas 296-71. On the men's side, the Mighty Banyans competed against St. Thomas, Ave Maria and Thomas. The NCF men fell 314-58 to St. Thomas, 245-79 to Ave Maria and 146-101 to Thomas.
Mya Nemechek and Nicole Angelova each earned individual victories for the women, while Benjamin Macgregor and Sidney Raditic Mehalso turned in a pair of top-three finishes apiece for the men.
WOMEN'S RESULTS
NCF opened the meet with Nemechek, Saydee Herrera, Anna Tittel and Angelova placing fourth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:21.26.
Amy Barcena opened the individual portion of the meet for NCF in the 1,000 freestyle, finishing fifth with a time of 13:17.39. Isabella Chandler followed in the 100 IM, placing seventh in 1:12.56.
Angelova recorded a time of 2:12.43 to finish sixth in the 200 freestyle before Nemechek delivered NCF's first individual victory of the meet. Nemechek won the 100 backstroke in 1:02.93, finishing 1.81 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Angelova followed with another victory for the Mighty Banyans in the 50 butterfly. She touched first in 28.37, edging Ave Maria's Teresa Austin by 0.25 seconds. Herrera placed sixth in the event with a time of 29.42.
Tittel finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke at 1:18.89, while Nemechek later competed in the 200 butterfly and finished seventh with a time of 2:41.18.
Herrera led NCF in the 50 freestyle, placing fourth in 26.07. Barcena finished eighth with a time of 30.00.
Tittel returned in the 200 backstroke and placed fourth in 2:30.54, while Chandler finished fifth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 3:02.61.
Chandler added a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly, touching in 1:13.91. Barcena then completed the 400 IM in 5:46.06 to finish sixth.
NCF closed the traditional portion of the meet with a runner-up performance in the 400 freestyle relay. Herrera, Tittel, Angelova and Nemechek combined for a time of 3:50.17.
Nemechek then advanced through all three rounds of the 50 freestyle skins competition. She won the opening round in 25.64 and again finished first in the second round at 25.75 before taking second in the final with a 25.46, her fastest time of the three rounds.
MEN'S RESULTS
The NCF men opened with Zsombi Sipaki, Raditic Mehalso, Macgregor and Ashton Miguel Juarez combining for a time of 3:46.14 in the 400 medley relay, placing sixth.
Eduardo Perez Villalba took eighth in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 12:11.14. Macgregor then recorded the first top-three individual finish of the day for the NCF men, placing third in the 200 freestyle in 1:49.00.
Raditic Mehalso followed with a third-place performance in the 100 backstroke, touching in 57.71. Carlos Alberto Heredia Garcia competed in the 50 butterfly and placed ninth with a time of 27.65.
Raditic Mehalso produced one of NCF's top performances of the meet in the 200 butterfly, finishing second with a time of 2:07.96. Heredia Garcia also competed in the event and finished seventh in 2:56.74.
Juarez recorded a time of 24.21 in the 50 freestyle to place 11th.
Sipaki turned in a runner-up performance in the 50 backstroke, touching in 25.05. Perez Villalba also competed in the event and finished 13th with a time of 30.07.
Heredia Garcia finished 10th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:37.59, while Juarez took sixth in the 500 freestyle in 5:53.53. Perez Villalba later placed seventh in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 36.80.
Macgregor delivered another runner-up performance for NCF in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 52.56.
Sipaki closed his individual slate in the 400 IM, placing eighth with a time of 4:49.11.
Perez Villalba, Raditic Mehalso, Macgregor and Juarez finished the traditional portion of the meet in the 400 freestyle relay, combining for a time of 3:27.89 to place sixth.
Raditic Mehalso represented NCF in the men's 50 freestyle skins competition, finishing fourth in the opening round with a time of 23.99.
BY THE NUMBERS
2: Dual victories for the NCF women, defeating Ave Maria 132-126 and Thomas 150-85. Also the number of individual event victories for the Mighty Banyan women, with Nemechek winning the 100 backstroke and Angelova taking the 50 butterfly and individual top-three finishes apiece for Macgregor and Raditic Mehalso. Macgregor placed third in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100 butterfly, while Raditic Mehalso took third in the 100 backstroke and second in the 200 butterfly.
1.81: Seconds separating Nemechek from the runner-up in her 100 backstroke victory.
0.25: Angelova's margin of victory in the 50 butterfly.
3: Consecutive skins rounds reached by Nemechek, who won each of the first two rounds before finishing second in the final.
UP NEXT: New College returns to action Saturday in Melbourne, Fla., facing Florida Tech and Barry University.
