Tampa Swimmers Start Season With Win at Florida Southern
LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's swimming teams opened the 2011-12 campaign with a pair of victories over Sunshine State Conference opponent Florida Southern College.
UT's women reeled off a comfortable 134-71 victory as the men's competition came down to the final event as the Spartans overcame a 97-91 deficit to earn the 104-101 win.
Heather Glenday, who was an All-American as a freshman last season, picked up where she left off with a pair of first-place finishes for the Spartan women. The Babylon, N.Y., native championed the 1,000 Free (10:38.76) and the 500 Free (5:15.24).
Head coach Ed Brennan's female swimmers also captured the top prize from Erin Plachy (50 Free, 25.18 and 100 Free, 54.61), Alex Hipolito (200 IM, 2:14.71), Catherine Parker (200 Fly, 2:11.30) and Lisa Bero (200 Breast, 2:28.89).
The 400 Free Relay team of Plachy, Kylie Piche, Emily Grams and Glenday also outswam its competition with a showing of 3:40.53.
Junior Norbert Kovacs, a transfer from the University of Tennessee, was victorious in the 1,000 Free (9:46.85), 200 Fly (1:53.15) and 500 Free (4:45.40) as he turned in three first-place efforts in his first meet as a Spartan.
David Humphrey also won the 50 Free (21.56) as the 400 Free Relay team came up with the biggest win of the afternoon in the clinching effort for the team. The group of Derek Krell, Jason Khoury, Kameron Kilpatrick and Elias Dammann secured the victory for their team with a time of 3:17.92.
Tampa returns home where it will wait to host Savannah College of Art & Design in its home opener on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.