Tampa Men Fall to Florida Southern, Women Tie
LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa and Florida Southern College met Friday afternoon to kick off the 2015-2016 season.
The Spartan men's team fell to the Mocs by a final score of 143-119. On the women's side, the two teams finished in a 131 tie.
The men's team started the season off on a positive note in the 200 Yard Relay Medley, as the team of Jordan Augier, Wayne Denswil, Khalid Aldaboos and Runar Borgen finished just ahead of the team from Florida Southern.
Augier also picked up a win in the 100 Yard Backstroke, as he finished just .10 second ahead of Marco Palacios of FSC.
In the men's 50 Yard Freestyle, Tampa swept the top three spots as Aldaboos finished in first, followed by Jeremy Parker and Martin Hammer.
Aldaboos and Runar Borgen finished first and third in the men's 100 Yard Backstroke.
In the final race of the day, the Spartans finished first and third in the 400 Yard Freestyle Medley. The team of Parker, Aldaboos, Augier, and Borgen won with a time of 3:02.80, nearly seven seconds faster than the second-best time. Willy Malone, Christian Berg, Forrest Lundy and Alberto Orejuela finished in third.
On the women's side, Makayla Ayers picked up the first victory of the season for UT, as she won the 1000 Yard Freestyle.
In the 200 Yard Freestyle, the Spartans earned a sweep as Izzy Spalding, Victoria Horsman and Jesse North each claimed the top three spots.
Marisa Barton won the 50 Yard Freestyle and then followed that with a victory in the 100 Yard Freestyle.
In the 500 Yard Freestyle, Brittany Bayes and Ayers finished in first and third respectively.
The Spartans then went on to take the top two spots in the 400 Yard Freestyle Medley. Barton, Page Fox, Amanda Nielson-Fernandes and Courtney Markle finished in first place. The team of Spalding, Brittany Bayes, Katie Bayes and Noel Styer finished in second.
Both teams will be in action again on November 21 when they travel to Nova Southeastern.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tampaspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instagram (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.
