Spartans Sweep Saint Leo in Tampa Relays
Both the men's and women's swim teams defeated their Lion counterparts in the annual Tampa Relays event, hosted by the University of Tampa.
TAMPA, Fla. – Hosting its second meet in as many days, the University of Tampa men's and women's swim teams bested Saint Leo University the annual Tampa Relays on Saturday at the UT Aquatic Center.
Both teams won the 20 event meet, as the No. 11 men's squad defeated the Lions by a convincing 58-32 while the No. 15 women bested Saint Leo by a slimmer 48-41 margin. The men took seven of their 10 relays while the women's side was locked at five relay wins each.
The No. 3 Tampa men's team claimed its first event of the day in the 400 yard butterfly relay, as Runar Borgen, Khalid Aldaboos, Jordan Augier and Victor Philaire combined for a 3:23.48 time.
The success continued into the next event, as Wayne Denswil, Nicholas Stoski, Danny Duhig and Forrest Lundy battled to a victory in the 400 breaststroke relay with a top time of 4:02.51.
Augier and Borgen combined with Christian Berg and Tom Roberts to carry the momentum into the 400 backstroke relay as the squad finished with a win behind a time of 3:34.71.
Jeremy Parker added a win while uniting with Aldaboos, Lundy and Martin Hammer in the 500 yard crescendo relay. The Spartan sprinters continued their success as Hammer, Borgen, Augier and Parker added a win in the 8x50 yard 8x50 freestyle relay with a top time of 2:49.77.
The men's team concluded the meet with a 3:06.71 top time in the 400 yard freestyle relay, as Hammer, Parker, Aldaboos and Marc-Olivier Caron joined efforts in the final event of the day.
The No. 11 women's team took five events while Saint Leo mirrored with five wins to their credit. The Spartans outlasted the Lions, countering with a 48-41 victory overall.
UT won the first event of the meet in the women's 800 yard freestyle relay, as the crew of Sophie Long, Makayla Ayers, Catherine Bayes and Amanda Fernandes combined for a 8:07.09 win. After a trio of Saint Leo wins, Tampa returned to form with the 500 yard crescendo relay, winning behind the efforts of Fernandes, Long, Ayers and Marisa Bartonwith a top time of 4:48.73.
The Spartan women took the 8x50 yard 8x50 freestyle as the group of Allison Hutchins, Brittany Murphy, Bayes and Page Fox led UT with a time of 3:20.66.
The women stepped up with the meet on the line in the final event, besting the Lions swimmers in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Barton, Murphy, Fernandes and Bayes provided the push to take the meet with a time of 3:38.60.
UT will hit the road to meet Florida Tech on Jan. 23 at 12 p.m. in Melbourne, Fla. before tackling Saint Leo on Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. to close out the regular season.
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