BIRMINGHAM â€" Day three of the NCAA National Championships saw Florida Southern start in third place but end in second thanks to a big day by seniors Jeb Halfacre and Miguel Ferreira, and a group of underclassman led by sophomore Luis Rojas. With one runner-up finish and two third-place finishes, the Moccasins overtook Grand Canyon and now trail only Drury (MO) going into the final day of competition.
The Moccasins had a chance to make a big move early in the night with freshman Juan Tolosa (Guipuzcoa, Spain) and Halfacre (Gainesville, FL) each making it to the finals in the 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke respectively, and second-place Grand Canyon failing to get any of its swimmers through in those two events. Incarnate Word (TX), which was in fourth place at the time, had only one swimmer move on in those two events.
Tolosa, who’d set a school record in the 500 freestyle prelims (4:28.06), nearly broke his record again in the finals. His time of 4:28.33 was good for a fifth-place finish, and it gave Tolosa his second All-American award of the week in a distance event. He finished eighth in the 1,000 freestyle on Wednesday.
Halfacre then posted his best time of the season in the 100 backstroke (47.70), finishing third. That followed three consecutive national runner-up finishes for Halfacre in that event. Bridgeport junior Oscar Pereiro won the 100 backstroke for the third year in a row, though Halfacre had beaten him head-to-head in a dual meet earlier this year in Lakeland.
Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela) was second in the consolation finals of the 100 backstroke, and along with Halfacre, it provided the Moccasins enough points to move them back into second place ahead of Incarnate Word and Grand Canyon.
Up next for Florida Southern was Ferreira (Caracas, Venezuela) in the 100 breaststroke and his third-place finish in 53.21 seconds gave the Moccasins just enough to stay in second, four points ahead of Incarnate Word, and 16 ahead of Grand Canyon. Incarnate Word closed the gap, however, by placing sixth and seventh in the 100 breaststroke.
Although freshman Raul Garrastazu (Dorado, PR) and senior Bruce Janzen (Lawrenceville, GA) were second and fifth in the consolation finals of the 200 butterfly, the Moccasins lost ground to Incarnate Word, falling two points behind the Cardinals, who took second in the championship finals.
With one event remaining on Friday’s schedule, the Moccasins used it to their advantage by placing second in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:32.57. Halfacre got them started with the leadoff leg before sophomore Allan Gutierrez (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) and Garrastazu followed in the second and third. Rojas handled anchor duties, sealing 34 points for Florida Southern, and pushing the Mocs past Incarnate Word by two points at the end of the day.
Drury continued its lead in the meet with 398 points, while Florida Southern was second with 274. Incarnate Word had 272, and Grand Canyon had 260, while Wayne State (MI) completed the top-five with 236.
