FORT PIERCE €“ With wins by sophomores Alli Crenshaw
and Kelsey Gouge, and a strong showing from freshmen Elizabeth
Fris, Cassie Ley and Alex Ballard, #4 Florida Southern led or was
within striking distance for most of Saturday’s
meet with the nations #1 junior college team, Indian River State.
However, the Pioneers pulled away over the final four events and
defeated the Moccasins 118-87 in the final regular season meet of
2014.
Crenshaw won two events, and Gouge won one on Saturday, and
Gouge also hit two NCAA “Bâ€
qualifying times in the process. The Moccasins (5-2 in dual meets)
also got a pair of runner-up finishes from Ley, who along with Fris
and Ballard helped Florida Southern remain within a single point of
IRSC after five of the 11 events were contested.
After the Pioneers opened with a win in the 200-yard medley
relay, the Moccasins won two of the next three events, with
Crenshaw (Marietta, Ga.) winning the 1,000-yard freestyle, and
Gouge (Snellville, Ga.) taking the 50-yard freestyle. In between,
Crenshaw also finished second in the 200-yard freestyle. Then, in
the 200-yard individual medley, the Pioneers got a win from Barbara
Caraballo, one of her two individual wins in the meet, but the Mocs
came back to take second, third and fourth with Ley (Hilton Head,
S.C.), sophomore Morgan Burns (Hilton, N.Y.), and freshman Kourtney
Gavin (Jacksonville, Fla.). That left Indian River with a 47-46
lead in the meet.
The closest race in the early going was the 1,000-freestyle,
where Crenshaw won in a time of 10:34.07, Indian
River’s Josefine Hippi was second in 10:34.41,
and Fris was third for Florida Southern in 10:34.94. Sophomore
Heather Burns (Lake City, Fla.) gave Florida Southern more points
in that event with a fourth-place finish, as the Mocs surged
ahead.
With a winning NCAA “B†time
of 24.17 seconds from Gouge in the 50-freestyle, and more points
from sophomore Lauren Reynolds (South Elgin, Ill.) and freshman
Leah Haney (Evans, Ga.), the Mocs were still tied after four
events, and their 2-3-4 finish in the 200-IM kept them within a
point. But three straight wins by the Pioneers after that turned
the tide.
Ballard (Kingfisher, Okla.) was Florida
Southern’s top swimmer in the 100-yard butterfly,
the third time in the five dual meets that it’s
been held where she’s been the
Mocs’ #1 swimmer. She placed third against Indian
River with a time of 1:00.62, with Gavin and junior Catie Carden
(Hixson, Tenn.) each less than one second behind her.
Gouge then finished second in the 100-freestyle with an NCAA
“B†time of 52.52 seconds, but
Indian River took first and third place to open up a 13-point lead
with four events remaining. The Pioneers widened their lead with
first- and second-place finishes in the 100-backstroke, as Reynolds
placed third for Florida Southern.
The 500-freestyle belonged to Crenshaw, who won her second race
of the meet, and missed an NCAA
“B†time by 0.85 seconds. It
was Crenshaw’s fifth win in her last six
500-freestyles, as she won by nearly eight seconds over Georgina
Allin of IRSC.
In the last individual race, Ley, Morgan Burns, and Fris
finished second, third, and fourth respectively in the 100-yard
breaststroke, before Indian River closed things out with first- and
second-place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Florida Southern will now prepare for the Sunshine State
Conference Championships, which will be held at the Orlando YMCA,
February 19-22.
