LAKELAND, FLA. – Trailing by 12 points with three events remaining, 21st-ranked Florida Southern came from behind by winning all three races and completed the comeback with a victory in the final race of the day to pick up a 106-99 decision over Indian River State on Friday. It was the final regular season meet of the year for the Moccasins.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Moccasins were down 81-69 when their comeback began in the 500-freestyle. Swimming that event for the first time in her college career, junior Jacinda Whittenburg won the race in 5:10.35, finishing 1.94 seconds ahead of another Moccasin junior, Peyton Breault. That gave the Mocs 13 of the 19 points available in the 500-free and cut the deficit down to 87-82 at the final break of the meet.
- When the meet resumed, sophomore Haley DeGrace won the 100-breaststroke in 1:04.69, her second NCAA "B" time of the season in that event. She was 1.42 seconds faster than Indian River's Courtney Perrett. With senior Kourtney Gavin placing fourth in her first 100-breaststroke race of the season, the Moccasins outscored the Pioneers 11-8 in that event to pull within two points.
- Florida Southern completed its come-from-behind meet victory with a 0.94-second win in the 400-freestyle relay. The Mocs had Breault on the leadoff leg, Whittenburg on anchor, and sophomores Rebeka Dics and Krystal Karas in the middle. The Moccasins were 0.32 seconds behind going into the final leg of that race.
- Indian River State won the first four races, which included the opening 200-medley relay where the Mocs' two teams placed second and third. Led by senior Madi Rowan's runner-up finish in the 1,000-freestyle, the Mocs also took three of the five point positions in the second race of the day.
- Even though Indian River also won the next two events, Florida Southern claimed the 2-3-4 spots in both the 200-free and 50-free to virtually nullify any advantage the Pioneers could gain. Breault, senior Riley McClendon and junior Allie Kaufmann were there in the 200-free, while Karas, Dics and sophomore Rachel Ringley were 2-3-4 in the 50-free.
- Whittenburg gave Florida Southern its first individual win by taking the 400-IM by nearly 10 seconds over Natalie Grothe, and a 1-2 finish by Gavin and Karas in the 100-butterfly put the Moccasins ahead by four points roughly halfway through the meet.
- The Pioneers reclaimed the lead after winning the 100-free and 100-back. A second-place finish by Dics in the first of those, and a second-place finish by senior Leah Haney in the backstroke race kept the Mocs within striking distance just prior to the meet-ending winning streak.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Indian River State has won the last 38 national titles at the junior college level. The Moccasins have beaten the Pioneers eight years in a row, but Saturday's meet was the closest, surpassing a 106-98 win during the 2012-13 season.
- Though Gavin was swimming the 100-breast for the first time this year, she swam the 200-breast at Florida Gulf Coast, and has been in the 200-breast several times in her career. Her only other appearance in the 100 came in October of her freshman year.
- Florida Southern's win in the 400-freestyle relay was its first such win of the season though the Moccasins had previously won in both the 200-medley and 400-medley relays.
- The men's swimming meet ended with the same 106-99 score, but Indian River State won that one to leave the total points scored in the meet even at 205 apiece.
UP NEXT:
Florida Southern will be off until February 16 when the Sunshine State Conference Championships begin at the Orlando YMCA.
