Four members of the FGCU women’s swim team traveled to Gainesville to compete in the Last Chance Meet at UF on Friday and Saturday.
Doris Eichhorn and Katie Latham placed first in their events and turned in NCAA “B” cut times. Unfortunately, those “B” cut times will not be enough to surpass the NCAA Championships qualifying line.
Latham finished with her second fastest time of the season in the 50-yard freestyle, touching the pads in 22.49 seconds.
Eichhorn also competed in the 50 free. She got seventh place with a time of 23.08 seconds. Her time of 54.08 in the 100-yard backstroke was good enough for the first-place finish.
FGCU teammates Fanny Teijonsalo and Evita Leter were planning to compete, but chose to use a declared false start and not compete in their events.
“Getting an opportunity to try and qualify for the NCAAs is unique,” FGCU head coach Dave Rollins said in a recent FGCU Athletics press release. “It gives these young women one more chance to prove they are one of the fastest in the country. I am proud of how they raced and supported each other. We now refocus on NCAAs and getting Christina (Kaas Elmgreen) and our relay ready to take on the best of the best in the country.”
FGCU will still be competing at the NCAA Championships for a sixth straight season. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Latham, Gracie Redding, Hannah Burdge and Teijonsalo finished with a NCAA “A” cut and school record at the CCSA conference championship meet.
Sophomore Christina Kaas Elmgreen has a 200-yard butterfly that ranks 26th in the country with a school record time of 1:56.24. Kaas Elmgreen will also be racing in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard individual medley.
The NCAA Championships take place in Indianapolis from Wednesday, March 15 to March 18.