Swimming Comes Up Short in Dual Meets
MIAMI – The Miami Hurricanes wrapped up their weekend at FIU’s Dual-A-Palooza Saturday, competing in dual meets with Rice and the host Panthers on the final day of competition.
Miami, which captured a dominant dual meet victory Friday in its opener against FAU, had a number of impressive performances in losses to FIU (83-122) and Rice (92-110).
“We performed pretty well today. In swimming it’s easy to look at times and compare them with where we’ve been and where we’re going,” head coach Andy Kershaw said. “We were very good in a lot of places, and for a lot of our swimmers, those times were better than they’ve ever been at this point in the season.”
Among Miami’s top performers were sophomore Julie Suarez, junior Angela Algee and senior My Fridell.
“We’re competitors, so we don’t like to lose. That keeps us coming back and makes us hungrier,” Kershaw said. “I talked to the team about that. I know they’re very motivated to get back in the pool on Monday and keep working hard to get back at it and keep preparing for the next competition and the next opportunity.”
Sophomore Ksenia Yuskova (10:15.26) and junior Cameron Davis (10:21.71) took second and third in the 1000 freestyle against FIU, while Suarez (24.09) captured first place in the 50 freestyle to earn Miami crucial points against the Panthers.
Suarez added a second-place showing in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 1:51.79. She took the top finish in the 100 freestyle against the Owls (51.43) earlier in the day.
“I think Julie certainly deserves some recognition. She was definitely a workhorse for us, and came up with a number of big victories at important points,” Kershaw said.
Wally Layland had the top showing in the platform event, finishing with a first-place score of 286.20 to pace the competition.
Christina Leander, who had a strong showing Friday against FAU, captured the top finish in the 100 backstroke (56.53) while Algee took first in the 200 butterfly (2:02.82) against FIU.
The win for Algee was her second of the afternoon in the 200 fly; the junior captured top honors against Rice with a score of 2:03.33. The Orlando native also took first in the 50 butterfly, finishing in a time of 25.52. Fridell took second in the 50 fly with a time of 25.54.
“Angela was one of our top point-getters. She had two great 200 fly performances, which is something we’ve been working on with her,” Kershaw said. “I think My had a great day today too. Definitely a little better than she was yesterday, which was great to see out of our captain”
Kershaw said his butterfly contingent was particularly impressive over the weekend.
“Just overall, I’m very proud of the butterfly group. I think it’s our strongest aspect right now,” Kershaw said. “That’s a great tradition here that I would like to continue, whether it’s 50 fly finishing first and second with My & Angela, or the same thing in the 100 fly.”
Miami’s “A” entry in the 100 medley relay, comprised of Leander, junior Julia Schippert, Fridell and Algee, posted a time of 49.79 seconds to open its meet with the Panthers.
Miami will continue training before continuing its dual meet schedule on Oct. 30 in Texas.
“I’m proud of our effort and disappointed with the losses, but I know that’s going to make this team even more motivated to train harder,” Kershaw said. “The focus remains on ACC Championships and NCAA Championships at the end of the year.”
