Freshmen Impress in Dual Meet Loss to FIU
MIAMI – The University of Miami swimming team dropped its first dual meet of the season Saturday afternoon, falling on the road to crosstown foe FIU, 164.5-115.5.
Competing without its diving contingent due to continued maintenance on its home pool after Hurricane Irma, Miami had a number of strong performances in its second competition of the fall.
“Obviously we came up a little bit short. It wasn’t what we were looking for, but I thought I saw some good progression out of them from the last meet to this meet,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “I thought I saw some good development. We’re relying on a lot of freshmen and we saw some good things there.”
One of those freshman, Annie Kyriakidis, posted the first two wins of her college career in the matchup.
Kyriakidis captured the top finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.59 and also finished with top honors in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.69). Kyriakidis added a second-place finish in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:08.53.
Sophomore Manon Viguier added two wins to Miami’s efforts, including a time of 1:49.51 in the 200 freestyle – nearly four seconds better than second-place finisher Carmen San Nicolas of Miami.
Viguier, coming off a summer where she represented France at the World University Games, also won the 500 freestyle in commanding fashion. She touched the wall in 4:57.44, almost seven seconds faster than Kyna Pereira of FIU (5:04.07).
“We got some great performances out of our youth,” Kershaw said. “Annie was a double winner and Manon also got two wins. She’s just a sophomore, so I thought some of our younger swimmers really stepped up today.”
Junior Roxanne Yu won the 200 back in a time of 2:02.06 and freshman Alaina Skellett delivered impressive times in the 100 fly (57.59, second place) and 100 back (56.89, third).
Kershaw said he liked what he saw from San Nicolas and fellow freshman Chandler Sensibaugh, who took second in the 200 fly in a time of 2:09.34.
Other solid finishes included sophomore Clair McGinnis taking second in the 1000 free (10:41.95), sophomore Iliana Oikonomou with a second-place showing in the 50 free (23.93) and senior captain Julie Suarez finishing in second in the 100 free (51.69).
“We’ve got to keep moving forward. We have to get better from here. I think the team is clearly on board with that, as we set up their goals,” he said. “We want to get wins along the way, but I think we’re still doing a good job of keeping our focus on the ultimate goal.”
Miami continues its regular season schedule on Friday, Oct. 13 at the SMU Classic. The host Mustangs will be competing in the event alongside Miami, Louisville, Michigan, Southern California and UCLA.
