Central Swimming and Diving Falls at FIU

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team lost its dual meet to Florida International University 198-100 on Friday night in Miami, FL. Seniors Taylor Friedmann and Allison Rasile along with junior Helene Neuhaus led the Blue Devils. Each of the trio posted individual wins and helped push the 400 yard freestyle relay team to a fourth CCSU victory.

Friedmann, who earned first in the 500 yard freestyle event with a time of 5:03.87, also placed second in the 200 yard freestyle earning a time of 1:54.54, just .42 second shy of her season-best in the event. Friedmann also teamed up with Rasile, Neuhaus and junior Erin Massey for a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:35.43).

Rasile and Neuhaus proved impressive in their own rights. Rasile clenched a victory in her first attempt of the season at the 1000 yard freestyle (10:27.40) and also took silver in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 2:10.81. Neuhaus claimed gold in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 53.19, surpassing her season-best time of 53.23 which she earned on Nov. 17 at Vermont. Neuhaus also earned a second-place finish in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.03.

In addition to participating in the 400 freestyle relay, Neuhaus also helped the 200 yard medley relay team to a second-place finish along with classmate Kellen Power and seniors Hannah Packer and Katie Lang. The team touched the wall in 1:51.11.

Junior Kristina Gulia turned in a two-three performance on the day, coming in second in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:08.83) and third in the 200 yard breaststroke (2:27.76). Lang placed third in both the 200 yard butterfly (2:10.71) and the 200 yard IM (2:14.14) while Packer also took the bronze in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 2:13.69.

Other key swimming performances for the Blue Devils included senior Christine Smith, who placed third in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:50.55 (nearly five seconds faster than her previous season-best) and Massey who placed fourth in the 100 yard freestyle.

CCSU's divers took second through fourth place in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter board competitions. Freshman Jessica Goldman was the Blue Devil front-runner in the 1-meter competition, earning 245.55 for second place. Goldman was followed by classmate Shawna Herter with 219.17 for third and sophomore Kate Dwyer who rounded out the scoring with 209.25 for fourth.

It was Dwyer who led Central from the 3-meter board. She earned 218.55 for second place and was followed by Herter (199.87, third) and Goldman (191.85, fourth).

For complete results from the meet, click here.

The Blue Devils will next travel to Rutgers University to compete against the Scarlet Knights and the Spiders of the University of Richmond at the RU Aquatic Center in Piscataway, N.J. The action is set to begin at 2 p.m.