Swimming/Diving Opens Season at Florida Invitational

Friday, October 7

Gainesville, Fla.

All Day

University of North Florida

Florida Invitational (Day 1)

10/6/2011 11:29:00 AM | Women's Swimming

By: North Florida Athletics

Florida Invitational Order of Events

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida swimming and diving team begins the 2011-12 season in Gainesville, Fla. as the Ospreys compete in the Florida Invitational Friday-Sunday, Oct. 7-9, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Pool.

Head coach Beth Harrell leads her squad into action for the 12th season. This year, the Ospreys welcome 11 freshmen to the 17-member roster. North Florida is led by returners Caylin Drews, Katie England, Sara Evans, Julia Moomaw, Gala Poon and Alexis Regan.

Drews competed in every meet for the Ospreys on the year, posting the top two performances of the season for the Ospreys in the 100 butterfly and the 200 butterfly. She recorded season bests in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly at the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championships, while recording top times on the year in the 50 freestyle and 500 freestyle against Florida Gulf Coast.

England competed in every meet last year and posted five of the Ospreys top times on the year in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. She recorded season bests in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 400 individual medley at the CCSA Championships, while posting a best time in the 200 individual medley at the Georgia Southern meet.

Evans earned All-CCSA accolades in the 200 individual medley, posting a North Florida record time of 2:04.45. She also set school records in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.75) and the 400 individual medley (4:28.63) at the CCSA Championships. Evans recorded five of the top 10 times on the year, including the top two times, for the Ospreys in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley and posted the top three times in the 400 individual medley. She posted top times in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM at the CCSA Championships.

Moomaw named CCSA Diver of the Week on Jan. 12, winning all four diving events in four meets on the week. She won the 1-meter event against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 5 with a score of 234.90 and followed that with a score of 273.23 in the 3-meter competition and two days later, swept the diving events against CCSA member Radford with a score of 258.60 in the 1-meter and 279.30 in the 3-meter event, helping the Ospreys to a pair of Conference-dual meet victories. Moomaw posted season-best performances in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving against Radford.

Poon, the Ospreys lone senior, earned All-Academic CCSA honors for the third consecutive season. She competed in every meet for the Ospreys on the year. Poon recorded North Florida's top time in the 100 backstroke, while recording three of the top 10 times in the event for the Ospreys. She posted two of the top 10 times for UNF in the 200 backstroke and posted season-bests in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke at the CCSA Championships.

Regan competed in every meet for the Ospreys in her rookie year. She recorded five of the top 10 times for North Florida on the season in the 1,000 freestyle and notched the second best time of the year for UNF in the 1,650 freestyle. Regan posted season-best times in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle at the CCSA Championships.

The new additions to the roster include Kristina Alexiou, Maria Bernard, Rebeca Bernard, Lissa Janowicz, Christine Kemp, Natalie McCallum, Monica Rice, Ellice Mae Sanchez, Allison Troia, Bridget Woods and Emily Wynn.

In addition to 11 new members of the swimming and diving team, the Ospreys also have a new assistant coach. Monique Salles-Cunha, a former swimmer for the University of North Florida, joined the UNF swimming & diving staff in August 2011. Salles-Cunha was a standout swimmer for the Ospreys, finishing her career with a pair of UNF swimming records. In addition, she earned All-Pacific Coast Swimming Conference accolades in 2007. Salles-Cunha was a member of the North Florida swimming and diving team from 2005 through 2007. She served as team captain her final season.

The Florida Invitational is one of just two road meets for the Ospreys this season. UNF travels to Radford, Va. For the Radford Invitational in November, but will host five meets on the year. The Ospreys first home meet of the season is on Saturday, Oct. 29 against Campbell and FIU at 2 p.m. at the UNF Aquatic Center.

Last season, North Florida swimming and diving team concluded the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championships with a fifth place finish at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia. The Ospreys broke several school records throughout the three-day competition with Evans earning All-CCSA Honors.

In addition to excelling in the swimming pool, the University of North Florida women's swimming and diving team stood out in the classroom. The Ospreys posted a 3.31 team GPA in the spring and were named to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America team. North Florida was one of nearly 100 teams to earn the distinction. The CCSA named 221 men's and women's swimmers to the CCSA All-Academic list. All-Academic honors are earned by all student-athletes who earn a minimum of a 3.0 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale in the semester during the student athlete's competitive season. UNF placed 13 of its 17 (.765) student-athletes on the All-Academic team.