Swimming/Diving Third After Day 1 of CCSA Championships

Thursday, February 16

Athens, Ga.

All Day

University of North Florida

CCSA Championships Day 1

Photo by: Todd Drexler

2/16/2012 10:17:00 PM | Women's Swimming

By: North Florida Athletics

Day 1 Results

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of North Florida had a strong showing in the first day of action at the 2012 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championships.

Florida Gulf Coast women lead the respective team races Thursday with 263 points in the event contested at Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of University of Georgia. Liberty follows FGCU with 179 points, while North Florida holds third-place with 124 points and Georgia Southern is in fourth with 110 points. Davidson College is in fifth with 106 points and College of Charleston is in sixth with 89 points. Gardner-Webb fell one point below College of Charleston, finishing seventh with 88 points. In eighth-place is Radford University with 52 points, followed by Campbell University with 40 points, North Carolina A&T with 32 points, Virginia Military Institute with 26 points and Howard University with 22 points.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Liberty (Brye Ravettine, Cori Gary, Meghan Babcock and Marley Cripe) set a new Conference record and earned an NCAA “B” cut with 1:31.36, topping Florida Gulf Coast (Emma Svensson, Christina Tanninen, Eva Lehtonen and Vicky Cadge) who clocked in at 1:32.24, also earning an NCAA B cut time. College of Charleston (Sarah Graif, Meredith Smith, Mary Frances Babrowicz and Jayme Groth) rounded out the top three with a time of 1:34.60.

Florida Gulf Coast swept the 500-yard freestyle, with Eva Lehtonen placing first with 4:54.42 and Devon Robins taking second with a time of 4:55.19. Conference record-holder Leah Daniel rounded out the top three with a time of 4:56.20.

The Eagles took first-place in the 200 IM with Vicky Cadge clocking in at 2:03.17. Sara Evans of North Florida placed second with 2:03.78 to earn All-CCSA honors and Charity Byrum finished third with a time of 2:04.09. Evans' time in the 200 IM broke her own school record, set last year at the 2011 CCSA Championships.

In the 50-yard free, first-place winner Brye Ravettine of Liberty set a new meet, Conference and school record, while earning a “B” cut with a time of 22.19. FGCU's Emma Svensson finished second with a time of 22.85 and Liberty's Cori Gary finished third, clocking in at 22.87, both earning “B” cuts along with Ravettine.

In the women's 1-meter diving event, FGCU's Maegan Butler took home a first-place finish with a score of 258.70 and Alex Valder took third, earning 243.95 points. Sara Meisenhelder of Georgia Southern finished between to the two Eagles with a score of 254.70.

FGCU's 400-yard medley relay team of Svensson, Dani Beaubrun, Danielle Butler and Tanninen finished the day by setting a new meet and CCSA record and gaining a “B” cut with a time of 3:41.11. Liberty's Ravettine, Erin Curry, Bethany Wakeley and Gary placed second with a time of 3:46.07. Sarah Schwartz, Kristen Bates, Megan Heller and Elaina Lanson of Georgia Southern took home third-place with a time of 3:47.04.

The second day of the CCSA Championship will begin Friday, Feb. 17 at 10:00 a.m., starting with the 200-yard “B” medley relay. The finals will take start at 6:00 p.m.