Spartans in Control Heading to Final Day of Sunshine State Championships

ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's swimming teams are dominating the competition following the first two days of the Sunshine State Championships, which is being hosted by Rollins College.

The Spartan women are in first place with 724.5 points, which is nearly 300 points more than second place Rollins. UT's men have 735 points as their closest competition is Rollins with 391. In the second day, the Spartans earned a first-place finish in all but one race.

In women's action, the Spartan 200 Medley Relay team kicked off the second day with a victory after posting a time of 1:49.38. Individuals who won their races for UT were Jennifer Jenkins (400 IM, 4:32.72), Annie Emery (100 Butterfly, 59.39), Madison Flake (200 Freestyle, 1:56.45), Julie Gauvin (100 Breaststroke, 1:08.28) and Allison Vetter (100 Backstroke, 1:00.48). UT also recorded a first-place finish in the final race of the day, the 800 Freestyle Relay with a mark of 8:02.09.

On the men's side, Tampa was equally impressive as they also won the 200 Medley Relay to begin the second day with a time of 1:36.07. Spartan men who won their respective races were Chris Grace (400 IM, 4:11.93), Roman Dagash (100 Butterfly, 51.55), Tyler Furrer (200 Freestyle, 1:42.57) and Kyle Merritt (100 Backstroke, 51.71). The 800 Freestyle Relay team posted a time of 6:53.50 in the final race of the second day.

The tournament is set to conclude tomorrow. In addition to Tampa and Rollins, other participating teams include Florida Southern and Saint Leo while Eckerd is competing in women's action and Embry-Riddle in the men's field.