FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU swimming and diving dropped its third consecutive dual meet Wednesday, falling 204-95 to American Athletic Conference opponent FIU at the Lee County/FGCU Aquatics Center.

FGCU falls to .500 on the year at 4-4 after completing a grueling three-match stretch against Miami, Houston, and FIU. The Panthers improved 5-2  and also extended their current win streak over the Eagles to six meets.

The Green & Blue won three of 16 events Wednesday. Freshman Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy HS), senior Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija i ekonomska skola Benedikta Kotruljevica) and junior Emma Bjoernholdt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark/Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium St. Leo University) each captured an individual gold medal in their respective events to lead the charge. 

"Very proud of how we approached today," said FGCU head swimming and diving coach Dave Rollins. "Bouncing back from our meet on Friday, we competed very well and saw a significant improvement in not only our times but also our mindset and competitiveness. Reese earning her first zone score of the season, Cam, Lucy, and Emma earning wins was huge, but we saw great improvement all around. Excited to see it today and cannot wait to celebrate our seniors next week."

Kuriger won gold in the 100-yard butterfly by .08 (56.86). Her gold-medal performance gives her a team-leading six on the 2022-23 season, nine counting relays. 

Sulenta touched first in the 100-yard backstroke with a 57.48 effort, her first individual gold of the season. Bjornholdt also won her first individual gold of the year by pacing the pool in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of the field at 10:39.94.

In diving, senior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) held her own against a proven Olympian from Egypt. Maha Gouda was the first Egyptian female to qualify and compete in the 2016 Rio Games. 

Gouda won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events Wednesday, while Wakefield's performances in both were good enough for second place on the podium. Wakefield posted a 271.28 to Gouda 's 290.78 in the 1-meter and had a 275.48 effort to the Olympian's showing of 296.55 in the following 3-meter dive. Wakefield's 1-meter score qualified herself a spot in the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in March in Knoxville, Tenn. 

A pair of Eagles put together a podium finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Bjoernholdt took second (5:11.11) as teammate and senior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/East Carolina) finished third (5:16.48).

FGCU began the day with a silver in the 200-yard medley relay. In total, FGCU would capture seven silver medals and six bronze to accompany its three wins against the Panthers.

FGCU returns to pool later this month to host North Florida on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. before hosting North Florida for Senior Day on Jan. 29 at noon.

TOP TIMES IN THE CCSA:
200 Fly 
1. Cameron Kuriger - 1:59.63 (5th fastest in FGCU history)
100 Fly
1. Cameron Kuriger - 53.94 (9th fastest in FGCU history)
200 Back
1. Emma Hixenbaugh - 1:59.90 (9th fastest in FGCU history)

HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 39-30-1 (.557) dual meet record, which includes a 16-3 (.842) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), marking the ninth championship in 10 years before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men's swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and was inducted into the University of Arizona's Hall of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!  
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.  

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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