MELBOURNE, Fla. – In the final dual meet of the season for the Panthers, they welcomed Sunshine State Conference rivals, Saint Leo and Lynn, to the Panther Aquatic Center. Both the men, 120-139 to Saint Leo, and women, 136-116 to Saint Leo and 130-126 to Lynn, fell on tough times as they dropped the meets in heartbreaking fashion.

However, the day started off on a high note as the team looked to honor its nine senior members as they took their lanes for the final time at home. Edward Ilako, Paulina Bjorkbacka, Samantha Conger, Yagoh Kubagawa, Trista Phelps, Neta Saar, Thomas Steenberg, Mary Ida Spradlin and Evelyn Stein were recognized for both their athletic and academic achievements they have earned over their time at Florida Tech.

Starting the final regular season meet on the year was the women's 400-yard medley relay. The Crimson and Gray saw the grouping of Savannah Brennan, Carter Juskevich, Mikaela Barger and Saar finish second, 3:58.63, only to Saint Leo 'A' group, 3:56.39. In the men's edition, the top two teams were the same as the Lions 'A' team edged out the Panthers 'A' team, Carlos Obregon, Corey Ollivierre, Filip Dujmic and Victor Rocha Furtado, 3:27.09 to 3:32.79. Florida Tech also saw its 'B' team consisting of Ferron Van Ritter, Dain Rust, Jose Coiman-Acosta and Ilako take fourth place.

The third and fourth events of the day saw Birgitt O'Connor finish second; while Emanuele Rossi and Kubagawa placed second and third for the men. The 200-yard freestyle saw FIT snag its first win of the night as Saar came out at a blistering pace grabbing the lead by the first split and never conceding it. Steenberg swim earned third place in the men's event.

Florida Tech managed to secure a couple more wins when Juskevich and Ollivierre both took first place in their respective 100-yard breaststroke events. Continuing with the theme of strong finishes Barger earned third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:17.76. Adi Davidov and Obregon managed to earn second and third in the men's 200 butterfly.

The Panthers again swept the top spot in the 50 free as Valentina Carvajal and Rocha Furtado outgunned the competition finishing in 24.10 and 20.32 respectively. In the 100-yard freestyle Saar and Steenberg garnered second-place finishes as they narrowly fell to Saint Leo competitors.

FIT would see a few more top-three placers in the 200 back as O'Connor finished third, 2:16.46, on the women side. While Kubagawa took second with a fast finish at 1:55.42.

The most dominant performance of the night for either the men or women came in the men's 200-yard breaststroke as they blanketed the podium as Jose Coiman-Acosta, Ollivierre and Elias Econopouly took the top-three spots.

Carvajal earned her second win of the night as she outpaced the field, in the 500 free, by over 11 seconds. Rossi saw his strong effort in the 500-yard freestyle earn him a second-place finish. Rocha Furtado again found himself in the top spot as he took first in the 100-yard butterfly; while, Barger and Davidov took third for the women and men in the event.

Brennan took first in the final individual event of the night, 200-yard IM, hitting the pad at 2:08.01. Coiman-Acosta earned second when the water settled on the men's side of the event.

In the final event of the night, 200-yard freestyle relay, the women's 'A' team of Saar, Barger, Spradlin and Carvajal took second place at 1:40.16. The men saw their night end on a high note as the 'A' team of Rocha Furtado, Ilako, Davidov and Dujmic took the top spot with a time of 1:22.95.

The next time the Panthers will take to the pool will be in postseason competition at the SSC championships. This event will take place from Feb. 16 through 19 at the Long Center in Clearwater, Florida.