CLEARWATER, Fla. – Florida Tech concluded the 2018 Sunshine State Conference Swimming Championships on Sunday at the Long Center Sports Complex.

In total, the Crimson and Gray won nine medals, including four championships, during the four days of competition.

The men's swim team earned its highest ever finish at third overall in the final team standings at 549 points, edging out Tampa by one point. The Panther women took seventh with 252 points.

Four Panthers finished in the Top 17 in the women's 1650 freestyle. Olivia McKelvey paced the contingent in 10th at 18:18.92, followed by Birgitt O'Connor in 11th at 18:20.47. Teresa Rago finished 13th with a time of 18:25.64 and Evelyn Stein grabbed 17th at 19:20.09.

Ethan Kennedy (16:41.00) and Samuel Hartle (16:53.85) ended in 14th and 16th in the men's 1650 free, respectively.

After winning the men's 100 yard freestyle in 2017, Victor Rocha Furtado defended his title this time around with a B-cut time of 43.86. Filip Dujmic (44.73) and Thomas Steenberg (45.30) finished fifth and seventh in the A-final, both with B-cut times.

Paulina Bjorkbacka earned 12th in the women's 200 yard backstroke final with a time of 2:07.40.

Carlos Obregon set a new school record in the men's 200 backstroke final and placed first in the B-final, ninth overall, with a B-cut time of 1:49.75. Emanuele Rossi took fifth overall at a B-cut time of 1:49.97 and Yagoh Kubagawa ended in seventh at 1:50.86.

Savannah Brennan broke the school record in the women's 200 breaststroke final and finished fifth overall with a B-cut time of 2:20.11.

In the men's 200 breaststroke, Jose Coiman-Acosta took eighth in the A-final at 2:05.14 while Corey Ollivierre grabbed 12th overall, fourth in the B-final, with a time of 2:07.76.

The women's 400 freestyle relay of Valentina Carvajal, Neta Saar, Brennan and Mary Ida Spradlin finished sixth in the A-final at 3:31.99. FIT's B-relay of Sam Bischoff, Brianna Forte, Trista Phelps and O'Connor took sixth in the B-final with a time of 3:41.24.

In the final event of the day, the men's 400 yard freestyle relay, Florida Tech's A-relay of Rossi, Dujmic, Steenberg and Rocha Furtado won the championship with a new school record and provisional relay time of 2:56.43. The B-relay made up of Edward Ilako, Harry Sale, Ferron Van Ritter and Kubagawa placed third in the B-final, 11th overall, at a time of 3:05.39.

Next up, the swim teams will wait to see if they qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships held on Mar. 8-11 in Birmingham, Alabama.