Melbourne, Fla. – The Florida Tech men's swimming team, fresh off a #21 national ranking in the latest CSCAA poll, opened Day One of the eighth annual Panther Invite on Friday at the Panther Aquatic Center. The qualifying events for the first day sessions began at 10:00 am as the finals of the day one events began at 5:00 PM. For, this year's invitational, the Panthers hosted Barry, #14 Florida Southern, Indian River State (#1 in NJCAA national rankings), Rollins and St. Thomas University (#2 in NAIA national rankings).
After the first day, the Panther men are in third place with 207 points. Indian River State stand on top with 382 points, Florida Southern are second with 275 points, Rollins sit in fourth with 199 points, Saint Thomas are just behind the Tars with 198 points while Barry round out the field at 29 points.
Akos Hajagos delivered again by taking third in a highly competitive 500 Free A Final with a 4:30.54 time.
Daniel Aizenberg finished ninth in the 50 Free A Final, which saw the entire field separated by less than second, with a time of 20.67.
Luke Altmann earned second in the B Final with a 20.48 finish that was just 0.09 off top spot.
In the 400 Medley relay, the team of Aizenberg,
Connor Orth,
Jay Jay Fonnotto and Altmann earned second place in the A Final thanks to a time of 3:16.04. The B Final saw Tech take second thanks to the quartet of Hajagos,
Matthew Heaphy, Matteon Caruso and
Max Martino (3:20.70) and third through
Zachary Reese,
Matthew Smith,
Nathan Scott and
David Armstrong (3:22.81).
The 200 Free relay A Final saw Tech's top finish of fifth place through the group of Aizenberg, Altmann, Fonnotto and Martino thanks to their 1:22.20 finish. The B Final would see the Panthers emerge victorious thanks to Armstrong, Heaphy,
Joshua Cajuste and
Josh McLean, who took the top spot with a time of 1:23.96.
UP NEXT:
Day Two of the Panther Invite will begin tomorrow at 10:00 AM, followed by the finals scheduled for 5:00 PM.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech men's swimming team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
