The Nova Southeastern swimming and diving teams wrapped up day one of the third annual Shark Invitational Friday at the NSU Aquatic Center. After one day of competition, the men’s team sits in first place with 106 points, while the women’s team is in second place behind the Florida International with 116 points.
The Sharks started off the finals with an explosive performance by Erin Black (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.). Black destroyed the Shark Invitational record in the 1000-yard freestyle with an NCAA “A” qualifying time of 10:04.57. Following Black were teammates Jessica Rocheleau (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) and Sara Akoubian (Jr., Run Ducala, Ga.), who placed fourth and fifth with NCAA “B” qualifying times of 10:23.62 and 10:25.08, respectively.
Oskar Nordstrand (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) also claimed a victory in the event with a time of 9:20.06. In similar fashion to the women, Cameron Chambers (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Florian Mehlan (Jr., Moers, Germany) followed in fourth and fifth place with times of 9:31.67 and 9:31.81, respectively. All three men earned NCAA “B” qualifying times in the event.
The women ended their day on a high note, as they were victorious in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Black. Rocheleau, Ashley Bransford (Jr., Santa Cruz, Aruba), and Kristen Ann Zielinski's (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) time of 7:33.03 was strong enough to provisionally qualify the team for nationals.
The Shark Invitational will continue Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the NSU Aquatic Center. Events scheduled include the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard IM and the 50-yard freestyle.
