Aided by several fantastic individual performances, Florida Southern College men’s swimming finished fourth in a loaded field at the 2019 Spartan Invitational at the Doyle Aquatic Center. The Moccasins tallied 503 points in a loaded field that included winner and host Tampa (1,308), second-place Wingate (798), and third-place Indian River State College (558).
The Mocs finished ahead of Lenoir-Rhyne (315.5), Saint Leo (120.5), Catawba (82), and Nova Southeastern (33). On Monday, Luka Prostran took sixth in the grueling 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:32.06. Matias Lopez also had a sixth-place showing in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.30). Talor Hamilton (8th – 20.80) and Brandon Dyck (9th – 20.94) had top-10 finishes in the 50-yard freestyle.
Southern’s final top-10 finish on the first day of competition came from the 200-yard medley relay team of Dyck, Hamilton, Miguel Bernotti, and JJ Saslo, who combined to take 7th (1:32.40). Tuesday brought about more relay success as the same foursome finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:23.06).
The second day of competition also saw Matias Lopez take fifth in the 400-yard individual medley (3:53.86), while Dyck (4th – 48.99), Bernotti (7th – 49.42), and Saslo (9th – 49.57) had top-10 showings in the 100-yard butterfly. Carlos Bernotti also had a top-10 finish by taking ninth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.21) and teamed up with his brother Miguel, Dyck, and Lopez to finish third in the 400-yard medley relay (3:17.57).
On Wednesday, Prostran (5th – 4:34.40), Cole Smith (6th – 4:35.66), and Lopez (9th – 4:32.93) all turned in top-10 showings in the 500-yard freestyle. The Mocs’ first individual win of the meet came when Dyck won the 100-yard backstroke (47.65), and Miguel Bernotti finished fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (1:48.74).
Florida Southern also had a solid showing in the 800-yard freestyle as the foursome of Carlos Bernotti, Miguel Bernotti, Lopez, and Levi Parsons finished fourth (6:46.54). In the final day of competition on Thursday, Carlos Bernotti took fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (45.59), while Lopez (2nd – 1:47.39) and Dyck (3rd – 1:48.01) finished among the top five in the 200-yard backstroke.
More relay success followed as the Moccasins took fourth in the 400-yard free relay (3:02.33). The Moccasins are off until next month when they return to the pool for home meets with Emory (Jan. 10) and Nova Southeastern (Jan. 11) before heading to Indian River (Jan. 24).