OCALA, Fla. – The Wildcats finished up competition in the pool on Thursday at the first day of the CSCAA National Invitational Championship (NIC), with multiple finalists and even an A-Final win for Cayden Pitzer on day one.
The prelims brought at lot of strong performances for the 18 individuals on day one, with 15 heading to finals in the evening.
The finals were highlighted by an A-Final win for Cayden Pitzer, winning the 50 breast in 24.16. Other A-Finalists included the trio of Katy Jost, Libby Grether, and Paige Housman in the 500 free. Jost finished second in 4:46.44, Housman 4:47.21, and Grether in 4:47.50. Madi McGlothen finished second in the B-Final in the same event in 4:48.20. Caue Gluck also competed in the men’s 500 free A-Final, finishing seventh in 4:27.16.
Also in the A-Finals was the duo of Marie Belli and Hayden Penny in the women’s 200 IM. Belli came in sixth overall in 2:00.37, with Penny in third with a time of 1:59.61. In their first NIC, freshmen Charlotte Driesse (2:03.53) and Arianna Wertheim (2:02.08) raced in the 200 IM B-Final.
Among the other B-Finalists were Esteban Nunez Del Prado in the 50 fly (22.07) and Eli Greinke (25.14) and Sarah Anne Shaffer (28.90) in the 50 breast.
The Wildcats in Ocala will race the next two days, hoping to keep the good momentum going.
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