Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men’s and women’s swimming teams split a Sunshine State Conference meet with the Tampa Spartans on Saturday. The Shark men defeated Tampa 158-104, while the NSU women fell to the Spartans 135-115.

"Both sides of our program went up against one of the best Division II teams in the country today,” head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron said. “Our Sharks stepped up to a tough Tampa team. Our talent and depth combined with experience is what lead our men's team to beat the Spartans and allowed our women's team to challenge themselves to new levels of success."

Jonas Grunstrom (Jr., Fagersta, Sweden) led the charge in the pool for NSU picking up wins in the distance free events. He finished first in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:46.42, first in the 500-yard free at 4:45.28, and first in the 1,000-yard free with a time of 9:53.11 to help the Shark men to their second straight SSC win of the season.

On the women’s side, NSU’s Ewa Jamborska (Jr., Katowice, Poland) posted wins in the 100-yard breast at 1:07.99 and the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:26.15 which was an NCAA Division II “B” qualifying standard for women. She also placed third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.71.

The day of racing opened with the women’s 200-yard medley relay. Tampa’s “A” relay recorded the top time at 1:52.37. However, NSU’s “A” relay of Ashley Aranda (Jr., Kenner, La.), Jamborska, Nichole Shultz (Fr., Roseville, Calif.), Nicole Gaynor (So., Orlando, Fla.) finished less than one second back in second place at 1:53.10.

In the men’s 200-yard medley relay, NSU’s “A” relay of Josh Davis (Fr., Huron, S.D.), Armin Hornikel (Jr., Goose Creek, S.C.), Jorge Ospina (Jr., Lazumillos, Venezuela), Ash Dougan (Jr., Tewksbury, England) took the top spot at 1:36.78. NSU’s “B” relay Illya Prikhodko (Fr., Orlando, Fla.), Cameron Pfahler (So., Neptune Beach, Fla.), Darren Rubenchik (Fr., Ontario, Canada) and William Bunge (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) finished third at 1:41.16, while NSU’s “C” relay of Jim Shelley (Fr., Charlottesville, Va.), Nic Howell (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.), Tyler Wilson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) and Roberto Duran (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) raced as an exhibition for a time of 1:45.96.

In the women’s 200-yard free, NSU’s Alexandra Zatylny (Fr., Quebec, Canada) finished fifth with a time of 2:04.03, while Marissa Leonard (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.) finished sixth at 2:06.73. Courtney Wilson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) rounded out the women’s side in seventh at 2:15.55. Grundstrom’s first place notched NSU top points on the men’s side, but Ospina was close behind in second place finishing at 1:46.63. Nathan Caldwell (Fr., Naples, Fla.) finished fourth at 1:47.50, while Chris Norris (Fr., Tallahassee, Fla.) wrapped up for the Shark as an exhibition at 1:52.27.

In the women’s 100-yard backstroke, NSU took second, third and sixth places. Aranda finished at 1:02.28, while Christine Parsons (Fr., Navarre, Fla.) finished at 1:02.75 and Devan Martin (So., Duluth, Ga.) at 1:06.70 respectively. Kelley Yakymiw (Fr., Hollywood, Fla.) raced as an exhibition and finished with a time of 1:07.32. Tampa drew top time in the men’s race, but Davis was a close second finishing at 0:55.35. Rubenchik followed in fourth place at 0:56.40, while Prikhodko finished sixth at 0:56.96. Wilson raced as an exhibition finishing with a time of 0:59.80.

Jamborska’s top time in the women’s 100-yard breast gave NSU nine points. Ashley Bransford (Fr., Santa Cruz, Aruba) finished third at 1:08.85, while Wilson finished seventh at 1:19.12. Kristen Ghandour (Fr., South Neptune Beach, Fla.) raced as exhibition finishing at 1:23.93. Hornikel took top time for NSU’s men in the same event finishing with a time of 0:59.47. Pfahler followed in third at 1:01.20, while Jonathan Key (Fr., Biltmore Lake, N.C.) finished seventh at 1:04.58. NSU’s Josh Anderson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) raced as an exhibition for a time of 1:08.49.

In the women’s 200-yard butterfly, NSU’s Shultz just missed the NCAA Division II “B” qualifying standard with a time of 2:11.22 to finish first. Martin finished sixth with a time of 2:53.76. Ospina continue his dominating performance in the men’s 200-yard fly finishing with a time of 1:55.87 to finish with the top time. John Michael Hayes (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) followed in third at 2:00.12, while Eric Brothman (Fr., Laurel, Md.) finished fourth at 2:02.92. Rubenchik raced as an exhibition and finished with a time of 2:07.64.

Gaynor was the Sharks’ top racer in the women’s 50-yard free finishing at 0:25.56 in second place, while Zatylny finished sixth at 0:26.00. Tampa was tops on the men’s side, but NSU took second through fourth with Dougan leading the pack at 0:22.07. Hornikel and Bunge finished at 0:22.11 and 0:22.97 respectively. Davis was an exhibition, finishing at 0:23.48.

In the women’s 500-yard free, Leonard led NSU with a third-place finish at 11:22.17, while Zatylny finished fifth at 11:39.32 and Ghandour sixth at 12:45.02.

Grundstrom’s first place finish in the 500-yard free gave the NSU men top points in the race, while Norris finished third at 4:55.39. Eddie Bandi (Fr., Valrico, Fla.) finish fifth at 5:02.50, while Alex Tarr (Jr., Everett, Wash.) finished at 5:08.10 as an exhibition.

Bransford was the top finisher in the women’s 100-yard free with a time of 0:56.27, while Gaynor finished fifth at 0:57.27. Caldwell led NSU on the men’s side of the 100-yard free finishing second at 0:49.37. Bunge finished fourth at 0:49.58 and Dougan finished fifth at 0:50.63. Shelley’s exhibition time of 0:50.73 was good enough for sixth.

Tampa was the top time in the women’s 200-yard back, but Aranda finished second for the Sharks with a time of 2:14.94. Parsons followed with a fourth-place finish at 2:18.20 and Martin finished sixth at 2:21.85. Yakymiw finished at 2:22.90 as an exhibition. In the men’s 200-yard back, Davis took top time at 1:58.95 to pace the Sharks. Prikhodko finished third at 2:04.22 and Duran finished at 2:07.94 for sixth place. Brothman raced as exhibition and finished at 2:07.95.

Continuing her leading performances in the breaststroke events, Jamborska led the women’s 200-yard breast, while Bransford finished third at 2:29.16. On the men’s side, the Sharks took first through fourth places with Hornikel leading the pack at 2:10.98. Pfahler (2:11.28) and Howell (2:17.65) finished second and third respecitvely, while Key’s exhibition time of 2:17.74 was good enough for fourth, but for no points.

In the women’s 500-yard free, NSU took the top four spots with Yakymiw leading the way at 5:40.40. Wilson’s time of 5:54.07 was good enough for second, while Gaynor finished at 5:58.26 in third. Ghandour finished with an exhibition time of 6:16.80.

After Grundstrom’s first-place finish in the men’s 1000-yard free, Caldwell followed in third with a time of 10:08.28, while Norris followed in fourth at 10:21.06. Tarr turned in an exhibition time of 10:36.30.

Behind Jamborska’s “B” qualifying standard time in the women’s 200-yard IM, Aranda finished with a time of 2:16.67, while Parsons finished at 2:23.66. In the men’s 400-yard IM, Duran was the top Shark with a time of 4:17.27, while Hayes finished third at 4:19.39. Key followed at 4:26.00 and Wilson finished as an exhibition at 4:34.24.

The race day concluded with the men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relay. NSU’s tandem of Zatylny, Schultz, Leonard, and Bransford received top points with a time of 3:47.01. On the men’s side, NSU’s “A” relay Bunge, Caldwell, Shelley, and Dougan finished second at 3:16.96, while the “B” relay (Pfahler, Bandi, Hayes, and Duran) finished fourth at 3:26.83.

"Over the next several weeks, we will continue to work on our mechanics as well as our endurance,” Bonewit-Cron added. “I am happy with the way our team remained aware of the challenge in front of them and stayed focused on the meet."

The Sharks will return to South Florida to host the Florida Atlantic Owls at the NSU Aquatic Center on Friday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.