Erie Women Stand Fifth, Men Ninth After Day One of NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

Fort Pierce, FL -- The Erie Community College women’s swimming and diving team had five top-eight finishes and broke two school records in a stellar opening day at the 2018 NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Fort Pierce, FL. The women are in fifth place and the men are in ninth after the first day.

Sophomore Tabby Smith, was seeded 14th in the 50 Freestyle but swam a school-record time of 24.65 in the preliminaries that got her into the evening’s championship final heat where she finished eighth in the country with a time of 24.88.

The women’s 200-Yard Medley Relay team of Alexis Slimak, Allie DeBiase, Abbie Ettinger and Smith took more than five seconds off their seed time to finish seventh with a school-record time of 1:58.76. DeBiase also took sixth in the 50-yard breaststroke in 31.78.

The women’s one-meter was the first diving event of the meet. Erie’s Haley Roblee took fifth with 315.90 points and Stephanie Zmuda was seventh with 258.20 points.

In what was a very competitive men’s 50-Yard Freestyle, Erie’s Jonathan Pilat was one of only three swimmers from non-scholarship schools to score. He finished 15th in 22.67 seconds. Brad Zifra was 13th in the 200-Yard Individual Medley in 2:02.35. The men’s 200-Yard Medley Relay Team of Charlie May, Zifra, Mike Oldman and Pilat finished in ninth in 1:42.71.

The NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships continue tomorrow at Wilder Aquatic Complex in Fort Pierce, Florida.