North Florida Swimming Dominates Osprey Beach Blast Invite

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida women’s swimming dominated throughout all three sessions of their first home meet of the season at the Osprey Beach Blast Invite with a double winner over Howard and Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at UNF Competition Pool Complex.

The Ospreys accumulated 1,476 points over the 22-event competition against two other teams in their first of two fall home meets. It’s the first multi-team event the UNF has placed first in since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference before the 2023-24 season.

Kayla Daley was once again the highlight of the meet with four overall wins in the pool with two individual event wins and two relay wins. She was one of 12 unique UNF winners throughout the weekend with four totaling multiple individual wins and seven earning multiple wins across both individual and relay events.

FINAL SCORES

1. UNF – 1,476 pts
2. Howard – 970.5 pts
3. Georgia Southern – 925.5 pts

CLIPBOARD NOTES

• Ospreys totaled 24 first-place finishers over the three sessions of their debut home meet of the season.
• Seven different UNF swimmers were tabbed first in individual events, including Paige Munna (200 free / 500 free), Amanda Loomis (100 back / 200 IM), Ashley Kirby (50 breast / 100 breast) and Kayla Daley (100 fly / 100 IM) as multi-event winners.
• Three other event winners were Aydan Horrigan (400 IM), Skyler Jansen (1650 free) and Ellie Hixenbaugh (200 breast).
• Daley totaled the most wins with four in the 400 medley relay, 100 butterfly, 100 individual medley and the 400 freestyle relay.
• Three Ospreys join Daley as winners on multiple relay teams, including Victoria Torres, Paige McCormick and Brooke Bourn.
• On top of the 24 top swimmers, 16 more placed among the top three to give UNF 40 podium placements in 22 events.
• UNF accumulated 17 personal-best times across the two-day home meet.
• Amelia Hildebrand (500 free), Jansen (1650 free) and Kirby (100 IM) all made career debuts in their respective events.
• Jansen placed first overall with a time of 17:16.68 for the 1650 freestyle race during her event debut.
• It’s the first time finishing first in a multi-team event for the Ospreys since Jan. 10, 2015, with wins over UNC Asheville and North Carolina A&T.

COFFEY TALK

“This was a big step for our team this weekend. Three sessions in two days is a tough task and we were up to it. Georgia Southern and Howard are really good programs and they can race. From the first race, I could tell this was going to be a good meet for us. A total of 17 personal-best times were achieved over the two days and that’s saying something about this group. As much as I was impressed with the racing, the team spirit was the best I have seen in my time here at UNF. Just a great group of swimmers who have a lot of pride in the team and each other. From senior to freshman, everyone did their best to help win the invite. I want to thank everyone who came to the invite this weekend. Not just our family and friends, but the other UNF athletic teams who showed support for our athletes. Great win, but it’s time to focus on a good two weeks of training before our next competition.”
— head coach Ian Coffey

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will head down the panhandle to compete in the Florida State Quad Meet on Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 2 p.m., at the Morcom Aquatics Center in Tallahassee, Fla.