The Gators’ men’s and women swimming and diving teams collaborated to pick up 12 victories on the second day at the All-Florida Invitational, including sweeping the 400 IM events. Both the men and women’s teams are in first place with 737 and 748 points respectively.
The women’s team had six individual and two relay NCAA “B” cut times on a night that they swept all of their events.
The victorious 200-medley relay teams of Alana Pazevic (Mill Creek, Wash.), Hilda Luthersdottir (Hanfnarfjordur, Iceland), Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), and Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia) finished with a NCAA “B” cut time of 1:42.63. The 800 freestyle relay team of Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.), Natasha Fung (Edmonton, Canada), Kaitlin Frehling (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) earned a NCAA “B” cut mark of 7:20.94.
In the 400 IM, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) and freshman Rebecca Rainer (Richmond, Va.) made NCAA “B” cut times by finishing first and second with times of 4:13.24 and 4:19.20 respectively.
Sarah Bateman soared to winning the 100 fly (53.76), while Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) won the 200 free race.
The Gator women were also able to sweep the 100 fly, 200 free, and 100 back. In the 100 fly, Beisel finished first followed by Crippen and Zalewski. Bohunicky was able to win the 200 free, followed by Beisel and Fung. Beisel won the 100 back, followed by Bateman and Crippen.
On the men’s side, three freshmen swept the 400 IM. Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.), Eduardo Soleache (Madrid, Spain), and Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) would post times of 3:50.96, 3:51.24, and 3:56.70 respectively. This was Elliott’s first NCAA win and, along with Solache, posted NCAA “B” mark times.
Elliot won another match in the100 breast (55.64). Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) would win by touching the wall at 48.85 at the 100 free.
The men’s 200 medley and 800 freestyle were successful. Matt Curby (Oviedo, Fla.), Elliot, Cieslak, and Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) worked together to win the 200 medley relay with a 1:31.20. Curby, deBorde, Jason Taylor (Plant City, Fla.), and Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) took the 800 freestyle with a 6:45.52.
The All-Florida Invitational concludes on Sunday with preliminaries at 9 a.m. and finals at 4 p.m., held at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Women’s team rankings through day two:
1. University of Florida 748
2. Florida State University 643
3. Florida Gulf Coast University 425
4. University of Miami 358
5. Florida Atlantic University 232
6. Florida International Univ. 184
7. University of North Florida 87
8. Florida Southern College 62
9. Nova Southeastern University 49
Men’s team rankings through day two:
1. University of Florida 737
2. Florida State University 678
3. Florida Atlantic University 448
4. Florida Southern College 347
5. Nova Southeastern University 314
6. University of Miami 40
Gator Country reporter Sara Ladwig can be reached at sladwig@gatorcountry.com