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Florida Responds at Night, Breaks Two School Records on Day 2 of Ohio State Invite
On the second day of
competition at the Ohio State Invitational, the Florida Swimming and
Diving teams entered the finals session hungry after an under-par
morning session. Using a total team effort, the Gators responded with a
pair of individual school records, eight NCAA ‘A’ cuts and six meet
records.
The Gators set a pair of UF records behind
seniors Hilda Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) and senior Ellese
Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia). Luthersdottir became the first Gator
to swim a sub-one minute breaststroke, touching in 59.55. Zalewski
topper her program record in the 100 butterfly, stopping the clock in
51.13.
The Orange and Blue dominated the 400 individual
medley, registering some of the fastest times in the country on the men
and women’s side. Senior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) won
the event in 4:00.55. Redshirt senior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town,
South Africa) and junior Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) were
neck-and-neck the whole race, each notching NCAA ‘A’ cut times of
3:41.26 and 3:42.18, respectively.
The Gator relays
extended their goal of automatically qualifying for NCAA’s. The women
have now earned NCAA ‘A’ cuts in all four relays and will go for a
perfect five-for-five tomorrow night in the 400 freestyle relay. The
men began their path to a repeat NCAA championship performance in the
800 free relay, touching in an NCAA ‘A’ cut mark of 6:20.94.
After
two days of competition, both Gator teams are in striking distance with
some of their best events still in front. The No. 1 UF men trail No. 10
Ohio State 795-716 and the No. 4 UF women trail No. 12 Virginia
766-717. Florida has won seven of eight relays over the course of the
meet.
Sounds Bites:
“The second day of a swim meet is
always hard. We weren’t as focused as we needed to be this morning,
which is something we are going to have to address in our training. We
need to have a good second day at the end of the year. That is why it
is good to come to a three-day event with prelims and finals. This
evening, the response was very good. They came out and raced extremely
well. There was a lot of pride in what they did. I was pleased with the
team’s performance.” –Head Coach Gregg Troy on the change of attitude
from prelims to finals
“The group has a lot of pride in
our relays. It is the one aspect of swimming that has a real team
dynamic because everyone shares in the relay. Right now we have guys
asking to race on the ‘B’ and ‘C’ relays to see if they belong on the
‘A’ relay. I think the pride and the effort is outstanding.” – Troy on
the relays
“I wanted to be a little bit faster in the 400
IM and my split on the relay, but I’ve been training a bit differently
than I have been and have been doing a lot more distance, so I’m still
a little tired from all of that. Overall, I’m pretty happy where I
am.”- Senior Elizabeth Beisel on her NCAA leading 400 IM.
“It
was great to see that we could bring it back. We all knew were going to
be better tonight than we were this morning. It was something that the
leaders had to take into their own hands. I’m glad we came out on top
tonight.”- Beisel on the team’s performance change at night
“We
didn’t handle ourselves very well this morning. The point that we tried
to make sure everyone understood is that if we do this at NCAA’s, the
meet is over. We’ve got to make sure we bring energy every day and get
behind each other completely. I know that my race wasn’t very good in
the morning, so you can’t point your finger at one person. On a
positive note, we did a great job turning it around this evening. It
was a lot of fun out there tonight.”- Redshirt senior Sebastien
Rousseau on the lesson’s learned from today.
“It was a
great race. I always enjoy racing with Dan (Wallace). He is a really
tough guy. I always know that when I race with him that it is going to
come down to the last 25, which it did. I was happy with the time,
because it is a best time for me after my DQ from NCAA’s last year. I
was pretty angry at myself from this morning, so I might have over-swam
the first 25 out of frustration. However, I’m still pleased with the
result.”- Rousseau on the 400 IM.
“The men were very good
in the 400 IM. I think Elizabeth has a little bit more in the tank
right there. It was a real good swim for all of them. The thing I liked
is that even though they were faster, they were still frustrated and
still want to be faster. That is a real indication of where we’re at
and where we want to go. I’m also very pleased with Ellese Zalewski and
Hilda Luthersdottir.”- Head Coach Gregg Troy.
Gator Relays:
·
Florida started the meet with a win and the program’s fourth fastest
200 medley relay ever in an ‘A’ cut time of 1:36.42. The quartet
consisted of sophomore Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario, Canada),
Luthersdottir, Zalewski and Natalie Hinds. Russell led off with a
24.59, followed by Luthersdottir (27.26), Zalewski (23.02) and Hinds’
21.55 anchor.
· The
Gator men took second in the 200 medley relay, missing the ‘A’ cut by
.02 and finishing in 1:26.10. The foursome delivered splits of 21.84 by
junior Christian-Paul Homer (Trinidad and Tobago), 24.62 by junior
Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Madrid, Spain), 20.74 by senior Marcin Cieslak
(Warsaw, Poland) and 18.90 by senior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.). The
swim stands as the ninth fastest in UF history.
·
The Gator women earned their fourth relay NCAA ‘A’ cut, taking the 800
free relay in a time of 7:05.71. The quartet of Zalewski, Beisel,
Russell and sophomore Ashlee Linn (Sarasota, Fla.) gave UF its’ ninth
fastest relay in the program record books.
·
Florida men earned their second relay ‘A’ cut in the 800 free relay,
their fastest time since winning NCAA’s in a school record of 6:13.27.
The foursome of Rousseau, Cieslak, sophomore Corey Main (Auckland, New
Zealand) and Wallace touched in 6:20.94.
Medley Madness:
Florida earned its most points on the night in the 400 individual
medley, scoring nine women, notching 10 NCAA cuts and placing six in
the ‘A’ final. On the men’s side, the Orange and Blue placed five in
the top-six.
·
Beisel touched in an ‘A’ cut and meet record time of 4:00.55, which was
the fastest time in the country as of yesterday’s results.
·
‘A’ final results: Sophomore Lindsey McKnight (Coral Springs,
Fla.)-fourth (4:13.32); Junior Rebecca Rainer (Richmond, Va.)- fifth
(4:14.98); Linn-sixth (4:15.76); sophomore Sierra Kuhn (Verona, Wis.)-
seventh 4:16.97; sophomore Megan Rankin (Irvine, Calif.)
·
The Gator men finished 1-2 in the event with NCAA ‘A’ cuts from
Rousseau (3:41.26) and Wallace (3:42.18). After being disqualified at
NCAA’s last year, Rousseau’s swim is his new personal best and seventh
best all-time for UF.
·
‘A’ final results: Solaeche-Gomez (3:46.12), senior Connor Signorin
(East Windsor, N.J.-3:46.87), junior Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.-
3:48.72) and sophomore Ryan Rosenbaum (3:51.98) finished fourth, fifth,
sixth and ninth, respectively.
Fast Flying:
·
Zalewski won the 100 fly in a school record and NCAA ‘A’ cut swim of
51.13, shattering her own personal best from last year. Hinds came in
third with a mark of 52.49.
·
UF tacked on another win in the 100 fly, as Cieslak set a meet record
in a time of 46.28. Homer touched in fifth with a mark of 47.81.
deBorde notched the fourth fastest swim in the field, winning the ‘B’
final in a time of 47.50.
Ferocious Free:
·
Russell broke the meet record in the 200 free, winning the ‘B’ final in
1:44.46. Russell’s swim would have won the ‘A’ final.
·
Freshman Mitch D’Arrigo (Rome, Italy) finished second in the 200 free
(1:35.85).
Best Breast:
·
Luthersdottir became the first Gator to break the one-minute barrier in
the 100 breast, and won the event with a time of 59.55.
·
Solaeche-Gomez captured the 100 breast in UF’s fourth-fastest all-time
swim of 53.67. Junior Matt Elliot (Peoria, Ill.) placed fourth in
54.51. Both swimmers excelled, completing a tough double with the 400
IM earlier in the program.
Backs to the Wall:
·
Russell finished second in the 200 back (54.29) and Linn finished sixth
(54.75).
· Main lead
a 1-2-3 finish for the Gators in the ‘B’ final. Main’s 46.87 was just
off of his career best and would have won the championship final.
Diving Results:
· Sophomore Kahlia Warner placed second on the one-meter with a score of 301.95.
Meet the Opponents:
·
The Gator men are going against their sixth and seventh top-18 team. On
the men’s side, Ohio State enters the meet ranked 10th in the country
and 8-0 on the season. The Buckeye men finished third at the Big Ten
championships and 13th at NCAA’s. Virginia (2-2) is ranked 18th, is the
reigning ACC Champion and placed 27th at last year’s NCAA’s. Kentucky
men finished 22nd at NCAA’s and ninth at SEC’s last season.
·
In the women’s meet, No. 12 Virginia, No. 16 Purdue and No. 19 Ohio
State represent the fifth, sixth and seventh top-25 opponents for the
Gators this fall. Virginia is 4-1 on the year, finished first at the
ACC Championships and placed 18th at ACC’s. The Buckeye women are 7-1
on the year, placed fourth at the Big
Ten Championships and 28th at NCAA’s. Purdue women finished 19th at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Day One ‘A’ Cuts:
· Women’s 400 medley relay and 200 free relay and the men’s 400 medley relay
·
Russell’s 100 back leadoff split (51.95), Cieslak’s 200 IM (1:42.69),
Beisel’s 200 IM (1:54.59) and D’Arrigo’s 500 free (4:15.04).
Schedule of events:
Sunday, Nov. 24
Prelims: 9 a.m.
• 200 Backstroke
• 100 Freestyle
• 200 Breaststroke
• 200 Butterfly
• Platform Diving - finals
Finals: 3 p.m.
• 1650 Freestyle
• 200 Backstroke
• 100 Freestyle
• 200 Breaststroke
• 200 Butterfly
• 400 Freestyle Relay
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