Gators Wrap Up Purdue Invitational with Top-2 Finishes

Saturday, November 18

West Lafayette, IN

ALL DAY

Florida Gators

Purdue Invitational

Gators Wrap Up Purdue Invitational with Top-2 Finishes

Saturday, November 18, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

No. 3 men claim first with 1,009 points; women finish second with 663.5 points

By: Katie Callahan

Complete Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida fared well on the final day of the Purdue Invitational, with the No. 3 men claiming first with 1,009 and the No. 14 women finishing second with 663.5.

In a men's field that contained top-ranked Indiana, the men dominated both the individual events and the relays to earn their victory. The women put up a solid all-around effort on all three days to finish second in a field consisting of four ranked squads.

Jan Switkowski had another strong day for the Gator men, winning the 200 back with a B-cut time of 1:42.70. He recorded another top-2 finish in the 200 fly, posting a time of 1:43.27, good for a NCAA B-cut.

To round out his night, he, alongside Maxime Rooney, Mark Szaranek and Khader Baqlah recorded an A-cut time of 2:51.53 to claim first in the 400 free relay.

Ben Lawless recorded another individual win this season, this time in the 1,650 free, where he posted a B-cut time of 14:57.04.

Sydney Sell claimed an individual win for the Gator women, posting a B-cut time of 1:53.43 in the 200 back.

In the platform final, freshman Emma Whitner put up the best performance for the women, finishing seventh with a mark of 231.45. Dalton Goss recorded the top performance on the men's side, scoring a 286.95 to finish eighth.

The Gators are back in action on Nov. 29-Dec. 2 when they travel to Columbus, Ohio for U.S. Nationals.

How it Happened – Finals

Four Gator women placed in the top eight of the 1,650 free final with both Kahra Williams (16:13.39) and Taylor Ault (16:21.67) notching B-cut times. Nikki Miller and Georgia Darwent rounded out the women in the top eight.
Lawless (14:57.04), Blake Manganiello (14:57.55) and Andrew Brady (15:04.94) went 1-2-3 in the men's 1,650 free, each posting B-cut times.
Sell claimed first in the women's 200 back A final, recording a B-cut time of 1:53.43.
On the men's side, Switkowski claimed victory with a B-cut time of 1:42.70. He was followed by Maxime Rooney (third, 1:43.17), Clark Beach (fourth, 1:44.47), Michael Taylor (fifth, 1:46.08) and Grant Sanders (seventh, 1:46.34) – all who registered B-cut times.
- Bayley Main, who participated in the B final, also recorded a B-cut of 1:45.02.
Amelia Maughan (49.71) and Kelsey Dambacher (49.81) finished third and sixth, respectively in the 100 free, each posting B-cut times.
Khader Baqlah finished third in the men's 100 free, with a B-cut time of 43.45. Christoph Margotti, who also notched a B-cut time of 44.16 to finish seventh, followed Baqlah.
In the women's 200 breast A final, Paige Scheriger finished fifth with a B-cut time of 2:15.49. Kelly Fertel was close behind, placing seventh with a swim of 2:16.66.
Mark Szaranek (1:55.75) and Marco Guarente (1:58.64) finished third and sixth in the men's 200 breast, both posting B-cuts.
Switkowski (1:43.27) and Rooney (1:45.01) went 2-3 in the men's 200 fly, followed by Ben Kennedy (1:47.52) in sixth. All three men notched B-cut times.
The women's 400 free relay of Emma Ball, Fertel, Dambacher and Maughan finished fourth with a time of 3:18.98.
On the men's side, the 400 free relay of Rooney, Switkowski, M. Szaranek and Baqlah finished first with an A-cut time of 2:51.53.

How it Happened – Prelims

Four women qualified for a final in the 200 back:
- A – Sell (B-cut – 1:53.86)
- B – Emma Ball (B-cut – 1:56.68), Georgia Darwent (B-cut – 1:58.47)
- C – Madison Conway
On the men's side, 10 Gators made their way into the 200 back final:
- A – Switkowski (B-cut – 1:43.87), C. Beach (B-cut - 1:44.35), Taylor (B-cut – 1:40.45), Rooney (B-cut – 1:46.12), Sanders (B-cut – 1:46.12)
- B – Brennan Balogh, Bayley Main
- C – Tyler Silver, Dakota Mahaffey, Taylor Delk
The women's 100 free finals will consist of five Gators:
- A – Maughan, Dambacher
- B – Tori Bindi, Bella Garofalo
- D – Bettina Boszormenyi
Seven men made their way into the 100 free finals session:
- A – Baqlah (B-cut – 44.01), Margotti (B-cut – 44.26)
- B – Viktor Toth, Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Gerry Quinn, Grady Heath
- D – Jack Szaranek
Five women swam their way to finals in the 200 breast:
- A – Fertel (B-cut – 2:15.23), Scheriger (B-cut – 2:15.81)
- C – Keymont
- D – Rodriguez, Deboer
The men's side consisted of six swimmers making finals in the 200 breast:
- A – M. Szaranek (B-cut – 1:56.91), Guarente (B-cut – 1:58.17)
- B – Bray, Palazzo, Wu
- C – Lebed
Six women qualified for finals in the 200 fly:
- B – Burns, Sargent
- C – Hatch, Miller
- D – Williams, Conway
Six men also swam to finals in the 200 fly:
- A – Switkowski (B-cut – 1:47.44), Rooney (B-cut – 1:47.54), Kennedy
- B – Sanders, Gezmis
- C – Lebed

How it Happened – Diving

Whitner finished seventh on the platform with a score of 231.45. Brianna Felegi (157.65) and Boni Trinter (140.00) finished in 19th and 20th place, respectively.
Goss posted an eighth place finish on the platform, finishing with a score of 286.95. Alex Farrow was close behind in 10th with a mark of 244.35.

Straight From the Source – Head Coach Gregg Troy

"I am really proud we had of the weekend here; both teams had some tremendous swims and have made great strides. The relays performed well on each side, we still have some improvement we would like to see on the women's relays, but today's relay was the best in the last two years."
"The team really responded after losing Caeleb and Sherridon to a personal matter. I am proud of the way they stepped up and filled the holes with two of the best swimmers gone."
"Jan Switkowski and Mark Szaranek were tremendous and have been the entire season for us."
"We are proud of what we have accomplished this fall, but we still have a long ways to go."

Straight from the Source – Diving Coach Bryan Gillooly

"The platform today went pretty well with a few top-10 finishes. We met most of our goals to this point in the season, so I am very happy about that. Now we will really need to focus on performance and staying healthy for the second half."

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