Florida Sends 19 into Day 2 SEC Finals

Senior Mitch D'Arrigo has the chance to repeat as the 500 free SEC champion, having previously won the event back in 2015.

Florida Sends 19 into Day 2 SEC Finals

Wednesday, February 15, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Layne Weitzel

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Gators will be well-represented on the second night of SEC Championship finals, sending 19 into the various races based on their prelims performances.

The morning opened with the women's 500 freestyle. Freshman Savanna Faulconer finished first for Florida, placing 10^th with a season-best time of 4:44.44, and Autumn Finke finished 13^th with a season-best 4:45.08. Kahra Williams followed in 21^st place at 4:47.71, a season-best, and Taylor Katz placed 25^th at 4:48.12, shaving over 10 seconds off her seed time.

Georgia Darwent finished in 27^th at a season-best 4:48.62, Kelsey Dambacher in 39^th at 4:51.91 and Amelia Maughan in 40^th at 4:52.17.

Faulconer and Finke will swim in tonight's B-final, while Williams will compete in the C-final. Katz is the first alternate for the event.

In the men's 500 free, Mitch D'Arrigo earned the top seed for tonight's finals, swimming to an A-cut and season-best 4:12.43. Ben Lawless followed up in sixth place with a season-best 4:17.28. Both will compete in the A-final for a chance to medal for Florida.

Three Gators will face off in the B-final. In the prelims, Maxime Rooney finished ninth with a season-best 4:18.66, Andrew Brady finished 12^th with a season-best 4:19.48 and Blake Manganiello finished 14^th with a season-best 4:19.84.

Khader Baqlah rounds out the Gator contingent in the event's finals, earning a trip to the C-final. He finished 20^th with a season-best 4:22.02.

Drew Clark, Taylor Delk and Grady Heath also appeared in the 500 free prelims. Clark finished 34^th at 4:26.01, Delk 35^th at 4:26.34 and Heath 37^th at 4:27.02.

Kelly Fertel will serve as the lone Gator competing in the women's 200 IM finals. Fertel finished 16^th with a season-best 1:58.71, earning a trip to the B-final.

Hannah Burns and Sydney Sell also opened their 2017 SEC Championships in the 200 IM, both swimming to season-best times. Burns placed 29^th at 2:00.23, while Sell finished 33^rd at 2:00.84.

On the men's side, Mark Szaranek, Jan Switkowski and Alex Lebed will represent Florida in the 200 IM A-final. In the prelims, Szaranek earned the two-seed with a season-best 1:43.00, while Switkowski tied for fourth at 1:44.24 and Lebed placed eighth with a season-best 1:44.86.

Brennan Balogh will precede the trio in the B-final, having finished 10^th this morning with a season-best 1:45.37.

After a swim-off to determine which final he would compete in, Ross Palazzo will swim in the C-final. He tied for 17^th with a season-best 1:46.24.

Chandler Bray also tied for 34^th with a season-best time of 1:49.34.

In the women's 50 free, the freshman duo of Sherridon Dressel and Emma Ball will compete in their first individual SEC finals. Dressel tied for 15^th earlier today with a season-best 22.74 to earn a spot in the B-final, while Ball swam to a 23^rd-place finish with a season-best 22.94.

Tori Bindi and Elisavet Panti also saw action in the event. Bindi placed 43^rd at 23.51, a season-best, while Panti finished 50^th at 23.70.

To finish off the prelims' splashing and dashing, both Caeleb Dressel and Enzo Martinez-Scarpe will appear in tonight's 50 free A-final. Dressel earned the top seed with an A-cut and season-best 18.51, while Martinez-Scarpe tied for seventh with a season-best 19.59.

While the men's divers had the day off, Florida's divers on the women's side competed on 1-meter. In the preliminaries, Brooke Madden led the Gators, finishing in 15^th place with 288.55 points. Teya Syskakis placed 18^th with 283.05 points, Abigail Howell placed 31^st with 230.75 points, Miranda Goss placed 34^th with 225.25 points and Brianna Felegi placed 39^th with 195.75 points.

Madden's and Syskakis' scores were both NCAA zone-qualifying and contributed points to the Gator women's team total. Syskakis' score was also a career-best for her.

"Similar to yesterday, our inexperience showed a little bit today and kept us out of the final," said diving coach Bryan Gillooly. "We did pretty well. The dives were consistent. This is just another level. It's so close that the slightest miss is going to take you out, and that's what happened to us today. Brooke was very close to making it in, and Teya did a great job, but having freshman and sophomore divers makes it a little tough. It's a new experience and a learning experience. We're going to come back stronger in the future, but right now, we're just kind of soaking it all in.

"For me personally, we're kind of inspired by what we're seeing here, and it's going to really push us to work that much harder in the future."

Competition will continue tonight at 6 p.m. with finals for the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free relay and women's 1-meter.

Results can be viewed live on utsports.com and will be posted in full on FloridaGators.com at the conclusion of each day of competition. The meet will be streamed live on SEC Network +.

Fans planning to attend any day of the meet are encouraged to visit Tennessee's meet information page for more on tickets, parking, the clear bag policy, etc. Doors open to the public at 9 a.m. each day.

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