Florida Gators
U.S. Open
Swimming Teams Finish Second At U.S. Open
Sunday, December 3, 2000 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Florida men's and women's swimming teams, ranked 10th and ninth, respectively, finished the U.S. Open in second place with a combined score of 631 points after the Open's final day on Saturday. The women's team was second in its competition with 322 points and the men's team also finished in second with 309 points. The Auburn men's and women's teams finished in first place among a combined men's and women's field of over 100 teams. Florida had 23 swimmers advance to finals in Saturday's events.
For the women's team, freshman Janelle Atkinson (Jamaica/The Bolles School) won the 800-meter freestyle finals with a time of 8:29.13. Florida had three additional swimmers finish in the top-10 in the 800-meter free finals. Sophomore Laura Cross (Pompano Beach, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) came in sixth with her time of 8:44.21, freshman Jaime Ellis (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) finished eighth, touching the wall in 8:45.99 and freshman Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla./DeLand) was 10th, finishing the race in 8:46.49. The 400-meter freestyle relay A team also performed well and finished second with a time of 3:48.40.
Senior Greg Reeves (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon) led the men's team, winning the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:58.01. Fellow senior Ricardo Monasterio (Caracus, Venezuela/Institutos Edu. Asociados) had another impressive performance for the men, finishing second in the finals of the 1,500-meter freestyle, touching the wall in 15:11.53. The men's 400-meter relay A team finished fourth with a time of 3:26.15.
The U.S. Open concludes the fall portion of the teams' schedule. Both teams will return to the pool on Jan. 5, when they take on SEC foe Auburn. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Auburn, Ala.
Florida Results For Finals
Women's Results
800-meter Freestyle
1. Janelle Atkinson, 8:29.13; 6. Laura Cross, 8:44.21; 8. Jaime Ellis, 8:45.99; 10. Sara McLarty, 8:46.49; 12. Sharon Rzadkowolsky, 8:46.93; 15. Megan Melgaard, 8:51.56; 21. Anna Chapman, 8:55.44; 25. Melissa Pavlik, 8:57.53; 38. Andrea Bennett, 9:08.11; 39. Brooke Taflinger, 9:08.29.
200-meter Breaststroke
18. Cerian Gibbes, 2:34.99.
200-meter Butterfly
14. Sara McLarty, 2:18.08; 21. Casey Seland, 2:19.78.
400-meter Freestyle Relay
2. Florida A (Martindale, Olsen, Tennison, Atkinson), 3:48.40; 9. Florida B (West, Ellis, Cross, McLarty), 3:55.34.
Men's Results
100-meter Freestyle
19. Nathan Summers, 51.64.
200-meter Breaststroke
6. Phillip Norris, 2:16.75; 12. Ian Chadsey, 2:18.84.
200-meter Butterfly
1,500-meter Freestyle
2. Ricardo Monasterio, 15:11.53; 29. Eric Donnelly, 16:09.98;
400-meter Freestyle Relay
4. Florida A (Odendaal, Summers, Kostowicz, Hernando), 3:26.15; 10. Florida B (Reeves, Sherrard, Jansen, Kim), 3:33.56.
