Three Gators Garner SEC Athlete of the Week Accolades
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Three Florida swimming and diving athletes, including senior Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) and freshmen Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.), were named SEC swimming and diving Athletes of the Week, announced by the conference office Tuesday.
Guenthner garnered Female Swimmer Athlete of the Week honors for her performance last Friday in the No. 4 Gators' season-opener against No. 14 Michigan and No. 3 Stanford. Guenthner won both the 1,000-yard free (9:47.91) and the 500-yard free (4:51.92) events, the only two individual event victories for the Gator women in the meet, and moved to the top of the SEC charts after the first week of swimming action, holding the second-fastest 1,000 free and third-fastest 500 free times in the conference so far this season.
Stafford earned Female Freshman of the Week accolades after being a strong contributor for Florida in her first collegiate meet, finishing second in both the 100 free (50.45) and the 200 free (1:50.04) events in the triangular with Michigan and Stanford. Stafford's 100 free mark ranks her first in the SEC standings, while her 200 free time places her second on the conference list in the event. In addition to her individual contributions, Stafford aquired an NCAA B cut in the 100-yard backstroke (55.13) as the leadoff leg of the women's 400-yard medley relay that placed second.
On the diving front, Lewark reeled in two SEC honors, the first of his career as a Gator. For his second-place efforts on both the one-meter (309.75) and three-meter (311.25) boards in the UF men's first meet against Michigan, Lewark was named both the Male Diver of the Week and the Male Freshman of the Week.
Both the Florida men (0-1, 0-0 SEC) and women (1-1, 0-0 SEC) will be back in action this week to open SEC competition against conference foe LSU. The Gator men take to the water at 2 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday in Baton Rouge, while the women compete at the same time Thursday afternoon at LSU.
The men look to extend their 18-0 undefeated streak against the Tigers, while the women will additionally look to keep a clean slate as they currently hold an 11-0 all-time advantage in the series.
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