Newcomers Salamone & Raymond Earn SEC Weekly Honors
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
For their performances against SEC opponent South Carolina Nov. 8, Florida newcomers Kara Salamone and Jeff Raymond were honored as SEC Swimming & Diving Athletes of the Week by the conference office Tuesday. The two accolades mark the fourth-straight week one or more members of the UF squad have earned a conference weekly honor. To date, eight Gators have earned a total of nine SEC Athlete of the Week awards.
Salamone, a junior transfer, originally from Hollywood, Fla., was tabbed SEC Female Diver of the Week after earning first-place victories on both the one and three-meter diving boards in the dual showdown with South Carolina Nov. 8. Salamone secured NCAA Zone Diving qualifying standards on the one and three-meter boards, racking up scores of 289.72 and 308.78, respectively, while singlehandedly accounting for 18 of Florida's 168.5 points that led to the win over the Gamecocks.
The dual with USC was Salamone's first competition as a Gator, and her scores on the one and three-meter boards mark the two best performances for Florida so far this season. Salamone's two scores additionally gave her the fifth-best finishes in the SEC this season on each respective board.
Raymond, a freshman hailing from Davie, Fla., garnered SEC Male Freshman of the Week honors after rallying as Florida's top freshman finisher against the Gamecocks. Raymond swam to a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (1:52.04), while finishing fifth in the 100-yard free with a time of 47.40. After swimming the race only once so far this season, Raymond now holds the fifth-fastest time in the 200 fly for the Gators this fall.
Raymond has continually improved as a competitor for the Gators in his inaugural campaign after seeing action in the season-opener against Michigan, where he finished seventh in the 200 free (1:42.94) and fifth in the 500 free (4:45.00). In the dual against Georgia, Raymond returned in both the 200 and 500 free, shaving significant time off each to finish fifth in both the 200 (1:40.74) and 500 (4:33.55) events.
Florida SEC Swimmers and Divers of the Week Tally
MEN
Oct. 21 – Anthony Lewark, Diving: SEC Male Diver of the Week & SEC Male Freshman of the Week
Oct. 28 – Omar Pinzon, Swimming: SEC Male Swimmer of the Week
Nov. 5 – Balazs Gercsak, Swimming: SEC Male Swimmer of the Week
Nov. 11 – Jeff Raymond, Swimming: SEC Male Freshman of the Week
WOMEN
Oct. 21 – Laurabeth Guenthner, Swimming: SEC Female Swimmer of the Week
Oct. 21 – Shara Stafford, Swimming: SEC Female Freshman of the Week
Oct. 28 – Teresa Crippen, Swimming: SEC Female Freshman of the Week
Nov. 11 – Kara Salamone, Diving: SEC Female Diver of the Week
-UF-
