No. 5 Gators Host South Carolina Saturday
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
After racking up 12 NCAA provisional qualifying standards so far this season, the No. 5 Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams look forward to adding to the mark when they play host to SEC foe South Carolina Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. Swim meet time is slated for 2 p.m., while the UF and USC divers will square off on the one-meter board at noon.
Both the Florida women 2-2 (1-1 SEC) and men 2-1 (2-0 SEC) checked in at No. 5 in the Oct. 31 College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll, sliding one spot down on the Top-25 list from their season-opening No. 4 ranking.
“Last week was a pretty good week for us,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “We had a great week training. On the women's side against Georgia, we saw some great things from some young girls, but we lost a lot of the close races. The men were exceptional and won nine of the 13 events. This week, we'll start a three-week training period and we'll also face a good team in South Carolina Saturday. Our training period will set us up for our meets in early December against some major competition, and we'll also start picking our conference team to set up the second semester of the season.”
Both Gator squads experienced their fastest and most productive meet of the season when they welcomed the No. 2 and No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs to Gainesville Oct. 30. Despite being edged, 143-100, by the Lady Dawgs, the Florida women solidified four more NCAA B standards, with two coming from senior Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) in both the 500 and 1650-yard free races. Junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the way for UF in the 50 free, clocking a 22.75 victory, while fellow junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) improved upon her NCAA B mark in the 200-yard back. Both the 400 medley and free relays clocked B times as well.
On the diving front, senior Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) reeled in the one-meter title, achieving a NCAA Zone Diving Championships qualification mark, her first of the season, with her 268.88 first-place finish. Already owning a one-meter Zone standard, sophomore Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) achieved her second Zone qualifying mark, this time on the 3M board, with her 294.15 second-place finish in the event.
On the men's side, the Gators won nine of the 13 men's events to top No. 9 UGA, 139-102. Junior Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and sophomore Balazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary) led the way for Florida, each racking up two individual event victories, Fraser in the 50 and 100-yard free races, and Gercsak in the 200 and 500 free races. Gercsak's finish in the 500 free was a NCAA B standard, his first of the season.
In men's diving action, freshman Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla) again led the charge for the Gators, setting Zone qualifying marks on both the one and three-meter boards. While Lewark qualified on the one-meter in the season-opener, he improved upon his mark against Georgia. Lewark's second-place finish on the three-meter board qualified him in that event as well.
The South Carolina Match-Up
The Orange and Blue enter the South Carolina dual meet with momentum after success against a ranked Georgia squad last week. The unranked Gamecock men's and women's squads enter their first SEC meet of the season1-2 overall after dropping the first two meets of the season to ranked opponents in North Carolina and Virginia. USC was last in action Oct. 31, when both the men and women defeated Clemson in Columbia, S.C.
UF and USC meet for the 28th time in the history of the series on the men's side, while the two women's squads will take to the pool for the 17th time Saturday. Florida owns the advantage in the all-time record on both sides, with the men boasting a 23-4 edge, and the women claiming a 16-0 undefeated record against the Gamecocks.
The last time the Gamecocks and the Gators met in dual meet action was during the 2006-07 season when both squared off in a triangular dual with conference foe Alabama. Both the Florida men and women achieved the better of South Carolina, with the women posting a, 176.5-123.5, win and the men topping USC, 190-109, in the Jan. 20, 2007 meeting.
The South Carolina Connection
First year UF assistant coach and Florida alum Leah Martindale-Stancil joined the Gator coaching staff for the 2008-09 season after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at South Carolina. Martindale-Stancil will face-off with the Gamecocks for the first time since her arrival in Gainesville.
UF vs. USC Order of Events – Sat. Nov. 8
Noon 1 Meter Diving (Women & Men)
2:00 pm 400 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
50 Freestyle
200 IM
2:50 pm (approx.) 3 Meter Diving (Men) - BREAK
3:20 pm (approx.) 200 Fly
100 Free
200 Back
500 Free
3:50 pm (approximate) 3 Meter Diving (Women) - BREAK
4:20 pm (approximate) 200 Breast
200 Free Relay
For complete results following the SEC match-up between the Gators and Gamecocks, please visit www.GatorZone.com Saturday.
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