Two UF Records Fall; Two Gators Earn No. 1 Seeds After Thurs. SEC Prelims
Thursday, February 19, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Twenty-one Florida swimmers and two women's divers qualified for finals after Thursday prelims at the 2009 SEC Championships in Auburn. Two Gators, sophomore Balazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary) and junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) recorded the fastest times of the morning in the 500-yard free and 200-yard IM events, respectively. Spofforth's 200 IM time was good for a school record, while, junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) broke the UF record in the 50-yard free.
Napier captured her own 22.30 50 free record after clocking a quick 22.25 to enter finals seeded third in the event. Freshman Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and freshman Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) will join Napier in the championship heat after Bateman won a swim-off for the eighth spot in the final heat after tying Auburn's Alana Dillette (22.70) in prelims.
Highlighting the day for the UF men, Gercsak swam to the first-place seed in the 500-yard free after prelims, clocking a 4:17.08, career-best time. Four other Gators, including junior Ryan Crete (Sarasota, Fla.), freshman Jeff Raymond (Davie, Fla.), junior Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) and sophomore Joey Pedraza (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) will join Gercsak in the finale of the 500 Thursday evening. Senior Cody Kauffman (Harrisburg, Pa.) clocked a career-best mark (4:23.50) as an exhibition swimmer for the Gators.
In men's IM action, three Gators in Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) and Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) qualified for the eight-man final of the men's 200-yard IM, the event Ally captured at the 2008 SEC Championship meet.
In the women's one-meter springboard competition, Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.) and Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) led the way as UF's top competitors. Salamone will return Thursday evening after placing fifth (298.80) in prelims, while Dodson captured eighth in a career-best, 289.90-point performance.
Finals of the women's one-meter springboard will kick off at 5:30 p.m. from the James E. Martin Aquatics Center, while swimming finals of the men's and women's 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 200-yard free relay and men's 3M diving will start at 6 p.m. (CST)
Complete results and a recap from the day's events will be available on www.GatorZone.com Thursday evening.
Florida Prelims Results
Men's 500-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Balazs Gercsak 4:17.08 1st Finals qualifier, 10th fastest time in nation,
NCAA “B” standard, career-best time
Ryan Crete 4:20.10 6th Finals qualifier, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Jeff Raymond 4:20.49 8th Finals qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Roland Rudolf 4:21.09 9th Consolation qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Joey Pedraza 4:21.27 10th Consolation qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Logan Storie 4:26.42 17th
Scott Thompson 4:28.16 21st
Cody Kauffman 4:23.50 exh Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Women's 500-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
L. Guenthner 4:41.44 5th Finals qualifier, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Kristen Beales 4:42.84 7th Finals qualifier, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Stephanie Proud 4:44.04 10th Consolation final, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Costa-Schmid 4:45.71 13th Consolation final, NCAA “B” cut
Liz Kemp 4:51.54 18th Career-best time
Sarah Peterson 4:53.06 exh
Men's 200-yard IM
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Bradley Ally 1:44.98 2nd Finals qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Omar Pinzon 1:45.21 3rd Finals qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Shaune Fraser 1:45.63 5th Finals qualifier, NCAA “B” cut
Rex Tullius 1:46.82 10th Consolation final, NCAA “B” cut, career-best time
Brian Howell 1:48.55 16th Consolation final
Mike Joyce 1:47.96 exh Career-best time
Women's 200-yard IM
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Spofforth 1:56.42 1st UF record, Finals qualifier, career-best time,
NCAA “B” cut
Jemma Lowe 2:00.44 11th Consolation final, NCAA “B” cut
Kirsten Smith 2:00.87 16th Consolation final, career-best time
Lindsay Rogers 2:02.41 26th Career-best time
Lily Ramirez 2:02.35 exh Career-best time
Men's 50-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Roberto Gomez 19.85 12th Consolation final, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Raul Martinez 20.23 19th Career-best time
Women's 50-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
S. Napier 22.25 3rd UF record, finals qualifier, career-best time
NCAA “B” cut
Shara Stafford 22.44 5th Finals qualifier, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Sarah Bateman 22.70 T8th Finals qualifier, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Bateman 22.42 swim off (won swim off for final spot in champ. heat)
Women's one-meter diving
Diver Score Place Notes
Kara Salamone 298.80 5th Finals qualifier
Monica Dodson 289.90 8th Finals qualifier, career-best mark
Jeana Bartell 279.00 9th
Whitney Stern 273.50 11th
Men's one-meter diving
Diver Score Place Notes
Anthony Lewark 340.20 9th
Colin Bell 321.80 13th Career-best score, Zone Diving Standard
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