Florida Gators
SEC Championships
Two SEC Titles, Three School Records & One SEC Record Highlight Day Two of SECs
Friday, February 20, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Senior Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Florida's women's 200-yard medley relay won Florida's two SEC Championships on day two of the 2009 championship meet. The Gators set three new school records, one SEC record and two pool records.
Following day two of competition, the Gator women reside in first place (312 points), while the men are in third (246 points). Georgia (260.5) and Auburn (254) round out the top three on the women's side, while the men sit behind Auburn (329.5) and Tennessee (260).
“We're extremely pleased to be where we're at after day two,” head coach Gregg Troy said, “but this is a long meet with a lot of great teams. We just have to take it one day at a time and come back tomorrow ready to race.”
Ally's 200 IM title was the fourth individual SEC title of his career and was his second-consecutive 200 IM title (200 IM: 2008, 400 IM & 200 breast: 2007).
“I think it was a good swim,” Ally said. “I think we still need to improve on a lot of things, but overall it was a good performance. It feels great to bring a championship to Florida. I am really proud to be a Florida Gator and I am glad I can bring this to my team.”
Junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) was barely edged out in the women's 200-yard IM (1:55.39), but claimed the second-place spot in UF record pace, surpassing her prelims record and securing an NCAA automatic qualifying mark with the third-fastest time in the nation.
Spofforth later returned as a member of the 200-yard free relay that set a new SEC, pool and UF record with a time of 1:28.15. Joining Spofforth, junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and freshmen Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) collaborated to knock out the four-year-old SEC record.
The Lady Gators won the 200-yard free relay for the first time since 1994 when the UF women swam to a 1:31.04.
“I am really excited with my time, and I came to win so I am excited that I did,” Spofforth said. “Our whole team did great tonight. Most of us were not even fully rested, but we pulled it out and I hope that there is more to come. It means so much to me to bring a championship to Florida. We are all juniors or younger this year, so we have a chance to win it again.”
While the Gator men placed fourth in the men's 200-yard free relay, sophomore Brett Fraser's (George Town, Cayman Islands) leadoff split was the second-fastest 50-yard free in UF history (19.72).
Napier swam to a school-record 22.17 in finals of the 50-yard free, breaking her own record, which was set in prelims (22.25). Napier's prelims mark surpassed her 22.30 standard, which was set during the 2007-08 season.
Twenty-one Florida swimmers and two women's divers represented the Gators in finals on day two of the meet in Auburn. Two Gators, sophomore Balazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary) and Spofforth recorded the fastest times of the morning in the 500-yard free and 200-yard IM events, respectively.
Sophomore Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) dove to a career-best mark (292.30) in the women's one-meter diving competition to place sixth overall, while junior Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.) finished third.
Gercsak represented the Gators well in finals, placing second and swimming the seventh-fastest time in the country with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark (4:14.99). Gercsak fell just shy of the Florida record (4:14.85) in the event. Sophomore Joey Pedraza (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) raced to a career-best 4:16.74. the ninth-fastest time in the nation.
In women's 500-yard free action, senior Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) swam a lifetime (4:39.16) best time to place fourth overall.
Through day two of the 2009 SEC meet, the Gators have set six UF records (W200 MR, M200 FR, Women's 3M diving, W50 free, W200IM, W200 FR), three James E. Martin Aquatics Center pool records (W200 MR, M200 IM, W200 FR) and two SEC records (W200 MR, W200 FR).
For complete preliminary results, visit www.GatorZone.com each afternoon of SEC competition. Live results can be found HERE.
Florida Finals Results
Men's 500-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Balazs Gercsak 4:14.99 2nd Second-fastest time in UF history, NCAA “A” cut,
Career-best time, seventh-fastest time in country
Jeff Raymond 4:18.65 7th NCAA “B” cut
Ryan Crete 4:20.10 8th Career-best time
Joey Pedraza 4:16.74 9th Career-best time, fourth-fastest time in UF history
Roland Rudolf 4:24.86 16th
Women's 500-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
L. Guenthner 4:39.16 4th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut, fifth-fastest in UF hist.
Kristen Beales 4:48.37 8th NCAA “B” cut
Stephanie Proud 4:42.04 10th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Costa-Schmid 4:46.02 13th NCAA “B” cut
Men's 200-yard IM
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Bradley Ally 1:41.96 1st UF record, pool record, NCAA automatic standard
Career-best, fastest time in the nation,
fourth-fastest time all-time
Omar Pinzon 1:44.43 3rd Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Shaune Fraser 1:51.37 8th
Brian Howell 1:46.86 11th Career-best, NCAA “B” cut
Rex Tullius 1:46.88 12th NCAA “B” cut
Women's 200-yard IM
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Spofforth 1:55.39 2nd UF record, career-best time, NCAA “A” cut
Kirsten Smith 1:58.31 9th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Jemma Lowe 1:59.66 12th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Men's 50-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
Roberto Gomez 19.87 10th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Women's 50-yard free
Swimmer Time Place Notes
S. Napier 22.17 3rd UF record, career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Shara Stafford 22.40 5th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Sarah Bateman 22.56 6th Career-best time, NCAA “B” cut
Women's one-meter diving
Diver Score Place Notes
Kara Salamone 309.55 3rd
Monica Dodson 292.30 6th Career-best score
Men's 200-yard free relay
Swimmers Time Place Notes
Fraser (B), Ally, Gomez, Martinez 1:18.34 4th NCAA “B” cut, Fraser's split
second-fastest UF time (19.72)
Women's 200-yard free relay
Swimmers Time Place Notes
Napier, Spofforth, Stafford, Bateman 1:28.15 1st UF record, SEC record,
pool record, NCAA “A” cut
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009, Schedule
Prelims
10:00 am
(M/W)
400 Individual Medley
100yd Butterfly
200yd Freestyle
100yd Breaststroke
100yd Backstroke
12:30 pm-1:30 pm
Women's Platform
Finals
6:00pm
(M/W)
400yd Individual Medley
100yd Butterfly
200yd Freestyle
100yd Breaststroke
100yd Backstroke
Women's Platform
400yd Medley Relay
-UF-
