19 Lady Gators Arrive in College Station for 2009 NCAAs
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nineteen members of the No. 5 University of Florida women's swimming & diving team arrived in College Station, Texas, Tuesday for competition at the 2009 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, set to run March 19-21 at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on the Texas A&M University campus.
A total of 18 UF swimmers, including 10 freshmen, received an invitation to compete at the national meet. Additionally, two Florida divers, sophomore Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) and junior Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.) qualified for NCAAs last Friday through Sunday at the 2009 Zone B Diving Championships in Knoxville, Tenn.
Salamone earned her bid to the NCAA meet for her fourth-place finish in the three-meter springboard finals (640.05). Dodson's qualification came in the platform event, where she finished second overall with a score of 545.45. Both Dodson and Salamone will be eligible to compete in the one-meter, three-meter and platform events in College Station.
Florida has the nation's largest contingent of athletes set to compete at the 2009 NCAA meet, 19. Georgia (18), Arizona (18), and Auburn (16) and Indiana (16) are tied in second and third, respectively, in number of student-athletes.
Florida enters the NCAA Championship meet after winning the 2009 SEC Championship Crown Feb. 18-21 in Auburn, Ala. The SEC Title was UF's 17th overall team SEC Championship, and its first since 2002 when the Gators also took first. In a meet that came down to the very last relay, the win for UF was the third-closest competition in SEC history, Florida with 744 points, Auburn with 730.5 and Georgia with 725.
Junior backstroker Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year for setting a new NCAA, SEC, UF and pool record in the 200-yard backstroke, just one of her four SEC titles in 2009 among two individual titles (100, 200 back) and two relay victories (200 free relay, 200 medley relay). Spofforth also returns to the NCAA scene as the defending National Champion in both the 100 & 200-yard backstroke events and looks to capture her fourth individual title after also claiming the 200 back in 2007.
The Gators will be without one invited freshman, Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.), who endured a non-sports related injury following SECs.
“We're going to need someone to step up and make an impact in the freestyle events without Shara's presence,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “She was a potential scorer in three individual events and in all of our relays.”
A recap following morning preliminary action each day can be found on www.GatorZone.com, as well as complete results and a recap following finals each evening.
FLORIDA PRE-MEET NOTES: CLICK HERE
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE GATORS
2008-09 Dual Meet Record
(10-2 overall, 4-1 SEC)
UF All-Time Record
(315-45)
2009 SEC Championship Meet
FINISH: 1st
POINTS: 744 points
Last Time Out AT NCAAs (2008)
FINISH: 6th
POINTS: 277.5 points
RECAP: Florida was the only team to take home four individual NCAA titles from the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Then-sophomore Gemma Spofforth joined former Gator Kristen Linehan as the only Florida swimmers to ever win both the 100 and 200 back championships in the same year, also becoming just the second Gator, joining Linehan, to hold the Southeastern Conference and NCAA titles in both events in the same year. Linehan did it twice during her career, first in 1989 and again in 1990.
In addition to Spofforth's two national titles in the backstroke events, then-senior Caroline Burckle broke Janet Evans' 18-year-old record in the 500 freestyle, touching the wall with a time of 4:33.60 to win her first of two NCAA Championships. Burckle additionally captured the 200-yard freestyle.
NCAA CENTRAL
LIVE STATS: http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/swimming/stats.html
HOST: Texas A&M University
FACILITY: Student Rec Center Natatorium
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Thursday, March 19 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
1. 200-yard Freestyle Relay
2. 500-yard Freestyle
3. 200-yard Individual Medley
4. 50-yard Freestyle
20-minute intermission
6. 400-yard Medley Relay
5. One-meter Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
Thursday, March 19 – 7:00 pm – Finals
1. 200-yard Freestyle Relay
2. 500-yard Freestyle
3. 200-yard Individual Medley
4. 50-yard Freestyle
5. One-meter Diving—Finals*
6. 400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, March 20 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
7. 200-yard Medley Relay
8. 400-yard Individual Medley
9. 100-yard Butterfly
10. 200-yard Freestyle
11. 100-yard Breaststroke
12. 100-yard Backstroke
20-minute intermission
14. 800-yard Freestyle Relay—All but last three heats of timed finals
13. Three-meter Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
Friday, March 20 – 7:00 pm – Finals
7. 200-yard Medley Relay
8. 400-yard Individual Medley
9. 100-yard Butterfly
10. 200-yard Freestyle
11. 100-yard Breaststroke
12. 100-yard Backstroke
13. Three-meter Diving—Finals*
14. 800-yard Freestyle Relay—Last three heats of timed finals
Saturday, March 21 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
16. 200-yard Backstroke
17. 100-yard Freestyle
18. 200-yard Breaststroke
19. 200-yard Butterfly
20-minute intermission
21. 400-yard Freestyle Relay
20. Platform Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
15. 1,650-yard Freestyle—All but last heat of timed finals
Saturday, March 21 – 7:00 pm – Finals
15. 1,650-yard Freestyle—Last heat of timed finals
16. 200-yard Backstroke
17. 100-yard Freestyle
18. 200-yard Breaststroke
19. 200-yard Butterfly
20. Platform Diving—Finals*
21. 400-yard Freestyle Relay
FLORIDA NCAA PARTICIPANTS
1 Angelina Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.)
2 Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.)
3 Kristen Beales (Arlington, Va.)
4 Melani Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallona, Spain)
5 Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.)
6 Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.)
7 Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.)
8 Elizabeth Kemp (Potomac, Md.)
9 Julianne Lago (Miami, Fla.)
10 Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England0
11 Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
12 Sarah Peterson (Franklin, Tenn.)
13 Anna Pold (Sand Diego, Calif.)
14 Stephanie Proud (Durham, England)
15 Lily Ramirez (Gainesville, Fla.)
16 Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.)
17 Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.)
18 Kirsten smith (Cary, N.C.)
19 Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England)
-UF-
