NCAA Day 2 Prelims: Crippen Breaks UF 400 IM Record, Spofforth Seeded First in 100 Back
Friday, March 20, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Freshman Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) broke the UF record in the 400-yard IM (4:05.00) as four Lady Gators and two UF relays prepare for finals on day two of the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Crippen swam a season-best time in the event to place fourth overall and break teammate Stephanie Proud's (Durham, England) 400 IM record set at the 2009 SEC Championships. Proud clocked a 1:07.00 career-best time in prelims and will join Crippen in the championship heat Friday evening in the seventh-place seed.
Junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) clocked the fastest time in prelims of the 100-yard back (51.45) to earn the top seed heading into finals. Spofforth, the defending National Champion and SEC record-holder in the event, will look to repeat Friday night.
Freshman Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England) will take to the water in the championship heat of the 100-yard butterfly after clocking a seventh-place, 51.76 swim in preliminaries.
Two freshmen, Lily Ramirez (Gainesville, Fla.) and Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) swam season and UF career-best times in prelims of the 100-yard back, Ramirez finishing 25th (53.18) and Bateman clocking a 54.77 for 54th overall in the field.
Florida's 200-yard medley relay garnered the sixth-place spot heading into finals. The team, composed of Spofforth, freshman Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.), sophomore Julianne Lago (Miami, Fla.) and junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.), clocked a 1:37.64 prelims time, the third-fastest time in UF history.
The Gators will additionally compete in the 800-meter free relay finals Friday evening.
Finals of the second day of competition are set to begin at 7 p.m. (CT). Gator fans can follow the meet live here or visit www.GatorZone.com following finals for complete results and a recap of the day's swimming and diving action.
Florida Preliminary Results
200 Medley Relay
6. Spofforth, Rogers, Lago, Napier: 1:37.64
Leadoff Split (Spofforth): 24.32
400 IM
4. Teresa Crippen: 4:05.00 – Career-best, UF Record
7. Stephanie Proud: 4:07.00 – Career-best
18. Kirsten Smith: 4:10.64
33. Laurabeth Guenthner 4:15.31
36. Angelina Ballatore 4:15.53
40. Anna Pold: 4:16.49
44. Kristen Beales: 4:17.83
100 Butterfly
7. Jemma Lowe: 51.76
25. Julilanne Lago: 52.79
200 Freestyle
48. Liz Kemp: 1:48.00
54. Melani Costa-Schmid: 1:48.41
100 Breaststroke
44. Lindsay Rogers: 1:02.66
100 Backstroke
1. Gemma Spofforth: 51.45
25. Lily Ramirez: 53.18 – Career-best time
31. Sarah Peterson: 53.45
54. Sarah Bateman: 54.77 – Career-best time
57. Julianne Lago: 55.11
Three-Meter Diving
Will be available upon completion of preliminaries this afternoon
-UF-
