Gators in Control Following Saturday’s Finals
Saturday, September 19, 2015 | Men's Swimming & Diving
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida shined in Day Two competition at the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invite Saturday night inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. Both the men's and women's teams currently lead their respective field with 762 (men) and 738 (women) points.
On the men's side, the Gators were once again led by Caeleb Dressel, who posted an individual win in the 100 fly (47.34) and helped lead the 200 IM relay quartet (1:28.16) and 800 free relay team (6:37.20) to a pair of wins.
Natalie Hinds helped keep the women's team in front after swimming to a pair of wins. Individually, she took first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.85, and later helped UF to a 800 free relay crown (7:25.28).
The UF women stole the show in the diving well, finishing 1-2-3 off the three-meter board. Kahlia Warner won the event with 315.50 points while Teya Syskakis (294.10) and Emily Mosher (274.55).
Newcomer Dalton Goss paved the way on the men's side this afternoon, diving to a score of 266.25. Freshman Sam Smith (256.95) and Senior Zach Hernandez (244.70) followed close behind.
The Gators will be back in action tomorrow morning for the third and final day of competition at the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invitational. Preliminary sessions begin at 9 a.m. while finals will conclude the meet at 4 p.m.
Associate Head Coach Anthony Nesty
Thoughts on Day Two:
“Day Two is in the books. We've got some enthusiasm coming out of our swimmers and we're getting behind each other while focusing on being the fastest people on the pool. The captains did a great job of getting the freshmen ready today and got them where they needed to be. As veterans, they kept them relaxed as well -- for it being our newcomer's second day of collegiate competition they did well in a situation that can be nerve-racking.
“We had a great crowd tonight and as a whole we raced pretty well. Of course there is room for improvement and we'll get back at it tomorrow and try to correct those areas.”
Head Diving Coach Dale Schultz
On the weekend as a whole:
“We did a lot of experimenting this weekend and we had five divers qualify for NCAA Zone Meet while doing so -- we're really excited about that.”
On the freshmen divers this weekend:
“They did well overall. Sam Smith was really strong yesterday so I experimented and had him do two brand new dives today. I had him do a back two and a half and a reverse two and a half -- and only five other guys in the country do that. This was the time to experiment for our divers as we have several meets coming up where we won't have that opportunity.”
Click here for a complete recap from Day One.
Click here for complete notes and Pinch A Penny All Florida Invite Information.
