Florida Gators
Miami
Gators Slow Down Hurricanes Behind 13 First-Place Finishes
Friday, September 28, 2018 | Women's Swimming & Diving
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sherridon Dressel, Bella Garofalo, and Mabel Zavaros led the Gators as they all recorded two individual event victories. The University of Florida swimming and diving team improved to 2-0 after it defeated the Hurricanes 184-95, on Friday, at Norman Whitten Pool.
Florida jumped out to an early lead, when the team of Emma Ball, Vanessa Pearl, Mabel Zavaros, and Kelly Fertel combined for a 1:43.18 to win the 200-yard medley relay. The group of Sydney Sell, Layla Black, Georgia Marris, and Tori Bindi finished in second place, with a time of 1:46.50.
Taylor Ault posted a time of 10:13.46 on her way to a first-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Kahra Williams placed second with a swim of 10:17.48. Georgia Darwent completed the event sweep for the Gators, with a third-place time of 10:20.18.
Leah Braswell, Fertel, and Savanna Faulconer swept the 200-yard freestyle for Florida. Braswell posted a 1:51.10 and finished in the top spot. Fertel finished two-tenths of a second behind, with a swim of 1:51.30. Faulconer rounded out the top-3 spots, with a mark of 1:53.68.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Dressel collected her first win on the day with a time of 55.54. Miami's Roxanne Yu and Alaina Skellett finished second and third, respectively.
Zorry Mason gave the Hurricanes its first event win on the day in the 100-yard breaststroke, after a swim of 1:04.46. Black placed second for the Gators, with a time of 1:04.86. Jessica Rodriguez closed out the top-3 finishers with a mark of 1:06.72.
Florida swept the 200-yard butterfly. Hannah Burns claimed the top spot with a swim of 2:00.50. Nikki Miller clocked a time of 2:01.94, on her way to a second-place finish. Marris secured the sweep with a time of 2:03.18.
Garofalo led the field with a time of 23.78 in the 50-yard freestyle. Ball clinched second with a swim of 24.11, followed by Bindi with a 24.35.
Garofalo used the momentum from the 50-yard freestyle to win the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.47. Kirschtine Balbuena finished in second with a mark of 52.09.
Mabel Zavaros collected her first individual event win on the day, with a swim of 1:56.88 in the 200-yard backstroke. Celi Guzman placed third for UF, with a time of 2:04.03.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Pearl posted a first-place finish, after she swam a 2:14.06. Burns followed in second, with a time of 2:15.70.
Miller posted a time of 4:56.84 on her way to a top finish in the 500-butterfly.
Dressel notched her second victory on the day, with a time of 55.66 in the 100-yard butterfly.
Mabel Zavaros clinched the top spot for the second time today, as she won the 400-yard individual medley with a swim of 4:16.37.
Florida concluded the swimming portion of the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Fertel, Dressel, Balbuena and Garofalo compiled a time of 1:34.41.
Brooke Madden placed second in the 1-meter diving with a total score of 298.88.
From the coaches – Head Coach Jeff Poppell
- "I thought we made significant improvements from yesterday to today."
- "Several of our returning athletes are starting their season in a much better place than previous year. It's exciting to see for sure."
- "I can't say enough about the job our freshmen are doing as well."
- "We have one more meet tomorrow against FGCU to finish our three day stretch of meets."
From the coaches – Diving Coach Bryan Gillooly
- "I saw some great things today from a lot of divers."
- "Miami has some of the best divers in the world and it was great to see the Gators step up to the challenge."
- "Although we didn't come out on top in diving, we did get closer and gained some valuable experience to take with us throughout the season."
- "As always, my hats off to Randy Ableman and his team."
Up Next
- Florida remains on the road for a meet against Florida Gulf Coast at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29.
Players Mentioned
