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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Maxime Rooney led Florida with two individual victories on the final day against the Buckeyes and Wildcats at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. The No. 5 ranked Gators defeated No. 14 Ohio State, 317.5-263.5, and No. 25 Kentucky, 389.5-191.5.

Rooney collected his first win in the 200 Free, where he posted an NCAA B Cut. Kieran Smith finished in second and Grady Heath added points with a fifth-place finish.

Rooney notched his second victory in the 100 Free, where he out touched fellow teammate Khader Baqlah, giving Florida the top-two spots.

The Gators dominated the 1,000 Free as they earned three of the top-four spots. Baqlah and Robert Finke nearly tied. Baqlah finished in first with a 9:04.74, just one one-hundredth of a second in front of Finke. Drew Clark added a fourth-place finish.

Smith, Alex Lebed, and Finke gave Florida another sweep in the 400 IM. Smith led the field with an NCAA B Cut, while Lebed and Finke finished in second and third, respectively.

Clark Beach tied for first in the 100 Back, while his brother, Ethan Beach finished in fifth. Florida swept the 200 Back, as Ethan Beach, Finke, and Miguel Cancel finished one, two, and three.

Stanley Wu took home second in the 100 Breast, while Dillon Hillis and Chandler Bray tied for fourth. Wu placed second in the 200 Breast and Bray added a fifth-place performance.

In the 200 Fly, Erge Gezmis collected a third-place finish. Gezmis added another third-place swim in the 500 Free.

Stokowski posted the fastest time in the 100 Fly and picked up his first win of the day.

Santiago Morales recorded a career-high 278.55 points as he led Florida on the Platform. He placed seventh.

The 400 Medley Relay team of Kacper Stokowski, Marco Guarente, Smith, and Will Davis finished in second.  Will Davis, Rooney, Smith, and Christoph Margotti, ended the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 Free Relay.

From the coaches – Head Coach Anthony Nesty

• "It's always great to be at home, to see our fans, and all the parents."
• "It's still early in the season, but I thought our kids battled well. We still have a lot more work to do."
• "A lot of guys stuck out. Our seniors showed great leadership. They are leading these guys and bringing them together as a team."

From the coaches – Diving Coach Bryan Gillooly

• "Although we aren't quite on the level of OSU at this point, the men held their own and did a great job against SEC rival Kentucky."
• "Freshman Nick Lydon did some of his best diving of the season and Santiago Morales did an outstanding job on Platform with a personal-best score."
• "After coming off winter break with just a few practices before the meet, we showed a lot of promise for the second half of the season."

Up Next

• Florida is back in the pool on Saturday, Jan. 26 in Auburn, Alabama.
• The Gators will face Auburn at Noon and will be televised on SECN+.

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