No. 7 Gators Produce Fourth Straight Victory Over Minnesota

Friday, October 11

Minneapolis, MN

7:00 PM

Florida Gators

178.5

116.5

Minnesota

Kieran Smith picked up three individual victories in the Gators win on Friday night.

No. 7 Gators Produce Fourth Straight Victory Over Minnesota

Friday, October 11, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving

By: Ryan Sosic

Full Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gator men's swimming and diving team picked up their fourth straight victory to begin the 2019-20 season with a 178.5-116.5 victory over Minnesota at the Jean L. Freeman Aquatic Center.

UF competed from start to finish, either winning or posting the fastest time in every swimming event and posting the fastest times in both relays.

Kieran Smith earned three victories during the dual, posting top times in the 200 free (1:35.13), 100 free (44.07) and 200 IM (1:47.27).

Marco Guarente added a pair of victories with a swim of 54.97 in the 100 breast and 2:02.05 in the 200 breast.

Khader Baqlah gave the Gators a push, posting a new personal-best time for the second time this season. The senior took home the 200 fly with a new personal-best time of 1:47.72, almost two seconds faster than his previous best.

Senior Alex Farrow led the way on the board for the Gators, posting a runner-up bid on the 1-meter with a total score of 328.08, just three points shy of the leader. Farrow's score of 318.38 was good enough for fourth-place, just .28 from a top-three finish.

Series History

The Gators improve their overall record against the Gophers to 7-1. UF has now won the last five meetings between the teams, with the lone loss coming in 2006-07 by a final score of 161-139. In their six consecutive wins, the Gators have outscored Minnesota 855-628.

Gator Splashes

Robert Finke won his first event of the season in 1,000 free, hitting the wall in an effort of 9:05.79. The Gators would finish in the runner-up and third spot as Kevin Vargas hit the wall in 9:14.48 and Brennan Gravley finished in 9:16.56, respectively
In the 200 back, Clark Beach and Ethan Beach posted top-three finishes. Clark Beach would take home the victory in a time of 1:44.25, while Ethan Beach finished just behind him in third with a swim of 1:47.75. Clark Beach would post another win, this time in the 100 back (48.47).
Eric Friese, already picking up his three victories in his first week of collegiate swimming, won two more events as the Potsdam, Germany native posted the top 50 free time of 20.42 and 48.46 in the 100 fly, just .09 seconds faster than second-place. Will Davis would finish in second-place behind Friese in the 50 free while Isaac Davis (48.77) finished in third in the 100 fly.
Freshman Alfonso Mestre won his first collegiate event with a swim of 4:28.00 in the 500 free, just hitting the wall .23 seconds faster than his teammate Finke.

Relay Magic

The team of Dakota Mahaffey, Dillon Hillis, Friese and Will Davis got the meet started with their win in the 200 medley relay. The team combined for a time of 1:28.65, highlighted by Will Davis' split of 19.66

UF ended the meet the same it started, with a top relay time.

Will Davis, Baqlah, Gerry Quinn and Smith combined for the top time (2:59.06). Baqlah brought his fast swimming into the relay, posting the best split of 43.94.

Quotables

Head coach Anthony Nesty- "I am extremely proud of our men. They performed well especially after a long travel day yesterday. We are continuing to focus on our goals with each practice and are preparing for our first SEC battle next week at Missouri. This is a true team effort and all members of this team have an integral part to play. Everyone is focused and doing their job. I am very pleased with their results today and we will press forward. I want to thank my Associate Head Coach, Steve Jungbluth, for his commitment to the program and I greatly appreciate our support staff who remain a constant and trusted resource for our athletes."

Head Diving coach Bryan Gillooly- "The men's team produced a solid day lead by senior Alex Farrow. It's great to see him diving this well early in the season. His 1 meter event was outstanding and he was just a couple minor corrections away from a great 3 meter event as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do the rest of the year.

Looking Ahead:

The Gators will look to continue their hot start of the season in their first Southeastern Conference meet against No. 13 Missouri in Columbia, Mo. next Friday.

The team will finally serve host at the Stephen O'Connell Center for their next two dual meets on Nov. 1 against No. 15 Georgia and Nov. 8 against No. 17 Florida State.

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