The seventh ranked University of Florida womens swimming and diving team fell behind early and never recovered, suffering their first loss of the season, 148-95 at the hands of #5 University of Georgia this afternoon at Gabrielsen Natatorium on Georgias campus.  The Gators fall to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the SEC.

Sixth Ranked University of Florida mens swimming and diving team rode five first place finishes throughout the day to defeat #8 University of Georgia, 132-111 at Georgias Gabrielsen Natatorium.  With the win the Gators bounce back from last weekends loss and improve to 3-1 overall (1-0, SEC).

"We had alot of close races today.  We lost some close ones early in the meet and it showed a lot of character to come back out and compete the second half of the meet," said head coach Gregg Troy.


"We were out-manned today, we did not match up well," said head coach Gregg Troy.  "I'm happy with how we stayed in the competition, lost too many close races.  We were a little short-handed, but still performed fairly well.  Natalie Pike was really good today, so was Caroline Burckle.  There were some bright spots, Liz Kemp was really good, Julianne Lago was better than what we had been seeing."

Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) remained undefeated in individual events this year, swimming in with a time of 8:46.54 in the 800 free to earn Floridas first victory of the day.  Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) placed third with a time of 9:00.28 while Elizabeth Goldson (Glen Cove, N.Y.) and Madison Parker (Biloxi, Miss.) took fourth and fifth place finishes respectively.  Burckle later earned her second first place finish of the day, taking the top spot just ahead of Guenthner in the 400 free.  Burckle touched first with a time of 4:17.09 and Guenthner out-touched Kelsey Ditto at the wall for second with a time of 4:19.31.

Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) earned the first provisional qualifying time of the day for the Gators as she touched in second in the 50 free with a time of 26.73.  She was followed by Colleen Healy (Cape Coral, Fla.) who finished fifth, Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville,
Tenn.) who earned the sixth spot and Caroline Drab (Lund, Sweden) rounded out the top eight.

Pike earned herself her second provisional qualifying time, this time in the 200 IM with a time of 2:21.43, also good enough for a second place finish.  Stacy Nedrud (Melbourne, Fla.), Coral Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) and Jenny Lago (Wellington, Fla.) rounded out the top eight, finishing in places six through eight.

Julianne Lago (Miami, Fla.) earned the first provisional qualifying time of her collegiate career with a second place finish in the 200 butterfly.  She touched the wall just six one hundredths of a second behind Georgias Elizabeth Hill with a time of 2:18.79.  She was followed by freshman Sarah Sykes (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Lindsay Woodward (Assonet, Mass.).  Sykes finished third with a time of 2:20.13 while Woodward was fifth with a time of 2:25.26.

Pike returned to the water in the 100 free event and once again earned a provisional qualifying time of 57.91, touching first.  Elizabeth Kemp (Potomac, Md.) was not far behind, finishing third with a provisional time of 58.08.  

Still without NCAA Champion Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), the Gators took the fourth and fifth place finishes in the 200 backstroke event.  Nedrud took fourth with a time of 2:24.48 and was followed by senior Samantha Vanderbilt who placed fifth with a time of 2:26.00.

Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee, Fla.) was Floridas top finisher in the 200 breast, touching in at fourth place with a time of 2:42.80.

The relays proved the be a challenge for the Gators, who got another provisional time from their 400 free A relay team.  Pike, Burckle, Kemp and Napier earned a second place finish with a time of 3:50.40.  In the first event of the afternoon Vanderbilt, Hartley, Healy and Napier combined for a third place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:24.81.  

On the diving boards, the Gators turned in solid performances, receiving first place points from freshman Monica Dodson (Franklin,
Ind.) in the one-meter event.  Dodsons score of 253.35 was enough for the win while Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) was third with a score of 239.62.  Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) was fifth with 231.66 points.  The three returned later for the three-meter event and finished 2-3-4.  Bartell led the way with 287.40 points and was followed by Dodson (283.65) and Stern (262.50).

Florida got off to a strong start and continued their winning ways, finishing the 400 medley relay in first and second place.  The A team, comprised of Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.), Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) and Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) out-swam their counterparts by over two seconds to take the win, touching with a time of 3:52.98.  The Gators B squad clocked in with a time of 3:54.29 to take second.  

Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) continued to have a solid season as he turned in a second place finish in the 800 free.  Work was just behind Georgias Sebastien Rouault.  Cody Kauffman (Harrisburg, Pa.) finished fourth with a time of 8:26.83 while Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.) and Ryan Crete (Plantation, Fla.) rounded out Floridas finishers, taking fifth and sixth place.

Fraser swam an outstanding race in the 200 free, missing first place by five one hundredths of a second.  His time of 1:53.15 was a provisional qualifying standard time.  Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) took fourth with a time of 1:54.99 while Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) and Matt Norton (Port Orange, Fla.) rounded out the top six, finishing fifth and six respectively.

Jos Smith (Milledgeville, Ga.) and Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) combined to go two-three in the 50 meter free.  Smith finished second with a time of 24.20 while Penniman was just behind him, touching in at 24.29.

Dustin McLarty (Deland, Fla.) and Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale) swept the top two spots in the 200 individual medley.  McLarty was first with a time of 2:01.60 while Ally touched second at 2:08.35.  Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Fla.) finished the race in sixth with a time of 2:09.91 and Michael Joyce (Vorhees, N.J.).

The 200 butterfly proved to be another strong event for the Gators.
J.B. Walsh (Virginia Beach, Va.) returned after his win over the weekend and placed second with a provisional qualifying time of 2:04.63.  He was followed by Hughes in third with a time of 2:05.68 and Burckle in fourth with a time of 2:05.70.

Fraser was strong again in the 100 free, finishing first with a team-best time of 52.22 seconds.  Penniman placed third with his second best time of the season at 53.16.  

Rudolf swam his second best time of the season in the 200 back, winning the event with a time of 2:03.20, marking his second provisional qualifying time in the event and third overall this season.  Pinzon was strong as well as he came to the wall in 2:04.61 to place second.  For Pinzon it was his third overall qualifying time and first in the event.
Tullius rounded out the top three, finishing with a time of 2:05.69.

Work returned for the 400 free and took the second place spot with a time of 4:00.27.  He was joined by McLarty who finished fourth with a time of 4:07.23.

Burckle had one of his strongest swims of the day in the 200 breast, missing his season best time by just hundredths to finish first with a time of 2:21.24.  He was followed by Ally who took second with a time of 2:24.15, a season best and Kyle Deery (Daytona Beach, Fla.) who finished fourth with a time of 2:26.93.  Joyce earned the seventh spot with a time of 2:33.45.

Clark Burckle was very consistent, key leg of the relay, good breast at end of the meet, said Troy.

Smith, Penniman, Hughes and Rudolf wrapped up the meet in style when they finished two seconds ahead of the competition with a time of :29.62 to finish first in the 400 free relay.  B. Fraser, McLarty, Work and Johnson took third with an overall time of 3:33.62.

On the diving boards it was Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) and Grayson Patten (West Palm Beach, Fla.) that took the third and fourth place spots in the one-meter event.  Leech finished with a total 248.93 points while Patten had 216.45 points.  Leech returned with a third place showing in the three-meter event, earning 259.28 points while Patten finished fifth with 221.03 points.