Dallas Morning News Classic Day One

Ally Earns NCAA Automatic Standard at Dallas Morning News Classic
Gator senior Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) captured an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the 400 IM (3:44.12) on day one of the Dallas Morning News Classic Friday. Ally topped the NCAA “A” standard, 3:44.88, to earn an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Championship meet in College Station, Texas, at the end of March.

Under Ally’s leadership, and a first-place finish in the 100-yard breast by junior Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), the No. 6 Gators completed day one of the two-day competition in second place with 143 points behind leader, Michigan (181). Swimming and diving at the Dallas MorningNews Classic picks up again tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. (CT).

Dallas Morning News Classic Event Recaps
400 medley relay
The Gator men opened day one of the Dallas Morning News Classic with a
bang, swimming a season-best 3:10.63 mark in the 400-yard medley relay
with the efforts of senior Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.) and juniors
Burckle, Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and Roberto Gomez
(Weston, Fla.).

400 IM
Ally led the way for the Orange and Blue in the championship final of the 400 IM, touching in at 3:44.12, an NCAA automatic qualifying mark, placing second in the event behind Tyler Clary of Michigan. Junior Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) swam a season-best mark of 3:50.01, an NCAA “B” provisional qualifying mark in the event. Pinzon finished eighth overall and second in the consolation final.

200 free
Sophomore Balazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary) and Burckle were the Orange and Blue representation in the 200-yard free. Gercsak clocked a 1:38.00 to finish second overall in the championship heat, while Burckle swam an even quicker 1:37.97 (8th) in the consolation final. Friday marked the first 200 free competition for Burckle this season.

50 free
Florida freestyle specialists Fraser and Gomez tapped in at 20.44 and 20.74, respectively. Fraser captured third place, while Gomez came in 10th.

One-meter diving
In only his freshman season as a Gator, Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.), continued to lead Florida in the diving realm Friday. Lewark rallied for a fifth-place finish in the one-meter competition in Dallas, racking up 265.05 points.

100 fly
Pinzon and Gomez teamed up for the Gators in the 100 fly, Pinzon flying to a second-place, 48.36, mark, while Gomez tapped in at 49.93. Pinzon’s time marked a season and career-best and became the fastest 100 fly time for the Gator men this season. Gomez’s time was good for eighth-place in the consolation final.

100 back
Backstrokers Brett Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and Tullius represented Florida in the 100-yard back event Friday. Tullius swam to an NCAA provisional mark of 48.27 to finish third in the championship heat, while Fraser finished second in the consolation final (8th overall) with a 48.48, his fastest time of the season so far.

100 breast
Burckle claimed a victory in the championship heat of the 100 breast, out-swimming the competition with a 54.74. Ally, who recorded the third-fastest time in the event (55.90) finished first in the consolation final. Both Burckle and Ally swam season-best marks in the event.

After a disqualification in the final event of the evening, the 800-yard free relay, the Gators finished day one of the two-day classic in second with 143 points behind leader, Michigan (181). SMU (140), North Carolina (134), Arizona State (111) and Southern California (107) round out the Dallas Morning News Classic competition.

SMU Men's Swimming And Diving Completes First Day Of SMU Invite
SMU men's swimming and diving is holding steady at third place against strong competition in the annual SMU Invite held at Joe Perkins Natatorium on Friday, January 16. In competition, junior Ed Downes scored a provision-qualifying time, and several Mustangs claimed first place finishes.

SMU placed third in the 400 medley relay to start off the night, blazing to a new season-best time of 3:15.85. Florida, ranked sixth in the nation, garnered the win with a NCAA provisional qualifying time.

In the 400 IM, junior Edward Downes swam to a season-best time of 3:51.70, a NCAA provisional-qualifying and season-best time. Freshman Robin Andreasson swam to a career and season-best time in the 200 free relay, clocking in at 1:38.88

Junior Luka Vrtovec clinched the 50 free title with a season-best time of 20.20 for the Mustangs, while freshman Thomas Fadnes earned a second-place finish in the consolation final, also touching in with a season-best time of 20.63.

Senior Pontus Renholm turned in a second-place finish in the 100 back, clocking a season-best time of 47.97. Senior Grega Plevelj also swam to a first place finish in the 100 breast with a season-best time of 55.37.

SMU had an exceptional race in the 800 free relay, touching in at a season-best time of 6:39.54 for a second place finish. The Mustangs currently sit in third place after Day One of the SMU Invite.

SMU Invite competition continues Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Joe Perkins Natatorium.

Carolina Men’s Swimmers Stand Fourth In Prestigious Dallas Morning News Classic
The North Carolina men’s swimming and diving team ranks fourth after the opening day of the prestigious Dallas Morning News Classic Friday at Southern Methodist University’s historic Perkins Natatorium.  In a star-studded field, the 14th-ranked Tar Heels are in fourth place with 134 points.  Second-ranked Michigan is far ahead of the field with 181 points followed by No. 6 Florida with 143, No. 20 SMU with 140, Carolina with 134, unranked Arizona State with 111 points and No. 21 Southern California with 107 points.
 
While the Tar Heels were not able to win any one event Friday the team swam consistently and there were seven season bests and one career best time.
 
In the six-lane Perkins Natatorium, each team was allowed one relay entry, one diving entry, and in each individual event one entry in a championship heat and one in a consolation heat.  Swimmers with faster times in consolation heats were not eligible to be moved up in the championship heat points categories.
 
The Tar Heels opened the meet with a season best time of 3:18.34 in the 400-yard medley relay although no splits were available for individual swimmers  The UNC relay finished fourth and consisted of Tommy Wyher, Vinny Pryor (both sophomores) and a pair of freshmen – Brad Hamilton and Evan Reed.
 
In the 400-yard individual medley, sophomore Tyler Harris finished third in the championship final with a time of 3:48.67.  Redshirt sophomore Chip Peterson was 10th in a career best time in 3:54.32, more than three seconds faster than his previous personal best of 3:57.45.
 
Freshman Evan Reed was fourth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:38.42 while junior Jeff James was 10th in a season best time of 1:40.45.
 
Freshman Brad Hamilton swam in the championship heat of the 50-yard freestyle and placed fourth in a season best 20.87.  Freshman Steve Cebertowicz was in the consolation heat and placed ninth with a season best 20.70, placing him No. 1 on this season’s Tar Heel depth chart.
 
Junior David Solarz had the best Tar Heel finish of the night was in the one-meter diving competition where he took a second place with a point total of 313.95.
 
In the 100-yard butterfly, Hamilton swam to a fifth place standing with a 50.03 time while Cebertowicz was ninth in a season best 51.04.
 
The 100-yard backstroke saw Wyher place fifth in 50.50 while James was ninth in 50.90.
 
Vinny Pryor placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.02 while Tyler Harris was ninth in a season best 57.43.
 
The Tar Heels capped the evening with a third place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a clocking of 6:40.02.  The relay included Evan Reed (1:38.74), Jeff James (1:43.72), Tyler Harris (1:39.81) and Chip Peterson (1:37.75).
 
Carolina will compete in the final day of the Dallas Morning News Classic Saturday night starting at 8:30 p.m. EST.  Nine more events will be contested on Saturday evening.