2009 Swimming World Magazine College Conference Carnival

Florida Women Win College Conference Carnival
Four broken Sonny Werblin Recreation Center pool records highlighted the 2009 Swimming World Magazine College Conference Carnival for the No. 6 Gators, who took home the meet crown Saturday.

Florida won the meet title, accumulating 300 points, while No. 14 North Carolina placed second (188) and Rutgers (162) and Richmond (157) finished third and fourth.

After junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) shattered a pool record at Rutgers Friday in the 200 back, she returned Saturday to put her name on the wall again in the 100 back. Junior Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) also struck Saturday, taking home the 400 IM pool record, while the Gator 200 medley relay quartet claimed UF’s fourth Sonny Werblin Recreation Center pool record.

200 medley relay
The Gator contingent of Spofforth (25.49), freshmen Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.) (28.97) and Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) (25.09) and junior Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) (23.28) won the race in 1:42.83, which eclipsed the previous facility standard of 1:43.29 set by Rutgers in 2007.

Richmond's squad of Alex Helland, Mary Anne Lerro, Katie Sieben and Charlotte Brackett took second in a swift time of 1:43.52, while North Carolina placed third in 1:43.92.

400 IM
Proud demolished the pool record in the distance medley event with a scorching time of 4:11.97. That effort destroyed the 1997 mark set by Miami's Kristel Tellegen with a 4:17.80.

Meanwhile, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) made it a Florida sweep with a second-place time of 4:16.48, also under the previous facility standard. Richmond's Lauren Beaudreau rounded out the top three in 4:17.56, eclipsing the previous record as well.

200 free
Gator freshman Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) gave the Gators a third-straight victory with a time of 1:48.36 for the win. Rutgers' Michaela Nilsson grabbed second-place honors with a time of 1:49.80, while North Carolina's Eliza Butts placed third in 1:50.48.

50 free
Florida junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) touched out North Carolina's Rebecca Kane, 23.26 to 23.30, for the splash-and-dash triumph. Richmond's Charlotte Brackett completed the top three with a time of 23.68.

Three-meter diving
Florida put a stamp on the meet with a 1-2 finish in diving as Gator senior Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) claimed the three-meter crown with a tally of 292.25 points. Teammate Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) placed second with 287.50 points, while Rutgers' Erin Saunders took third with 278.15 points.

100 fly
Kelly Harrigan's pool record of 54.36 set in 2005 withstood a strong run by Richmond's Katie Sieben. Sieben ripped off a winning time of 54.47, while Rutgers' Kasey Kesses placed second in 54.89. Bateman finished third for Florida in 55.50.

100 back
The first sub-54 swims in facility history occurred as a pair of swimmers broke Kim Holden's 2008 record of 54.15. Spofforth, who already put her name on the wall in the 200 back, claimed another spot with a touch-out triumph over Rutgers' Cat Whetstone, 53.95 to 53.99. Stafford showed some versatility by blasting a third-place time of 55.10.

100 breast
Florida's Rogers punched the clock in 1:03.06, just missing the pool record of 1:02.60 set by Ji Young Lee of The Peddie School in 2008. Richmond earned some top-three points as Lauren Beaudreau (1:04.39) and Mary Anne Lerro (1:04.49) battled it out for second place.

400 free relay
Stafford (50.12), Spofforth (51.95), Bateman (51.14) and Napier (50.98) placed second in 3:24.19, under the previous facility record, while Florida's B team of junior Liz Kemp (Potomac, Md.) (50.67), Proud (51.92), Crippen (51.27) and freshman Lily Ramirez (Gainesville, Fla.) (51.59) wrapped up Florida completed a dominant meet with 300 points for the team title. North Carolina captured second with 188 points, while Rutgers held off Richmond, 162-157, for third place overall.

Florida will be back in dual meet action Jan. 24 when they visit Auburn, Ala., for a conference match-up with the No. 5 Auburn women and the No. 7 Auburn men. Meet time is slated for noon from the Auburn University campus.

Tar Heels Retain Second Spot at Swimming World Carnival
Led by a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay and second-place finish by sophomore Rebecca Kane in the 50-yard freestyle, the 14th ranked North Carolina women's swimming and diving team garnered a second-place finish in the Swimming World College Carnival at Rutgers University. UNC finished behind only 6th ranked Florida in the final standings.

Florida won the meet with 300 points, followed by UNC with 188. Rutgers took third place with 162 points and University of Richmond finished fourth with 157.

To open the final session, the 200-yard medley relay team of Megan Steeves, Alison Clemens, Layne Brodie and Rebecca Kane took third place with a time of 1:43.92.

Sophomore Laura Moriarty took fifth place in the 400-yard individual medley with a time 4:23.89. She was followed by teammate Alison Clemens who placed sixth in 4:25.84.

The Tar Heels placed three swimmers among the top eight in the women's 200-yard freestyle. Junior Eliza Butts led the way with a third place finish and a season-best time of 1:50.48. Sophomore Katura Harvey touched the wall in fifth place in 1:51. 39. Junior Ashley Howard finished seventh with a time of 1:51.99.
 
In the women's 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Rebecca Kane was UNC's top finisher in second place at 23.30. Senior Aubrette Biegel grabbed seventh in 24.59.

Freshman Enuf Swanson swam a season best time in the 100-yard butterfly as she finished sixth in 56.98. Fellow Freshman Layne Brodie finished seventh in 57.12.

Junior Megan Steeves was the top finisher in the women's 100-yard back with a fifth place finish in 55.78 while senior Kim Davis placed seventh in 57.60. Juniors Eliza Butts and Ashley Howard swam exhibition with times of 58.29 and 58.44, respectively.

In the women's 100-yard breaststroke freshman Laura Moriarty took fourth place in 1:04.56.

The Tar Heels triumphed in the final event of the evening by winning the women's 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Megan Steeves, Rebecca Kane, Eliza Butts and Katura Harvey swam to a win in 3:23.08.

The Tar Heels return to action next Saturday January 24 versus the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. The women's meet begins at 3 p.m.