Florida Claims SMU Classic

Led by several NCAA provisional qualifying marks, the
contingent of nine Lady Gators competing in Dallas at the 2009 SMU
Classic secured a first-place finish at the six-team competition
Saturday night. Florida finished the two-day invitational at the Joe
Perkins Natatorium with 353 points, while Louisville (309), Wisconsin
(280), Southern Methodist (271) Florida State (257) and Rice (186)
rounded out the final standings.

After leading with 178 points heading into the second evening of
competition, Florida capitalized on several outstanding performances to
emerge victorious on the final night on the SMU Campus.

The Gators started off with a second-place finish in the 400-yard free
relay, composed of sophomores Lily Ramirez (Gainesville, Fla.), Shara
Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) and senior
Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England). The quartet swam a 3:25.53,
falling just shy to the team from Louisville.

Individually, freshman Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) swam a
stellar race in the 500-yard free (4:51.52), achieving an NCAA
provisional mark, while sophomore Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England)
(4:59.58) finished second in the consolation final. Bohunicky’s win
was the fastest time in the field by nearly seven seconds. The duo of
Lowe and Bohunicky struck again in the 200-yard fly, Lowe achieving a
2:00.69 NCAA provisional mark with her victory, and Bohunicky clocking a
2:03.37 to win the second heat of the event.

Ramirez and fellow sophomore Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) teamed
up in the 200-yard backstroke, Crippen clocking a second place 1:59.71,
while Ramirez touched the wall in 2:01.50. After solidifying an NCAA
provisional mark in the 400-yard IM Friday, Crippen returned to take the
title in the 200 IM Saturday with her 2:03.26, while sophomore Kirsten
Smith (Cary, N.C.) provided UF depth by winning heat two of the event
with a 2:05.16.

Smith additionally doubled up for Saturday action, swimming the first
heat of the women’s 200-yard breast, finishing fifth (2:21.81), while
Bateman clocked a 2:29.07 in the second heat.

In day two diving action, senior Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.)
represented the Orange and Blue well with a victory in the three-meter
springboard competition, racking up a score of 314.90, after her
second-place finish on the one-meter board day one.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Stafford and Spofforth collaborated as
Stafford claimed the top spot (50.29) and Spofforth tapped in at 51.62
in the sprint free race to place second in the consolation heat.

Florida closed out a successful stand at the 2009 SMU Classic with a
second-place finish in the 200-yard free relay, courtesy of Spofforth,
Stafford, Ramirez and Bateman, who rallied for a 1:34.26 in the final
event of the night.

The Gators return back to Gainesville to host the first home dual meet
of the season Friday, Oct. 30, when SEC rival Georgia visits the Stephen
C. O’Connell Center Natatorium for a 1 p.m. match-up between both the
men’s and women’s squads.

2009 SMU Classic Final Scores:
1 University of Florida                 353
2 University of Louisville      309
3 University of Wisconsin        280
4 Southern Methodist            271
5 Florida State                 257
6 Rice University               186



The University of Louisville women’s swim team took eight swimmers and
a diver to Dallas against top competition and came home with a runner-up
trophy at the 16th annual SMU Classic Friday and Saturday night in a
star-studded field that includes Florida, Florida State, Louisville,
Rice and Wisconsin.

Trailing only Florida (353), Louisville posted a score of 309,
beating Wisconsin (280), SMU (271) Florida State (257) and Rice (186)
for runnerup honors. The unusual format pits eight swimmers and one
diver from each team against a schedule of events that mirrors the NCAA
Championship.

The Cardinals started the evening with a win in the 400-freestyle relay
when Whitney Campbell, Sarah Andrews, Leslie VanWinkle and Liz Halet
combined to power past the field in 3:24.88.

Leslie VanWinkle finished second in the 500-free with a time of 4:58.73
and then teammate Eszter Povaszy added points with a third place finish
in the 200-back.

Whitney Campbell was second in the 100-free with a time of 51.19 and
then Liz Halet won the consols in 51.41 for additional points.

Therese Bergstrom was second in the 200-breaststroke with a time of
2:16.34 which is an NCAA B-cut time. Freshman Heather Holtom won the
consols with a time of 2:19.96.

Leslie VanWinkle added to her point total with a second in the 200-IM
with a time of 2:04.13.

Hannah Gadd, who won the 1-meter board the night before, finished fifth
in the 3-meter with 264.30 points.

In the 200-fly, Raine Thompson was fifth in the 200-fly, going 2:07.06.

In the final relay, Whitney Campbell, Eszter Povaszy, Therese Bergstrom
and Liz Halet  finished third in 1:34.51.



A small delegation of the Florida State women’s swimming and diving team headed to Dallas for the two-day SMU Classic invitational and turned out a fifth place team finish.
 
Swimmers Shanda Casella, Tiffany Elias, C.J. Hendry, Jocelyn Phillips, Kristine Polley, Jessica Sabotin, Stephanie Sarandos, Caroline Smith and diver Kat Adham combined for a team score of 257 points.
 
The Seminoles relay teams finished fourth in the 400 medley relay (3:52.32), 800 freestyle relay (7:33.96), 400 freestyle relay (3:27.42) and 200 freestyle relay (1:34.41).
 
Casella finished fourth in 50 freestyle (24.06) and the 100 free (52.78).
 
Elias claimed second place in the 200 butterfly (2:04.24) and ninth in the 100 butterfly (57.08) and 500 freestyle (5:01.72).
 
Hendry earned a third place finish in the 100 butterfly (56.93), eighth in the 100 backstroke (58.49) and tenth in the 200 backstroke (2:04.13).
 
Phillips claimed second in the 200 freestyle (1:51.01) and ninth in the 50 freestyle (23.95) and 100 freestyle (51.78).
 
Freshman standout Polley finished third in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.37) and fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.69).
 
Sabotin came in fourth in the 400 IM (4:32.47) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.10), sixth in the 200 IM (2:07.72) and tenth in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.63).
 
Sarandos finished fifth in the 100 backstroke (57.43) and 200 backstroke (2:01.87), and eighth in the 200 IM (2:06.96)
 
Smith claimed fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:04.06), 10th in the 200 freestyle (1:53.83), 11th in the 200 butterfly (2:07.31) and 12th in the 400 IM (4:37.84).
 
Adham, the lone Seminole diver, finished second in the three-meter dive (311.50) and fourth in the one-meter dive (280.05).
 
The meet featured five other women’s teams from University of Florida, University of Louisville, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rice University and meet host Southern Methodist University.
 
The Florida Gators won the meet with an overall score of 357 points.
 
Up next, Florida State hosts LSU on November 7, at 2:00pm at the Morcom Aquatics Center.



Rice junior Kait Chura finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and eighth in the 200-backstroke to lead the Owl swimmers to a sixth place finish in the team standings on the final day of competition at the 2009 SMU Classic Saturday at the Perkins Natatorium on the SMU campus in Dallas.

Rice was sixth after Friday's opening round and held that spot with 186 points through the meet's 18 events. Fifth-ranked Florida won the meet (353 points), followed by Louisville (309), Wisconsin (280), SMU (271) and Florida State (257).

Chura swam a 2:02.74 in the 200-backstroke for the best time in the event by an Owl this year. The standout from Bozeman, Mont., followed her backstroke display with a new team-best 2:07.00 to take fourth overall in the individual medley.

Rice had steady outings from a pair of sophomores in the meet's lone distance event, the 500-freestyle. Nicole Delaloye finished fifth in the championship final with a season-best 5:10.24. Alex O'Brien actually finished with a better time, 5:06.13, while racing to an eleventh place in the meet's consolation finals. O'Brien was also sixth in the 200-breaststroke with her new collegiate best-time (2:22.17).

The Owls posted two other sixth-place finishes in individual events on the night, including freshman Stephanie Wei in the 200-backstroke (2:06.96) and sophomore Shelby Bottoms in the 100-freestyle. Bottoms' 53.23 is the Owls' best mark in the 100-free this season and just 42-hundrendths-of-a-second off her collegiate best. The Houston native from nearby Lamar High School is swimming well in the early season. Bottoms swam the lead leg on the Blue & Gray's 400-freestyle relay (3:36.96) and the anchor leg on the sprint relay (1:38.28) that both finished sixth.

The Rice swimmers will next be in action at the team's first home meet of the year, a double-dual meet vs. the University of New Orleans and Incarnate Word University on Nov. 6-7. The meet will mark the inaugural event held in the Owls' new state-of-the-art competition pool adjacent to the new on-campus Gibbs Recreation & Wellness Center.