TEAM SCORES & RANKINGS
Men
1. Florida, 779
2. Nova Southeastern, 623
3. Keiser, 405
Women
1. Florida, 765
2. Florida Gulf Coast, 669
3. Miami (FL), 464
4. Nova Southeastern, 388
5. Keiser, 27
Florida
Florida gathered a total of 10 event titles and nearly doubled its men’s and women’s team points on the second day of the All-Florida Invitational.
Freshmen Savanna Faulconer and Emma Ball each won their first collegiate event titles – Faulconer got the win in the 400 IM at 4:19.73, while Ball took the 100 back at 56.65. On the men’s side, Tyler Silver also grabbed his first title as a Gator in the 100 back at 51.19.
A number of newcomers were also involved in Florida’s three relay wins. The Gator women’s A-team of Ball, Dani Keymont, Alyssa Yambor-Maul and Sherridon Dressel led the way in the 200 medley relay at 1:43.36. The same lineup won the 400 medley relay Friday.
Yambor-Maul grabbed her second relay title on the day, teaming up with B-teamers Niki Urquidi, Autumn Finke and Georgia Darwent to win the 800 free relay at 7:36.68.
For the final relay, the men’s 800 free relay B-team of Drew Clark, Andrew Brady, Grady Heath and Mark Szaranek took first at 6:44.52.
The remaining Gator wins came from Florida returners. Brady took the 400 IM at 4:01.19, Yambor-Maul won the 100 fly at 56.26 and UF swept the 200 free – Amelia Maughan for the women at 1:53.04 and Szaranek for the men at 1:39.90.
In three of the four events Florida did not win – the men’s 200 medley relay, 100 fly and 100 breast – a Gator finished second, and for the remaining event, the women’s 100 breast, UF finished in the 3-, 4- and 5-spots.
Florida Gulf Coast
The FGCU swimming & diving team followed a strong performance on day one at the All Florida Invitational, which saw the Eagles place behind only in-state rival Florida, and remained in second at the NSU Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon.
With 669 total points, the Eagles outpaced Miami (464), Nova Southeastern (388) and Keiser University (27) while trailing the Gators (765) by less than 100 points entering the final day of competition.
To start off the day, the 200 medley relay team of Fanny Teijonsalo (Espoo, Finland/Makelanrinteen Lukio), Evita Leter (Paramaribo, Suriname/Doral Academy), Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls' School) and Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood's School) finished second in the event with a time of 1:43.75, less than 0.40 seconds behind first-place Florida.
Minutes later, three Eagles finished in the top-six of the 400 IM as Elizabeth Zeiger (Cumberland, R.I./Crimson Aquatics), Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) and Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS) finished fourth through sixth, respectively.
Similarly, FGCU saw three swimmers finish in the top six of the 100 butterfly and 46 points to its already impressive total. Kaas Elmgreen recorded a time of 56.39 seconds to place second while Ching Wong touched the pads in 56.47 seconds to place third and Teijonsalo clocked a time of 58.59 to finish sixth
Sophomore Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) kept things going with a runner-up finish in the 200 free in a time of 1:53.08, and Leter turned in a victory in the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.16.
Lastly, in the 800 free relay, the FGCU quartet of Burdge, Melissa Marinheiro (Davie, Fla./Broward HS), Caraballo and Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay HS) touched the pads in 7:38.78 and finished third.
Nova Southeastern
After back-to-back days of battling inclement weather passing through South Florida, the Nova Southeastern University men's and women's swimming teams continue to make waves in the pool at the NSU Sharks All-Florida Invitational on Saturday. After two straight days of competition, the Sharks men are in second place with 623 points, while the women maintain fourth with 388.
The University of Florida men and women continue to lead the small field. The Gators men lead with 779 points, while Keiser is third at 405. On the women's side, the Gators women lead a five-team field with 765. Florida Gulf Coast (669) and Miami (464) are second and third respectively, while Keiser remains fifth going into the final day.
Perhaps one of the more exciting moments in the second day finals was in the men's 800 freestyle relay. The NSU A-relay jumped out in front and led for most of the event. However, on the final turn in the last 200, Florida's anchor leg, Mark Szaranek managed to swim a final 1:37.91 split making up over five seconds to overtake Marco Aldabe in the last lap. Although NSU fell by three-tenths of a second, the managed to securing an NCAA provisional qualifying time at 6:45.21.
Day two began with the women's 200 medley relay. With Emma Wahlstrom, Malin Westman, Alina Schulhofer and Sydney Panzarino teamed for a third-place finished with a time of 1:48.43. On the men's side, Till Barthel, Anton Lobanov, Thiago Sickert and Mlique Elder pulled together a solid win edging out Florida in the same event by less than a tenth of a second with a winning time of 1:32.36.
In the men's 400 individual medley, although Aldabe finished second by just over a tenth of a second, he posted his first NCAA provisional qualifying time of the season at 4:01.26. Sickert posted his own individual provisional qualifying time in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.21, while Lobanov won the championship final of the 100 breaststroke with a time of 56.23.
On the women's side, Wahlstrom posted a provisional qualifying time in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.65. In the women's 100 breaststroke, Westman finished second overall in the championship final with a time of 1:05.64 just missing the provisional cut by half a second.
