Despite a late rally, the No. 3 University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) dropped a 161-139 decision to 10th-ranked Minnesota on Thursday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

“It’s tough going back-to-back meets like this, but I think the guys did really well,” Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. “I’m really happy with how we’re performing right now since we’re training hard. We would have liked a different outcome in the score, but I think we’re in good shape from the standpoint of where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Down by as many as 43 points during the afternoon, the Gators cut the lead to 27 after sophomore Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash.) won the 3M dive with an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 366.31. UF continued their comeback in 400 individual medley, sweeping the top-four spots to outscore the Gophers 16-3 in the event. Sophomore Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) took first with a time of 3:57.49 and freshman Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) clocked in at 3:58.81 to place second, while juniors Dustin McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) and Kevin Nead (Ithaca, N.Y.) finished third and fourth with times of 3:59.42 and 4:00.55, respectively.

Minnesota, however, bounced back in the 400 FR, taking the top two spots to secure the win. The team of senior Mario Delac, junior Michael Woodson, sophomore Evan Bernier and senior Igor Cerensek placed first with a time of 2:59.53.

Freshman Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) picked up individual wins for Florida in the 500 free (4:31.83) and 200 fly (1:46.93) on the day, and his time in the 200 fly earned him the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of his collegiate career. Fraser now has two wins this season in the 200 fly, and has won at least one race in each meet the Gators have swum.

“Fraser just seems to go to the blocks whenever you need him,” Troy said. “He has shown a lot of commitment to what he’s doing, and he’s very versatile. No matter where you put him, you get an honest effort every time.”

McLarty captured his first win of the season in the 1,000 free, notching a career-best time of 9:17.71. Ally finished first in the 100 fly (49.29) to post a two-victory day for Florida, and freshman Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) earned both his second win and NCAA provisional cut in the 200 back in the last two days after turning in a time of 1:46.89 to best Minnesota junior David Plummer by .08. Burckle, who also had a strong day for the Gators, won the 200 breast with a time of 2:02.80.

Wilcox led the meet off for UF with a victory on the 1M board, tallying a score of 327.00 that was good for another NCAA Zone qualifying mark. The 2006 All-American had a good two days for the Gators, winning both boards in each meet and picking up four NCAA Zone standards.

“We started out a little slow, but we swam a great second half of the meet,” Troy said. “We just ran out of bodies when we got to the last relay. It’s still only October, and we’re trying to lay the groundwork to have a really good spring. Minnesota and Georgia are two of the best teams in the country, and we did pretty well against them.”

The Gators will take a two-week hiatus from competition before returning to the pool against Texas at the O’Connell Center on Nov. 10. The meet is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

Men’s Results (Minnesota 161, Florida 139)

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