The 11th-ranked University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team evened its 2006-07 dual-meet record at 4-4 (1-1 Southeastern Conference) on Saturday when it defeated Indian River Community College, 147-90, at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators won nine events in the victory, which raised their all-time record against IRCC to 21-0.

“We were a little flat to start the meet, but we did a good job of bouncing back,” Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. “We had some good relay swims, and some younger guys really did well for us today. We still have some work to do on the little things, but we’re set up nicely for some good racing in the next few weeks and a good conference season.”

Florida’s freshmen continued to shine during their inaugural season in the program, accounting for four individual wins and an NCAA provisional qualifying mark on the day. The NCAA B cut belonged to Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia), who won the 200 back with a season-best time of 1:46.60. Rookie Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) claimed first place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:51.16, and classmate Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) clocked a 45.61 to take the 100 free. Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) rounded out UF’s freshman victories on the day with a first-place showing in the 500 free (4:31.99).

The Gators also got wins from sophomores Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) in the 200 free (1:39.96) and Lucas Salatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil) in the 200 fly (1:47.10) on the afternoon. Salatta’s time in the 200 fly was good for an NCAA provisional standard. The 200 MR squad of Salatta, Ally, Fraser and junior Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) turned in a time of 1:31.04 to garner first-place honors. Florida’s distance swimmers were also impressive on Saturday, as junior Kevin Nead (Ithaca, N.Y.) took second in the 1,000 free (9:26.78) and junior Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) placed second behind Burckle in the 500 free (4:32.81).

Sophomore Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash.) and senior Justin Schmidt (Falcon, Colo.) opened the meet by winning the 1M and 3M dives with scores of 356.40 and 288.08, respectively. Wilcox’s total established a new career high, breaking the mark of 344.18 that he set in the Gators’ season-opening win at Michigan.

UF will next travel to Alabama for three SEC dual meets in two days, beginning with a showdown at Auburn against the defending national champion Tigers on Friday. The following day, the team will visit Tuscaloosa for a tri-meet with conference foes Alabama and South Carolina. Both meets are scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

Men’s Results (Florida 147, IRCC 90)

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