The sixth-ranked University of Florida women’s swimming and diving team (10-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) wrapped up the 2006-07 regular season with a 167-125 dual-meet victory over Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium. With the win, the Gator women claimed their sixth 10-win season in The Gregg Troy Era.

UF produced 10 individual wins, swept three events and posted four NCAA provisional qualifying times en route to improving its all-time record to 11-0 against the Owls.

“This team is ready to be done with dual meets and to finally have our shot at the SEC Championships,” Troy said. “We’ve seen some really good indications over the weekend, because there were a handful of people that needed to show us what they were capable of over these last two meets. Their performances are going to make our decision very difficult this week when we select our conference meet lineup.”

Redshirt junior Katie Ball (Cincinnati, Ohio) and freshman Elizabeth Goldson (Glen Cove, N.Y.) took first and third in the 1,650-yard freestyle while each notching ‘B’-cut times. Ball’s time of 16:25.01 was less than two seconds shy of a an automatic-qualifying time, and Goldson’s time of 16:48.56 marked her second provisional swim in a two-day stretch. Goldson continued to swim well in the distant events throughout the meet, as she swam to a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.59), and sophomore Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) touched the wall second with a time of 4:54.82.

The duo of junior Colleen Healy (Cape Coral, Fla.) and sophomore Kelsy Smith (Cary, N.C.) went 1-2 in the 100-yard backstroke with times of 56.56 and 56.61, and junior Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) and sophomore Lauren Winter (Dalkeith, Australia) combined for the same result in the 50-yard freestyle by clocking times of 23.88 and 23.92.

Gainesville natives Jenne Ballatore and Kristin Gilliam swam to first- and second-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively, with Ballatore clocking a ‘B’ time of 1:48.04, and Gilliam touching the wall in 1:50.41. Ballatore later took the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 51.97.

The Florida swimmers and divers together swept the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard backstroke and 3-meter diving events. Smith notched a ‘B’ time of 2:00.63 in the 200 back for a first-place finish, while senior Kristen Harris (Holmdel, N.J.) and junior Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) completed the sweep with times of 2:01.69 and 2:04.94, respectively. Sophomore Jenny Lago (Wellington, Fla.) led the Gators in the 200 fly by touching the wall in 2:03.40, and junior Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) and sophomore Stephanie Cota (Granite Bay, Calif.) followed with times of 2:04.56 and 2:05.10.

The diving quartet of Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.), Jennifer Funch (Cincinnati, Ohio), Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Sarah Ellerby (Oldsmar, Fla.) took the top-four spots in the 3-meter diving event, with Stern scoring a team-high 273.83. Funch (266.93) took second place on the board, after finishing first on the 1-meter board (269.40) to begin the meet, and Bartell (265.28) and Ellerby (263.33) rounded out the top-four finishes.

Despite honoring the Florida seniors prior to the meet, the junior quartet of Healy, Pike, Larson and Vanderbilt would have posted a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:34.18), had the Gators not swam the final three events as exhibition races.

Florida swimmers will remain idle for the next two weeks before traveling to Kentucky for the 2007 SEC Swimming Championships, but the diving squad will compete again next weekend in Lexington, Ky., at the 2007 SEC Diving Championships.

Women’s Results (Florida 167, FAU 125)

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