No. 7 Florida women’s swimming and diving team moved into third place following the second day of competition at the 2007 Purdue Invitational.  The Gators trail Missouri (520 points) and Louisville (414 points), finishing with a total of 399 points following the first two days.

Julianne Lago (Miami, Fla.) swam to the Gators best finish of the night, taking first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.06.  For Lago, it was her best finish in the event and just her second first place finish of the season.  Her time of 54.99 in the preliminaries places her first on the top-times list this season. 

Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) was just behind Lago, earning a third place finish with a time of 56.36, just shy of her personal best of 56.09.  Vanderbilt turned in her second first place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in the top spot with her best time of the season in the short course races, with a time of 55.53.

Vanderbilt was joined in the final by Colleen Healy (Cape Coral, Fla.) and Lago.  Healy finished just ahead of Lago, in seventh place, with a time of 58.27.  Lago swam to the wall in eighth place, finishing with a time of 58.96.

Stacy Nedrud (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) swam her second best time of the season in the 400-yard individual medley, touching the wall in 4:28.95 during the finals to finish in fourth place for the Gators.  Denise Gunter (Jacksonville, Fla.) turned in a 22^nd overall performance, finishing with a time of 4:44.57 to place her fourth on the Gators’ season list.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Jeane Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.) earned a third place finish, touching the wall with a time of 1:50.90.  For Ballatore it was a season best, moving her up to fourth on the Gators’ season list.

The Gators’ 800-yard free relay team swam to a third place finish.  Lago, Ballatore, Sarah Sykes (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Elizabeth Goldson (Glen Cove, Fla.) combined to swim a 7:34.03. 

Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) had Florida’s best finish in the three meter diving event.  Dodson turned in a total of 267.95 points to finish fifth, ahead of teammates Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) and Jeanna Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.).  Stern finished with a total of 258.55 points, good enough for sixth place, while Bartell turned in 238.95 points for a seventh place finish.

Florida will wrap up their time in West Lafayette tomorrow evening.  The last set of preliminaries are set to begin at 11 a.m., with finals getting into action at 3:30 p.m.  Following this weekend’s meet, the Gators will welcome Florida State to the O’Connell Center Natatorium to kick off Florida-Florida State week.  The meet is scheduled