The University of Florida swimming and diving teams may have been split up this weekend, but several will bring home top times and finishes following day one of the Alabama Classic and Georgia Invitational and day two of the U.S.A. Short Course Nationals.

At nationals, Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) turned in his best finish of the meet thus far, finishing seventh in the 400-yard individual medley.  Burckle’s time of 351.52 marked a season best for the sophomore and was just shy of his personal best time.  Burckle was not the only Gator to finish in the top flight as former Gator Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) turned in a dominating performance to finish first by margin of 5.42 seconds.  For Lochte it was his second first place finish of the meet.

Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 353.02 placed second in the ‘B’ final of the 400 IM with his best swim of the season in the event to finish 10^th overall.  Ally was joined by Dustin McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) who placed 21^st overall with a time of 3:58.91.  Senior Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) also turned in a season best time, placing 25^th overall with a time of 4:00.35.

Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) and former Gator Vipa Bernhardt were the lone Florida representatives in the women’s race.  Proud turned in a time of 4:17.70 to place sixth in the ‘B’ final and 14^th overall, while Bernhardt was 20^th overall with a time of 4:21.16.

In the men’s 100-yard butterfly it was Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) who turned in a season best time of 49.84 seconds to place 37^th overall.  Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.) 57^th overall with a time of 50.99.

Florida was well represented in the 200-yard freestyle.  For the men, six athletes competed, led by Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) who finished seventh in the ‘B’ final and 15^th overall with a time of 138.77.  Ricardo Monasterio, a former Gator, placed 34^th overall with a time of 1:40.19, Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) was 38^th with a time of 1:40.45, Work was 43^rd (1:40.97), Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) was 45^th (1:41.20) while Barlazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary) rounded out the Gator finishers, placing 68^th (1:44.05).

Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) turned in the best time of a Gator woman in the 200 free, placing 13^th overall with a fifth place finish in the ‘B’ final with a time of  1:47.39.   Fellow senior Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) was 22^nd with a time of 148.22 while Proud was 56^th with a time of 1:50.94 and junior Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) placed 61^st with at ime fo 151.14.  Liz Kemp (Potomac, Md.) was 79^th with a time of 1:52.00 and Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) was 93^rd with a time of 1:52.74.

Lochte fell just short of his third first place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.  The former Gator was second with a time of 56.41.  Burckle and Ally also finished well.  Burckle placed 26^th overall with a time of 56.41 while Ally was not far behind, placing 30^th with a time of 57.08.

Bernhardt touched the wall in 1:02.17 in the women’s 100 breast to earn a 12^th place overall finish.  She was joined by Caroline Burckle who took 19^th overall with a time of 1:02.89.

Rudolf had the best finish for the men in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing 19^th overall with a time of 49.24.  Tullius was just behind him, placing 23^rd with a time of 49.55.  Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) was the Gators’ lone female competitor, finishing 35^th with at time of 56.10.

The Gator women’s team of Burckle, Pike, Guenthner and Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) combined to finish 10^th in the 800-yard free relay.  The foursome turned in a time of 7:24.20.

Florida swimmers were also in action at the Alabama Classic tonight. Elizabeth Goldson (Glen Cove, N.Y.) had a top finish for Florida in the 400-meter freestyle, taking first with a time of 4:17.60, setting a new personal best and earning an NCAA provisional qualifying time.  She was joined on the men’s side by Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.) who marked the Gators best finish with a time of 3:59.63 to take third.

In the 200-meter individual medley it was Stacy Nedrud (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) who touched the wall in 2:22.49 to place fourth and set a new personal best.  Skylar Stroman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) had the top time for the men, finishing fifth in 210.17.

Senior Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) led the charge for the women in the 50-meter free.  Vanderbilt touched the wall with a time of 27.06, to take fourth place.  Jos Smith (Milledgeville, Ga.) was second for the men, touching in with a time of 23.85.

Vanderbilt returned not much later in the evening to team up with Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee, Fla.), Julianne Lago (Miami, Fla.) and Colleen Healy (Cape Coral, Fla.) to take the top spot in the 400-meter medley relay.  The team touched in with a time of 4:16.88.  On the men’s side it was Stroman along with Michael Joyce (Voorhees, N.J.), Matt Norton (Port Orange, Fla.) and Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) for a time of 3:58.14 and a second place finish.

Gator divers were also in action at the Georgia Invitational.  All Gator divers finished in the top 10 on the one-meter board, led by Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) who finished third with a score of 272.45.  She was followed by Jeniree Flores (San Cristobal Tachira, Venezuela) in fourth with a score of 266.85.  Jeanna Bartell (Gainesville, Fla.) and Jennifer Funch (Cincinnati, Oh.) rounded out the top six for Florida, finishing fifth and sixth respectively with scores of 263.95 and 236.20.  Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) finished ninth with a score of 259.95 while Sarah Ellerby turned in a 10^th place finish with a score of 243.10.  Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) was Florida’s lone male competitor, finishing third on the three-meter board with a score of 311.82

All Gator swimmers will hit the pool again tomorrow at their respective events. Preliminaries for Nationals and Georgia Invitational will begin at 9:30 while prelims for the Alabama Classic will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET.