The Florida women’s swimming and diving team defeated Virginia 133-105 in an ACC-SEC showdown at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Va., Friday afternoon.  The win moved the Gators to 1-0 on the season, and 4-0 in their all-time series with the Cavaliers.

Florida started strong, claiming first and second place in times of 3:43.54 and 3:50.07 in the 400 medley relay.  Junior Jamie Reid (Orlando, Fla.), senior Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany), junior Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) and sophomore Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) teamed up to take the first-place spot, while sophomore Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), sophomore Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee, Fla.), freshman Jenny Lago (Wellington, Fla.) and sophomore Colleen Healy (Cape Coral, Fla.) claimed second.

Success continued for the Gators in the 200 freestyle event, as freshman Dana Vollmer (Grandbury, Texas) took top honors with a 1:48.11 swim, and sophomore Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) finished second with a 1:49.16.  Sophomore Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) and junior Kristin Gilliam (Gainesville, Fla.) finished fourth and fifth in the event, respectively, with times of 1:53.21 and 1:55.87.

Weiman earned a first-place finish in a close 50 freestyle race with a time of 24.01, just nine-hundredths of a second ahead of the second-place finisher.  Finishing third in the event for the Gators was Vanderbilt, in a time of 24.26, while freshman Silke Nowotzin (Essen, Germany) recorded a 25.14, good enough for seventh-place.

Three out of four Gator competitors scored for the team in the 200 individual medley, as Reid claimed first-place in 2:04.27, senior Mandy Huff (Gold Hill, N.C.) finished third in a time of 2:05.59 and Burckle recorded a 2:05.87 to claim fourth.  Junior Brittany Johnson (Winston Salem, N.C.) rounded out the Gator competitors in the event with a sixth-place 2:06.49 effort.

The 200 butterfly and 100 freestyle events proved to be successful endeavors for the Gators, as they claimed first and second place in each.  Bernhardt and junior Ashley Carusone (Gainesville, Fla.) posted times of 2:02.38 and 2:02.48 in the fly event to finish first and second, while Burckle and Pike recorded a 51.06 and a 51.38, respectively, for the one-two finish in the freestyle.  Lago posted a 2:06.89 in the 200 fly for a fifth-place finish, while Healy took sixth in the same event with a 2:08.32 effort and Nowotzin recorded a 53.78 in the 100 free, good enough for fifth.

Reid touched the wall in 1:59.51 to finish first in the 100 backstroke, while Vanderbilt claimed second in 2:02.23.  Lago and Gilliam finished sixth and seventh in the event, in times of 2:07.86 and 2:10.44, respectively.  Head coach Gregg Troy was pleased with the efforts of the women’s team against Virginia, especially Reid and Vanderbilt.

“Jamie Reid was very good for the first meet,” said Troy.  “She had some strong swims for us. Samantha Vanderbilt showed signs of being outstanding, and Natalie Pike showed some good stuff as well.  Pike and Vanderbilt each had good freshman years but are really showing signs of being outstanding this year.”

In the 500 freestyle, Larson took the title for the Gators with a 4:54.07 effort.  Junior Katie Ball (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished third in the same event with a 4:55.05 effort, while freshman Stephanie Cota (Granite Bay, Calif.) recorded a 4:59.39, good enough for fourth-place.  Rounding out the Gator competitors in the event, freshman Kelsy Smith (Cary, N.C.) posted a time of 5:03.78 to finish sixth.

Eight freshmen suited up for the Gators against Virginia, an experience Troy was pleased the first-year swimmers were able to have.

“We got a chance to see a lot of the freshman swim,” said Troy.  “Some of them weren’t quite what we expected, but a few others looked really good.  It’s early though, we still have a ways to go.  We’re going to come home from this trip with some better identified weaknesses, and plenty of things to work on.”

The young Gator diving squad finished strong, as freshman Alicia Miller (Hobie Sound, Fla.) recorded a second-place finish with a score of 235.58 in the one-meter, freshman Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) claimed fourth with a 190.50 and freshman Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) recorded a 177.75 to finish fifth.  In the three-meter the trio finished two-three-four, as Miller recorded a 223.80, Bartell posted a 203.63 and Stern contributed a 189.60 effort.

Overall, the Gator women took first place in eight of 13 events, and nabbed both first and second in five.  The team returns to the water for the second leg of its road trip on Saturday, with a 1 p.m. dual meet against SEC foe South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., at the Carolina Natatorium.

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