In its second day of competition at the Purdue Invitational the University of Florida swimming and diving team won four championship final events, finished second in six and notched third in five, and in the process posted one NCAA automatic qualifying time and six provisional qualifying times.  The No. 7 men’s team sits in first place after two rounds of competition while the No. 4 women’s team is in third at the Invite, hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

“For where we are in our training, we’ve raced really well both days,” said head coach Gregg Troy.  “The long events are better than the short ones, which is what we like to see this time of year and we had a couple spots where we were outstanding.  Overall, I’m pleased with where we’re at.  Tomorrow we need to stand up and race, just like we did today.”

In the championship final of the women’s 200 medley relay the Florida team of Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.), Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) and Natalie Pike (Boca Raton) took second place in a time of 1:43.64.  Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach), Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale), Nick Borreca (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Darian Townsend (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) teamed up for the Gators in the men’s 200 medley relay championship final to finish with a 1:30.20 and capture second place.

Ashley Carusone (Gainesville) notched an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:22.01 in the women’s 400 individual medley championship final, to finish in second place.  On the men’s side Ally captured first place in the championship final of the 400 IM, with a provisional time of 3:52.21, while Kevin Nead (Itaca, N.Y.) notched a 3:54.26 to claim third. 

Weiman and Vollmer earned first and second in the championship final of the women’s 100 butterfly for the Gators.  Weiman notched an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 53.68, while Vollmer posted a provisional time of 54.22.  In the men’s 100 fly championship final Townsend claimed third with a 49.58.

Finishing third in the women’s 200 freestyle championship final was Pike as she notched a provisional 1:48.81.  Lochte claimed his second first-place individual finish of the Invite, after posting a provisional time of 1:36.49 in the championship final of the men’s 200 freestyle.  In the men’s championship final of the 200 breaststroke, Ally notched a 56.69 to finish in second place.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Vanderbilt posted a 56.80 in the championship final to earn third place, while Townsend finished third with a 50.23 in the championship final of the same event for the men.  In diving action Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash.) earned a third-place finish for the Orange and Blue on the one-meter with a score of 304.15. 

The 800 freestyle relay team of Pike, Carusone, Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) and Kim Larson (Longwood) claimed second place in the championship final with a provisional time of 7:23.19.  On the men’s side Borreca, Townsend, Lochte and Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) combined for a time of 6:34.82 to take first-place for Florida.

Following round two, Purdue sits in first with 544 points in the women’s team standings, while Tennessee has amassed 466 points to finish second.  Florida has posted a third-place finish through two days with 459 points, just seven points behind the Vols, while Missouri and Northwestern stand in a tie for fourth with 322.50 points.  Southern Illinois and Missouri State round out the women’s competitors in sixth and seventh with 156 and 136 points, respectively. 

In the men’s team competition, Florida leads the field with 603.5 points.  Purdue and Northwestern sit in second and third place with 451 and 423 points, respectively, while Southern Illinois has notched a two-round total of 346 to sit in fourth.  Missouri stands at fifth place with 244.5 points, while Missouri State rounds out the field in sixth place with 241 points.

Day three preliminary heats are slated to begin at 10 a.m. in the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the campus of Purdue University, while the finals will begin at 4 p.m.  A recap and full results will be available following the finals at www.gatorzone.com.

Combined Results (Top Event Finishers)

Day Two Finals

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