The Florida women’s swimming and diving team moved to 11-2 (5-2) with a 159-106 victory over Indian River Community College Saturday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium.  The Gators swept the top three spots in seven of the first 10 events before swimming the final five as exhibition races. In the men’s competition, the No. 4 Gators improved to 20-0 lifetime versus Indian River C.C., following a 137-101 victory. Florida opened the meet by combining youth and experience to win five of the first six events, before exhibitioning the final five races.

The meet started off with the diving competition as Alicia Miller (Hobie Sound) took first place in the one-meter with a season best and NCAA qualifying score of 277.05. Rachel Sowers (Longwood), Sarah Ellerby (Oldsmar), Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton) and Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor) took second, third, fourth and fifth. In the three-meter Ellerby edged IRCC’s Danielle Mauser for the top spot with a score of 268.20.

In swimming action the team of Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), Caroline Drab (Lund, Sweden), Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Natalie Pike (Boca Raton) won the Gators first event of the afternoon by recording a time of 1:43.99. Florida took the top three places in the 200 medley while IRCC’s closest team was eight seconds behind the leaders.

Junior Nicole Allfrey (Noblesville, Ind.) won the 1,650 free race for the women with a time of 17:39.15. She defeated Katie Powers, who clocked a time of 18:24.48.

Senior Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) notched a career-best of 1:50.26 in the 200 free. She edged teammate Ashley Carusone (Gainesville) by three-tenths of a second for an NCAA provisional time. Kristin Gilliam (Gainesville) rounded out the Gator sweep with a 1:52.59. 

Weiman recorded the Gators fifth fastest time in the 100 back as she won the race in 57.73. Sophomore Colleen Healy (Cape Coral) placed second with a 57.99, followed by Jennie Lindh (Kalmar, Sweden) and Jenny Lago (Wellington).

Florida swept the top-three positions in the 100 breast. Sophomore Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee) won the race with a time of 1:06.80. Senior Mandy Huff (Gold Hill, N.C.) and Carusone followed in second and third respectively.

Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) notched an NCAA provisional time of 2:01.08 in the 200 butterfly, her fastest clocking of the season while Kim Larson (Longwood) recorded a season-best time of 2:04.89 to place second. Jamie Reid (Orlando) and Kelsy Smith (Cary, N.C.) rounded out the top-four. Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) won her first event of the afternoon in the 100 free. Burckle clocked a time of 51.58 while Healy recorded a 52.42 to place second.

Freshman Stephanie Cota (Granite Bay, Calif.) improved her best backstroke time by eight seconds against Indian River. Cota won the event with a time of 2:02.33. Reid placed second in 2:02.86 and Kristen Harris (Holmdel, N.J.) posted a 2:04.33 for third. Weiman clocked the Gators third fastest time this season in the 200 breast. She had a personal season-best of 2:19.20 while Drab also notched a season-topper of 2:21.10.

Lindh recorded a season-best time of 57.62 100 fly and Bernhardt notched an NCAA B time in the 200 IM (2:03.20). In the 200 freestyle relay the team featuring the three seniors, who were honored before the meet, Bernhardt, Huff and Jamie Tannhauser (Seattle, Wash.) paired with Weiman to record a 1:38.93. Troy was pleased with the effort on the women’s side, and complimentary of the strides the team has made since the beginning of the season.

“We’ve improved in a lot of areas the past few weeks,” said Troy. “Probably the best today was Stephanie Cota, who never swims the 200 backstroke, which could be a scoring event for her. So we saw some good things. We have 10 days now to understand that we’re entering a new level of competition.”

“To this point we’ve had an A+ season,” Troy continued. “We’ve suffered through a lot of adversity and a lot of injuries. The team has kept their focus and we’re at the position we have been at this point in the season.

The Gator men opened the competition by sweeping the top three positions in the 200 medley relay. The freshman team Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.), Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Lucas Salatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Jos Smith (Milledgeville, Ga.) took first place with a time of 1:32.58.

Freshman Cody Kauffman (Harrisburg, Pa.) kept the youth movement going by setting a career-best time of 15:43.64 in the 1,650 free. Kauffman placed second in the race behind Indian River C.C.’s Fernando Costa, who clocked a time of 15:40.41. 

Sophomore Darian Townsend (Pietermartizburg, South Africa) earned an NCAA B time in the 200 free and led a group of four Gators to another sweep. Townsend recorded a time of 1:38.31, followed by junior Matt Coan (Plantation, Fla.), sophomore Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) and freshman Russell Wilder (Gainesville, Fla.).

Junior Bill Mrazek (Tallahassee, Fla.) recorded a time of 58.80 in the 100 breast to win the event for the first time this season. Freshman Ron Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.) had a season-best time of 58.82 to place second, followed by Kyle Deery (Daytona Beach, Fla.) in third with a time of 58.95.

In the 100 free race, sophomores Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) and Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) notched season-best times in the event. Hughes placed second with a time of 46.50, while Johnson finished third with a time of 46.76.

Salatta capped off the afternoon by recording a career-best time in 400 IM. Salatta’s time of 3:51.00 was the second-fastest by a Gator this season.

Several members of the senior class, who were honored prior to Saturday’s meet, also clinched wins in their final home meet. Senior Nick Borreca (Honolulu, Hawaii) recorded a season-best time in the 200 fly to win the event. Borreca’s time of 1:50.07, was the fifth-fastest recorded by a Gator this season. Senior Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) won the 200 back for the second time this season with a time of 1:48.50.

Senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) completed his final home meet by challenging a school record. Lochte, who already holds 10 school records, swam the 100 fly in a time of 46.91. Current assistant coach Anthony Nesty set the record of 46.62 during the 1990 season.

“He (Ryan) never gets to swim that event and we felt like he had a good shot at breaking Anthony’s school record,” Gator head coach Gregg Troy said. “He probably will in two weeks when we’re shaved and rested. But Anthony was still a quality athlete.”

Next both Florida squads will begin preparations for the SEC Championships, which they will travel to Feb. 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Women’s Results

Florida 159, IRCC 106

Men’s Results

Florida 137, IRCC 101

-UF-