Florida Gators
Michigan
Gators Fall to Michigan, 326-272
Sunday, October 21, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams split the final results with Michigan tonight at the Stephen C. O'Connell Natatorium. On the women's side Florida earned the win, scoring 354 points to Michigan's 285. On the men's side Michigan out-dueled Florida, earning 326 points to take home the victory over Florida's 272 points.
On the men's side Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) opened the scoring for the men, swimming to a first place finish in the 1,500 freestyle. He finished well ahead of Michigan's Matt Patton, swimming to the wall in 15:47.44. Patton touched second with a time of 15:55.46 and Florida's Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.) took third with a time of 16:01.07. Work and Patton went head to head three times this weekend with Work coming out on top each time. The three events represented a rematch of sorts for Work who finished third to Patton's second at this summer's 2007 Pan American Games.
"Tobias Work is just very very consistent. This is real big for him because he tends to have a little problem finishing up the races sometimes and then losing close ones," said Troy. "He won some close ones this week against some really good competition. As a matter of fact, the guy he swam in the 400 free relay, that's the guy who won the Pan Am's so 1-2 in the Pan Am's, only this weekend was the reversal."
Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) swam a season best in the 1,500 free, coming to the wall in second place with a time of 16:51.21. Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) remained a strong competitor, turning in the fourth place time of 17:18.51.
Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) led the way in the 200 back, finishing second with a time of 2:24.19, she was followed by Stacy Nedrud (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) in fourth with a time of 2:24.80 and Rebekah Epley (Russellville, Ky.) (2:27.83) who finished sixth.
Roland Rudolf (Budapest Hungary) and Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.) combined to finish first and second on the men's side of the 200 back. Rudolf earned a 'B' standard qualifying time of 2:03.03 and Tullius was right behind him, swimming a 'B' cut time of his own at 2:04.11.
In the 100 free it was all Florida on the women's side as Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Elizabeth Kemp (Potomac, Md.) and Guenthner combined to take the top four spots of the race.
Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) owned the top time on the men's side of the race as he touched third with a time of 52.63. Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) took the fifth spot.
Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee, Fla.) turned in an impressive performance in the 200 breast as she swam stroke for stroke with Michigan's Justine Mueller but was out touched at the wall, clocking in at 2:40.75. Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) swam to the wall first on the men's side and was followed the closest by Kyle Deery (Daytona, Beach, Fla.) who placed fourth with a time of 2:27.53.
In perhaps the best race of the night, J.B. Walsh (Virginia Beach, Va.) took Michigan's Alex Vanderkaay to the wire and just beat him at the wall, clocking in with a time of 2:05.49. Vanderkaay was .24 seconds behind Walsh. Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) was third behind the dynamic duo, finishing with a time of 2:05.87.
The Gators will now look ahead to next Thursday when they travel to Athens, Georgia for a match up with SEC rival Georgia. On the men's side, Florida now owns a 2-1 record while the women are holding strong at 3-0.
