
Khader Baqlah wins the 100 and 200 Free.
Gators Chomp Rival Tigers
Saturday, January 26, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 6 ranked Gators defeated the No. 25 Tigers 182-118 at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center on Saturday for the seventh time in the last eight years. Maxime Rooney, Khader Baqlah, and Trey Freeman paced Florida with two individual wins apiece.
Florida fell behind early after Auburn jumped out to an early lead after winning the 200 Medley Relay. Kacper Stokowski, Marco Guarente, Maxime Rooney, and Will Davis finished in second. Bayley Main, Stanley Wu, Brennan Balogh, and Christoph Margotti added a third-place finish.
Trey Freeman picked up the first win for the Gators in the 1,000 Free. Robert Finke added points with his second-place finish. Freeman completed the distance sweep with a win in the 500 Free. Finke came in third and provided more points for Florida.
Khader Baqlah notched his first victory of the day in the 200 Free. Clark Beach finished in third, while Grady Heath came in fourth. Baqlah collected his second win in the 100 Free. Will Davis notched a fourth-place finish, while Margotti tallied a fifth-place swim. Will Davis finished the 50 Free in second place. Main and Margotti came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Stokowski put in a strong effort and won the 100 Back. Dakota Mahaffey placed third and Ethan Beach took fifth, providing more points for Florida. The Gators picked up a sweep in the 200 Back, as Clark Beach, Ethan Beach, and Mahaffey finished first, second, and third, respectively.
Wu tallied another victory for the Gators in the 100 Breast. Guarente notched a third-place finish and Dillon Hillis finished in fourth. Guarente bested Wu in the 200 Breast, as Guarente won the event and Wu came in second. Ross Palazzo added a fourth-place finish.
Rooney brought home his first individual victory in the 200 Fly. Miguel Cancel tallied a fourth-place swim. Rooney completed the Fly sweep when he won the 100 Fly. Stokowski and Hillis finished in third and fourth, respectively.
Florida added another event sweep in the 200 IM. Hillis finished in first with a time of 1:50.86 and out touched Guarente by one one-hundredth of a second, who finished with a 1:50.87. Cancel secured the sweep with a third-place finish.
Nick Lydon led the Gators with fourth-place scores of 312.38 on the 3-meter and 286.35 on the 1-meter.
Florida ended the meet with a dominate performance in the 400 Free Relay. Rooney, Will Davis, Stokowski, and Clark Beach combined for a time of 2:56.44. Gerry Quinn, Main, Margotti, and Heath added points in their third-place swim.
From the coaches – Head Coach Anthony Nesty
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Florida fell behind early after Auburn jumped out to an early lead after winning the 200 Medley Relay. Kacper Stokowski, Marco Guarente, Maxime Rooney, and Will Davis finished in second. Bayley Main, Stanley Wu, Brennan Balogh, and Christoph Margotti added a third-place finish.
Trey Freeman picked up the first win for the Gators in the 1,000 Free. Robert Finke added points with his second-place finish. Freeman completed the distance sweep with a win in the 500 Free. Finke came in third and provided more points for Florida.
Khader Baqlah notched his first victory of the day in the 200 Free. Clark Beach finished in third, while Grady Heath came in fourth. Baqlah collected his second win in the 100 Free. Will Davis notched a fourth-place finish, while Margotti tallied a fifth-place swim. Will Davis finished the 50 Free in second place. Main and Margotti came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Stokowski put in a strong effort and won the 100 Back. Dakota Mahaffey placed third and Ethan Beach took fifth, providing more points for Florida. The Gators picked up a sweep in the 200 Back, as Clark Beach, Ethan Beach, and Mahaffey finished first, second, and third, respectively.
Wu tallied another victory for the Gators in the 100 Breast. Guarente notched a third-place finish and Dillon Hillis finished in fourth. Guarente bested Wu in the 200 Breast, as Guarente won the event and Wu came in second. Ross Palazzo added a fourth-place finish.
Rooney brought home his first individual victory in the 200 Fly. Miguel Cancel tallied a fourth-place swim. Rooney completed the Fly sweep when he won the 100 Fly. Stokowski and Hillis finished in third and fourth, respectively.
Florida added another event sweep in the 200 IM. Hillis finished in first with a time of 1:50.86 and out touched Guarente by one one-hundredth of a second, who finished with a 1:50.87. Cancel secured the sweep with a third-place finish.
Nick Lydon led the Gators with fourth-place scores of 312.38 on the 3-meter and 286.35 on the 1-meter.
Florida ended the meet with a dominate performance in the 400 Free Relay. Rooney, Will Davis, Stokowski, and Clark Beach combined for a time of 2:56.44. Gerry Quinn, Main, Margotti, and Heath added points in their third-place swim.
From the coaches – Head Coach Anthony Nesty
- "We had a great crowd for today's SEC battle! Our men swam tough. We lost several close races and that is something that we must overcome moving forward."
- "I am extremely proud of the team we took to Auburn and I am equally proud of the group who remained at home to continue training."
- "Coach Jungbluth and I are seeing great improvements in our team and we are looking forward to another SEC battle next week with Tennessee at home."
- "Thanks to our volunteer coach Matt Leenhouts. Also, I would like to express our thanks to our support staff, Matt DeLancey, Blaire Wolski, Christina Radomski, Jon Palomar, Tim Aydt and our administration. All are dedicated and committed to our team. That support does not go unnoticed."
- "Auburn is a really good team with a lot of depth. The men held their own, but were just a couple dives away from being more competitive."
- "Today was a good indicator of where we will need to improve for SEC's. I think with just a couple more adjustments we will be in a good position to score some valuable team points there."
- Florida is back in the pool on Saturday, Feb. 2 at home against No.9 Tennessee.
- The Gators will face the Volunteers at 10 a.m. and it will be Senior Day.
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