Clemson vs. Florida State

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, January 15. THE Florida State swimming and diving team sent its senior class out with a bang on Saturday sweeping the Clemson Tigers at the Bobby E. Leach Center. The 25th-ranked women won 188-107, while the 19th-ranked men earned a 187-113 victory.

"I'm just really happy for the seniors, it was a great way to go out," FSU head coach Neil Harper said. "I was kind of worried not knowing how Clemson would come out because they are a dangerous program, but I was happy that we grabbed the meet by the horns and got after it."

The meet was never in doubt thanks in part to a dominating performance by both the men's and women's diving teams. The Seminole divers went one-two-three on both the one and three-meter boards giving the Garnet and Gold the cushion they needed. For the women, senior Katherine Adham swept victories with scores of 288.45 and 320.92 on the one and three-meter respectively. On the men's side it was another senior, Landon Marzullo who earned a sweep scoring 360.15 on the one-meter and 403.35 on the three-meter.

"I really feel like every kid stepped up and did a great job," diving coach Patrick Jeffrey said. "I was particularly proud of my seniors with Kat capping her home career with a sweep and Landon doing the same thing. It really showed the depth of our team and I'm really excited to see how we taper off and perform in a couple of weeks."

In the swimming pool, the women were paced by freshman Julia Henkel who earned three individual victories. Henkel began her streak with a win in the 200 free (1:51.59). She followed that win, with a victory in the 200 fly (2:04.87) and finished her individual performance with a win in the 400 individual medley (4:24.13).

"Julia is coming into her own and is training extremely hard,' Harper said. "She gets pushed a lot by great teammates during the week so it's good to see her step forward and win some individual events for the team."

Junior Charlotte Broadbent was one of a trio of Seminole women to win a pair of events. Broadbent won both the 500 free (4:56.58) and 1000 free (10:11.92). Junior Stephanie Sarandos swept the backstroke events winning the 100 (56.66) and 200 (2:00.05) and sophomore Kristine Polley did the same in the breaststroke taking both the 100 (1:06.75) and 200 (2:20.85). Senior C.J. Hendry finished her home career with a come from behind win in the 100 fly (56.72).

For the men, it was the senior class who put on a show, with all five winning one event. Stephen Pendleton got the group started with his first event win of the season in the 200 free (1:42.81). Matt Shead earned the next win with a close victory in the 100 breast (57.28). After the first break of the meet Robby Hayes sprinted to a win in the 100 free (45.81), while Rob Holderness won his signature event, the 200 breast (2:06.62). Ian Rowe capped off the senior sweep with a win in the 400 individual medley (4:04.37).

"All five of the senior boys got wins today and that is a great way to go out," Harper said. "All five earned their wins, we didn't play around to get them those victories."

Freshman Tyler Sell was the only multi-event winner for the FSU men, taking home first in the 500 free (4:38.56) and 1000 free (9:25.47).

The Seminoles hit the road for their final dual meet of the season next Saturday as they take on Alabama at 11:00 a.m. For a meet preview, log on to www.seminoles.com.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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