Florida State Picks Up Pair of Wins

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, January 7. THE No. 6 ranked women's team took a pair of victories to improve to 6-0 by outscoring UNC-Wilmington 140-89, and besting North Florida 143-83. The No. 10 ranked men's team raked in the single victory to move to 4-0 as they defeated UNC-Wilmington 130-89. The victory was in little doubt as the Seminoles won every event in both men's and women's competition.

It was a dream day for Florida State's freshman sensation Terry Horner (Orlando, Fla.) as he set not one, but two school records in a fast start to 2007. Horner broke the one-meter diving record with a six-dive total of 379.50, besting current teammate David Toffaletti (Charlotte, N.C.) who set the record at 375.25 in 2006. Later in the meet the three-meter mark fell as well when Horner scored 401.65. Horner's new mark smashed the old record of 380.92 which was set by All-American Louis Gagnet in 2003.

"Two school records at FSU isn't too shabby, "commented FSU Swimming & Diving Head Coach Neil Harper. "That's great for anybody that beats any school record at any time of the year. It was a heck of a performance."

"I think it's good for us to come back from our training trip with a meet like this," Harper added. "The kids are fatigued and tired; they've really worked very hard. I think they are focused and they know that the conference meet is only a little ways away."

Senior Lauren Brick (Culpeper, Va.) won all three events she entered to lead the way for the women's squad. Her 400-yard medley relay team finished over seven seconds ahead of their nearest competition. Brick then went on to win the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 23.80, followed by four fellow Seminoles which were led by junior Abbie King (Brunswick, Maine), and freshman Stevi Steinhauer (Pensacola, Fla.). Brick's final victory came in the 100-yard breaststroke as she touched the wall ahead of sophomores Kylen Huntwork (Apex, N.C.) and Ann Cipoletti (Charleston, W.V.) with a winning time of 1:02.88.

The men's team was paced by senior Alex Kennon (Winter Haven, Fla.) and junior Ian Powell (Guernsey, Channel Islands). Kennon began the day by swimming anchor on the triumphant 400-yard medley relay. He followed that by winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.20. Kennon's finale to the day was swimming second on the winning 400-yard freestyle relay.

Powell's fast opening leg in the 400-yard medley relay put his team in the lead after the first leg, but his team would finish in second place to fellow Seminoles Kennon, Paul Erben (Panama City, Fla.), Mark Nicholls (Charlotte, N.C.), and Jarryd Botha (Worcester, South Africa). Powell's first victory came in the 100-yard butterfly as he touched the wall in 50.12 seconds. His second victory was a thriller as he beat Botha in the 100-yard backstroke by 0.26 seconds.

Freshman Aleia Monden (Mililani, Hawaii) won both of the diving events during the women's meet. Monden's top score in the one meter of 264.60 nabbed the "B" qualifying mark for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. In the three-meter diving, she took top billing with a score of 264.00, which was just shy of another qualifying mark.

"We have another great competition next weekend, and we have Auburn and Indian River on the horizon," Harper noted. "They realize that they have to start performing well, competing well, and getting used to racing fast in order to be competitive at the ACC meet. I think it was a good test, I think we did well and the team supported each other and it was a good performance."

The next event for the Seminoles' is a split-squad trip to LSU on January 12th at 10:00 a.m. The men's team and part of the women's team will travel to Harper's alma mater to take on the LSU Tigers, who are ranked 25th in the men's poll, but unranked in the women's poll. The other part of the women's team will be in Dallas, Texas, at the Dallas Morning News Classic, hosted by Southern Methodist University. The meet will be held on January 12th and 13th with events beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The next home meet will be a January 26th meet against Indian River Community College. The meet will start at 4:00 p.m. The next day is Senior Day as the Seminoles play host the Auburn Tigers who are ranked third in both the men's and women's collegeswimming.com polls. The Auburn meet will begin at 11:00 a.m. All home meets are held at the Bobby E. Leach Center and admission is free.

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