Gators and Aggies Duke it Out in College Station

COLLEGE STATION, Tex, January 15. THE No. 15 Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team dropped an extremely close 152-148 decision to No. 5 Florida at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Thursday afternoon. With the victory, Florida (6-1) improved to 5-1 against ranked teams this season, while the Aggies (5-1) suffered their first loss of the year.

The Gators won a seesaw affair that saw the overall lead change hands five times during the course of the meet. Both teams won exactly eight events each, but Florida's depth behind their first place finishes helped catapult them over the top. Florida placed two people in the top three in six of the events they won, including three 1-2 finishes, compared with the Aggies' three and one, respectively.

A&M grabbed the early lead by finishing first and third in the 200-yard medley relay. Matt Rose, Alfredo Jacobo, Chris Nelan and Andrew Sullivant finished in a seasonal-best time of 1:30.07 to earn the top spot.

Florida turned a 13-4 deficit into a 20-16 advantage by sweeping the top three spots in the 1,000 freestyle. Florida sophomore Ryan Lochte grabbed first in 9:05.68. The 2003 SEC Swimmer of the Year came up big for the Gators by also winning the 200 butterfly (1:48.86) and the 500 freestyle (4:28.70).

The Gators held the lead for two more events before A&M wrestled it back thanks to its only 1-2 finish of the meet. Junior All-American Alfredo Jacobo equaled his season best of 56.06 in the 100 breaststroke to finish ahead of fellow junior David Friggel (56.66).

Florida grabbed the lead back immediately with a 1-2 finish in the 200 fly. Lochte finished ahead of teammate Adam Sioui (1:49.78) for his second win of the afternoon.

A&M came right back with a 1-3-4 finish in the 50 freestyle to regain the lead. Matt Rose finished in a time of 20.01 ahead of teammats Ross Collins (20.73) and Ozzie Gardner (20.81).

The Aggies held the lead for five straight events, stretching the margin to as much as 13 points, before the Gators tied the score at 113 with a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 freestyle. Lochte finished ahead of teammates Scott Kauffman (4:32.83) and Matt Coan (4:33.86).

Florida went ahead to stay with a 1-3-4 finish in the 100 fly. Junior Gabriel Mangabeira won the race in 48.44 while Sioui was third (49.54) and Nick Borreca was fourth (50.56).

Sophomore diver Christian Picard helped cut Florida's lead from nine to four with two events remaining by posting a seasonal-best score to win on the three-meter springboard (342.60).

Florida turned in a 1-3-4 finish in the 400 individual medley to end A&M's hopes of pulling out a victory. Sophomore Brian Hartley out-touched Aggie senior Scott Mueller 3:57.40 to 3:57.74 to signal the beginning of the end for A&M's chances.

A&M entered the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, needing to finish first and second to end the meet in a tie. The foursome of Gardner, Scott Newmann, Dan Blanchard and Rose earned first place in a season-best time of 2:58.77 but the Gators claimed second to escape the meet with a 152-148 win.

"We're obviously not satisfied with the loss," Texas A&M Head Coach Mel Nash said. "If you take away the fact that we were second, it was a great day overall. We posted some great times for just coming off of our training trip, but to come so close and miss does hurt."

Other Aggies earning wins on Thursday were senior diver Adam Morgan, one-meter springboard (300.37); Mueller, 200 freestyle (1:39.19); and Jacobo, 200 breaststroke (2:02.18). Jacobo was the only Aggie to earn wins in more than one individual race.

"Alfredo got up and did the job," Nash said. "I'm very proud of his effort."

A&M will head north on Friday morning to compete in the Dallas Morning News Swimming and Diving Classic over the course of the next two days. The Aggies will get a second chance against the Gatrs in addition to swimming against host SMU and South Carolina. The meet will start at 7:30 p.m. both days at Perkins Natatorium.

With the Aggies needing to finish 1-2 in the final event of the evening, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Florida clinched the meet by finishing second in a time of 2:59.16, while the Aggies took first (2:58.77) and third (3:02.86).

A&M vs FLA – 1/15/2004
Results

Event 1 Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
===============================================================================
School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Texas A&M University 'A' 1:30.07
22.62 47.88 22.06 42.19
2 University of Florida 'B' 1:31.13
23.03 48.61 22.66 42.52
3 Texas A&M University 'C' 1:33.16
24.17 49.63 23.12 43.53
4 University of Florida 'A' 1:33.19
24.12 50.10 22.25 43.09
5 Texas A&M University 'B' 1:35.48
24.69 51.11 23.39 44.37 14.60
6 University of Florida 'C' 1:35.68
24.89 50.54 24.05 45.14 18.71

Event 2 Men 1000 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Lochte, Ryan SO Florida 9:05.68
25.24 27.75 27.84 27.93 27.84 28.28 28.34 28.14
28.00 28.22 27.38 27.53 27.45 27.29 27.19 26.93
26.49 26.28 26.17 25.39
2 Coan, Matt FR Florida 9:24.52
26.48 28.24 28.31 28.34 28.44 28.27 28.43 28.42
28.51 28.64 28.22 28.42 28.65 28.68 28.60 28.58
28.24 28.76 27.59 26.70
3 Berger, Michael SO Florida 9:24.57
27.19 28.46 28.34 28.52 28.30 28.25 28.46 28.47
28.31 28.15 28.13 28.51 28.23 28.26 28.18 28.32
28.39 28.21 28.48 27.41
4 Solomon, Mark R SO TAMU 9:25.86
25.75 28.37 28.49 28.57 28.73 28.84 28.67 28.72
28.50 28.68 28.40 28.44 28.43 28.57 28.65 28.49
28.04 27.89 28.12 27.51
5 Friedlander, Steve JR Florida 9:29.98
26.46 28.38 28.35 28.64 28.46 28.49 28.61 28.64
28.33 29.04 28.38 28.55 28.41 28.55 28.88 28.62
29.30 29.06 28.88 27.95
6 Travnicek, Joel D JR TAMU 9:41.08
26.65 28.38 28.67 28.80 28.57 29.17 28.96 28.93
28.68 28.80 28.75 28.86 29.11 29.44 29.76 29.57
29.96 30.24 30.13 29.65

Event 3 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Mueller, Scott F SR TAMU 1:39.19
23.41 25.29 25.18 25.31
2 Hartley, Brian SO Florida 1:39.20
23.65 25.18 25.38 24.99
3 Mangabeira, Gabriel JR Florida 1:40.11
23.77 25.41 25.37 25.56
4 Newmann, Scott S SO TAMU 1:40.19
23.90 25.52 25.15 25.62
5 Wiebeck, Kris FR Florida 1:40.67
24.45 25.78 25.07 25.37
6 Bratten, Jeff P FR TAMU 1:42.13
23.75 25.92 26.15 26.31
7 Borreca, Nick SO Florida 1:44.84
24.71 26.87 27.30 25.96
8 Raiford, Brad M FR TAMU 1:45.24
24.53 26.52 26.78 27.41

Event 4 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Kellam, Chris SR Florida 49.80
24.90 24.90
2 Zielsdorf, Calvin JR TAMU 50.05
24.37 25.68
3 Hill, Josh P SR TAMU 50.11
24.60 25.51
4 Blanchard, Dan C JR TAMU 50.84
24.62 26.22
5 Ulrich, Claudio SR Florida 51.95
25.33 26.62
6 Greener, Andrew SO Florida 52.75
26.18 26.57
7 Strauss, Jonathan SR Florida 53.51
26.13 27.38

Event 5 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Jacobo, Alfredo R JR TAMU 56.06
26.52 29.54
2 Friggel, David G JR TAMU 56.66
26.69 29.97
3 Tjin-A-Tam, Ansel SR Florida 56.93
26.89 30.04
4 Mrazek, Bill FR Florida 57.13
26.73 30.40
5 Dawson, Alex G SO TAMU 57.57
27.46 30.11
6 Ratliff, Will JR Florida 57.58
26.85 30.73
7 Welch, Corey FR Florida 59.00
27.81 31.19
8 Moeller, Jonathan P SO TAMU 59.05
27.38 31.67

Event 6 Men 200 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Lochte, Ryan SO Florida 1:48.86
25.03 28.10 28.46 27.27
2 Sioui, Adam JR Florida 1:49.78
25.12 28.49 28.33 27.84
3 Hansen, Scott C SR TAMU 1:50.81
24.88 28.10 28.80 29.03
4 Zumsteg, Justin JR Florida 1:52.78
25.52 28.93 28.86 29.47
5 Meena, Elliot SO Florida 1:52.81
25.40 28.94 29.06 29.41
6 Saez, Devin F SO TAMU 1:55.53
25.70 29.08 30.21 30.54
7 Watson, Joe T SO TAMU 1:56.81
25.84 28.67 30.78 31.52
8 Neal, Matt J SO TAMU 1:57.99
25.89 29.68 30.31 32.11

Event 7 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Rose, Matt J SR TAMU 20.01
2 Jayme, Carlos SR Florida 20.31
3 Collins, Ross JR TAMU 20.73
4 Gardner, Ozzie P FR TAMU 20.81
5 Sullivant, Andrew TAMU 20.88
6 Onurlu, Eren FR Florida 21.46
7 Schultz, Scott SR Florida 21.72

Event 8 Men 1 mtr Diving
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Morgan, Adam TAMU 300.37
2 Wilcox, Zach JR Florida 290.63
3 Schmidt, Justin FR Florida 288.38
4 Picard, Christian SO TAMU 284.62
5 West, Cliff TAMU 233.25

Event 9 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Jayme, Carlos SR Florida 44.06
21.22 22.84
2 Newmann, Scott S SO TAMU 45.49
22.01 23.48
3 Blanchard, Dan C JR TAMU 45.57
21.91 23.66
4 Gardner, Ozzie P FR TAMU 46.18
22.52 23.66
5 Sullivant, Andrew TAMU 46.52
22.49 24.03
6 Schultz, Scott SR Florida 46.60
22.66 23.94
7 Onurlu, Eren FR Florida 46.95
22.86 24.09
8 Yasinsac, Brayn SO Florida 47.77
23.36 24.41

Event 10 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Kellam, Chris SR Florida 1:46.01
25.94 26.81 27.07 26.19
2 Hill, Josh P SR TAMU 1:47.62
25.83 27.29 27.00 27.50
3 Wiebeck, Kris FR Florida 1:48.01
25.98 27.99 26.99 27.05
4 Zielsdorf, Calvin JR TAMU 1:50.47
26.60 28.08 28.11 27.68
5 Bratten, Jeff P FR TAMU 1:52.47
26.82 28.53 28.87 28.25
6 Neal, Matt J SO TAMU 1:52.89
26.66 28.54 28.65 29.04
7 Strauss, Jonathan SR Florida 1:53.50
26.84 28.29 28.91 29.46
8 Ulrich, Claudio SR Florida 1:54.26
26.31 28.52 29.71 29.72

Event 11 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Jacobo, Alfredo R JR TAMU 2:02.18
28.22 31.70 31.02 31.24
2 Mrazek, Bill FR Florida 2:02.23
27.86 31.72 31.54 31.11
3 Friggel, David G JR TAMU 2:04.65
21.67 39.06 31.86 32.06
4 Dawson, Alex G SO TAMU 2:04.71
28.86 32.19 31.61 32.05
5 Tjin-A-Tam, Ansel SR Florida 2:04.95
28.82 31.75 31.93 32.45
6 Welch, Corey FR Florida 2:06.74
28.56 31.94 32.35 33.89
7 Moeller, Jonathan P SO TAMU 2:07.73
28.70 32.76 33.04 33.23
8 Fischetti, Robbie FR Florida 2:09.22
29.68 32.64 33.42 33.48

Event 12 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Lochte, Ryan SO Florida 4:28.70
24.63 27.83 27.44 27.88 27.86 27.52 26.75 26.07
26.24 26.48
2 Kaufmann, Scott JR Florida 4:32.83
25.61 27.47 27.99 27.63 27.56 27.61 27.62 27.67
28.13 25.54
3 Coan, Matt FR Florida 4:33.86
25.20 27.57 27.64 27.77 28.21 28.17 28.21 27.93
27.13 26.03
4 Solomon, Mark R SO TAMU 4:35.51
25.44 28.38 28.12 28.14 27.96 27.84 27.67 27.58
27.36 27.02
5 Friedlander, Steve JR Florida 4:36.33
26.47 27.94 27.91 28.11 27.97 28.01 27.93 27.81
27.55 26.63
6 Travnicek, Joel D JR TAMU 4:37.76
25.23 28.08 27.91 28.19 28.08 28.13 28.10 28.33
28.22 27.49
7 Watson, Joe T SO TAMU 5:01.38
26.90 29.53 30.29 31.00 30.86 30.99 30.61 31.45
30.80 28.95

Event 13 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Mangabeira, Gabriel JR Florida 48.44
22.82 25.62
2 Rose, Matt J SR TAMU 49.31
22.87 26.44
3 Sioui, Adam JR Florida 49.54
23.42 26.12
4 Borreca, Nick SO Florida 50.56
23.64 26.92
5 Saez, Devin F SO TAMU 50.73
23.88 26.85
5 Nelan, Chris D SR TAMU 50.73
23.38 27.35
7 Kellam, Chris SR Florida 50.95
24.26 26.69
8 Hansen, Scott C SR TAMU 51.00
23.74 27.26

Event 14 Men 3 mtr Diving
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Picard, Christian SO TAMU 342.60
2 Wilcox, Zach JR Florida 334.80
3 Schmidt, Justin FR Florida 273.00
4 Morgan, Adam TAMU 248.33
5 West, Cliff TAMU 228.38

Event 15 Men 400 Yard IM
===============================================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Hartley, Brian SO Florida 3:57.40
25.48 28.52 30.04 29.38 35.73 35.48 27.51 25.26
2 Mueller, Scott F SR TAMU 3:57.74
25.58 29.46 30.96 29.73 33.89 34.00 27.95 26.17
3 Wolfgarten, Jan JR Florida 3:59.70
26.11 29.75 31.46 30.45 33.84 34.42 27.15 26.52
4 Kaufmann, Scott JR Florida 4:03.42
26.39 29.73 32.41 31.37 34.76 34.40 27.97 26.39
5 Dawson, Alex G SO TAMU 4:04.43
26.53 29.97 32.77 31.85 33.29 33.71 29.26 27.05
6 Fischetti, Robbie FR Florida 4:09.17
26.63 30.74 32.22 32.11 35.61 35.16 29.15 27.55
7 Saez, Devin F SO TAMU 4:09.43
25.88 29.18 32.63 31.75 36.65 36.54 29.43 27.37
8 Friggel, David G JR TAMU 4:16.07
27.15 30.76 33.02 33.47 35.07 35.37 31.25 29.98

Event 16 Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
===============================================================================
School Finals
===============================================================================
1 Texas A&M University 'C' 2:58.77
22.15 45.84 21.23 44.79 20.87 44.55 20.62 43.59
2 University of Florida 'B' 2:59.16
21.45 44.36 21.38 45.19 21.45 45.20 21.15 44.41
3 Texas A&M University 'D' 3:02.86
22.17 46.31 21.37 46.12 21.32 45.33 21.00 45.10
4 University of Florida 'C' 3:07.00
22.83 46.84 22.69 47.07 21.90 45.84 22.58 47.25
5 Texas A&M University 'B' 3:07.08
22.21 46.71 23.06 47.14 22.30 46.76 21.73 46.47
6 University of Florida 'A' 3:11.28
23.18 48.10 22.69 47.29 23.05 48.89 22.51 47.00
7 Texas A&M University 'A' 3:12.50
22.99 48.00 23.20 49.16 22.67 47.59 22.65 47.75
8 University of Florida 'D' 3:17.20
24.29 50.00 23.08 48.73 23.08 48.88 23.55 49.59

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