Florida and Minnesota Women Tie In Dual Meet, Florida Men Trounce Gophers

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Rarely does a dual swimming meet end in a tie, but that’s what took place Saturday in Minneapolis, where the Minnesota and Florida women’s teams each scored 150 points in a thrilling meet. On the men’s side, Florida had too much depth across many events – especially freestyle – to be caught, and won the meet 174.5-124.5.

Minnesota vs. Florida Women’s Meet

Florida came into the meet with a day of racing under their belt, having raced against Vanderbilt on Thursday. Minnesota came out swinging hard, winning the first three events and building a big lead. The Gophers won the 200 medley relay with a 1:41.42, beating Florida by almost two seconds. That was followed by a 9:53.79 from Sam Harding to give the Gophers nine big points in the 1000 free. Jessica Thielmann settled for second with a 9:58.04.

In the 200 free, Minnesota’s Lauren Votava and Florida’s Ashlee Linn were in a tight battle through the final strokes. Votava managed to hold off Linn to get the victory, 1:49.62 to 1:49.93.

Georgia-Mae Hohmann got a win for Florida with a 55.25 in the 100 backstroke, beating Minnesota native Zoe Avestruz and her 56.02. In the next women’s event, the 100 breast, Minnesota struck back with a 1-2 finish, led by the 1:02.81 by Rachel Munson and the 1:03.86 by Rae Bullinger.

Minnesota and Florida negated each other’s points in the next two events, with Minnesota taking the win in the 200 fly thanks to a 1:59.01 from Danielle Mack and a 2-3 finish from Florida (Taylor Katz: 2:01.86, Alyssa Yambor-Maul: 2:02.34). Natalie Hinds’ win for Florida in the 50 free with a 22.85 was followed by aa 23.80 from Minnesota’s Abigail Raatz and a 23.81 from Avestruz.

After Minnesota racked up 14 points in the women’s 1-meter diving led by Yu Zhou’s 336.98, Florida chomped back with big swims in the next three events. Hinds returned to win the 100 free with a 49.54 as Florida went 1-3-4 in the event. The Gators were 1-2-3 in the 200 back, thanks to a 1:58.17 from Hohmann, a 1:59.47 from Linn and a 2:00.87 from Sydney Sell. Hannah Burns and Paige Scheriger went 1-2 for Florida in the 200 breast, as Burns posted a 2:17.55 and Scheriger was second with a 2:17.70.

The meet stayed close in the next two events. Hinds stepped up for her third win of the meet, a 54.01 in the 100 fly. She trailed Minnesota’s Danielle Nack after 75 yards but put in a rally to get to the finish ahead of Nack’s 54.06. In the 500 free, Harding once again got the better of Thielmann, winning with a 4:52.00 to Thielmann’s 4:54.31.

After another 12 points for Minnesota in the 3-meter diving event – won by Yu with 380.03 points – Florida gained 16 points in the 200 IM with a 1-2-3 finish. Linn scored the big first-place points with a 2:02.34, with Burns (2:03.67) and Hohmann (2:03.67) following close behind. Florida was ahead 146-137 going into the last event, the 400 free relay.

Minnesota scored 13 points in the relay, winning with a 3:23.83 and placing third with a 3:27.95. Florida’s runner-up time of 3:25.45 created the tie score to close out the meet.

Minnesota vs. Florida Men’s Meet

On the other side of the coin, Florida’s men’s team was very strong, winning all but three swimming events.

The Gators’ weakness in breaststroke was evident against Minnesota, as the Gophers took the top three places in the 100 and 200 breast races. Eric Sande and Conner McHugh each got under 57 seconds in the 100 breast, going 1-2 with times of 56.60 and 56.69, respectively, while teammate Nick Hatanaka was third with a 57.39. In the 200 breast, John Bushman got the win with a 2:02.08, while McHugh was second with a 2:02.94 and Jakub Maly took third with a 2:03.24.

Minnesota’s other win on the men’s side came in the 200 butterfly, where Nick Orf reeled in a tiring Austin Maganiello of Florida in the final 50 yards and won with a 1:49.77 to Manganiello’s 1:49.92.

Florida’s freestyle strength was on display with two 1-2-3 finishes. In the 1000 free, Arthur Frayler led the way with a strong 9:12.94, with Ben Lawless (9:15.22) and Blake Manganiello (9:20.30) rounding out the dominating swims for Florida. The 500 free saw Pawel Werner take the win with a 4:28.84, ahead of the 4:30.55 by Frayler and the 4:33.48 by Lawless.

Werner won a close race in the 200 free, where four men turned together throughout the race. Werner and teammate Mitch D’Arrigo were the only ones under 1:40, turning in times of 1:39.26 and 1:39.42, respectively. Maly finished third with a 1:40.17, while Florida’s Justin Kaisrlik was fourth in 1:40.89.

Corey Main was a double winner in two very different events today. He posted a 20.17 to win the 50 freestyle by a comfortable six tenths of a second over three Minnesota swimmers, then posted the only sub-1:50 swim in the 200 back with a 1:46.84.

Kaisrlik won the 100 free with a 45.36, coming from behind to pass Minnesota’s Paul Fair and Florida’s Mark Szaranek. Fair finished second with a 45.67, while Szaranek took third in 45.78. Szaranek would get his win later in the meet with a 1:48.73 in the 200 IM, beating Maly by two seconds.

Jack Blyzinskyj won the 100 back with a 47.50, relegating teammate Caeleb Dressel to second place with a 47.83. Dressel would capture the 100 fly title with a 48.22 by a full second.

Though swum as an exhibition, Florida put up a 2:58.36 to post the fastest 400 free relay of the day.

400 free relay splits:
Emiro Goossen: 45.72
Dressel: 43.98
Main: 44.19
Werner: 44.47

2015 Minnesota vs. Florida Dual Meet – Results

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