NCAA Div. I Men: #6 Florida Edges #8 Minnesota, 123-120

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., October 30. THE No. 6 University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team won eight of 13 events and held off a late comeback to defeat No. 8 Minnesota 123-120 Thursday evening at the University Aquatic Center.

The setback by Minnesota (0-1) was the first at home for the Gophers since November of 1990, while the Gators (1-0) won their opening dual meet for the sixth time in the last seven years.

Junior Zach Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) and sophomore Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) led the way for Florida as each recorded two individual event wins. Wilcox took top honors in both the one-meter and three-meter in his first diving action of the season. He won the one-meter with a score of 311.93, while winning the three-meter with a score of 310.12. Both scores were NCAA provisional qualifying marks.

Lochte won the 200-yard freestyle for the second time this season in as many tries with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:37.15, while also touching the wall first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:50.02). The 200-yard butterfly proved critical as Florida scored 16 of the 19 points in the event due to a second-place finish from junior Justin Zumsteg (Rochester, Mich.) with a time of 1:53.78 and sophomore Elliot Meena (Orlando, Fla.), who took third (1:53.90).

Junior Gabriel Mangabeira (Piratininga, Brazil) won the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 20.82, while sophomore Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) claimed a win in the 500-yard freestyle (4:30.60).

The Gators also won the opening event of the night – the 400-yard medley relay. Senior Chris Kellam (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.), senior Ansel Tjin-A-Tam (Paramaribo, Suriname), Mangabeira and senior Scott Schultz (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) won the event with a time of 3:19.16.

Kellam also took second in the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:46.80.

Sophomore Adam Mitchell captured first-place finishes in both the 200-yard backstroke and the 200 individual medley for Minnesota. Mitchell earned a personal best finish in the 200 back with a time of 1:46:79. His 200 back time provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships. "Adam Mitchell just had a great meet and he did a superb job today," head coach Dennis Dale said.

Despite several close races, the 200 butterfly gave Florida the edge they needed to gain an early lead, taking the top three spots. However, Minnesota came back placing first, second and fourth in the 100 free. Terry Silkaitis won the event, followed by Sean McCaffrey in second and Igor Cerensek in fourth.

Silkaitis and McCaffrey took the second and third place in the 200 free and each provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with times of 1:38.65 and 1:38.78.

Minnesota showed its strength again on the meet's last event, the 400 free relay. The team of Silkaitis, McCaffrey, Ales Volcansek, Cerensek took top honors with a time of 3:01:24. Nonetheless, Florida won the meet 123-120. "We were very happy with our performance tonight," said Dale. "We'll have a day off tomorrow, but we'll have to bounce back very quickly for our meet against Northwestern."

The Gophers will take on Big Ten opponent Northwestern, Saturday at 2 p.m., at the University Aquatic Center.

Florida returns to the pool Friday when the Gators travel to No. 7 Michigan. The meet is set to begin at 7 p.m.

RESULTS

Men’s Team Scores
Florida 123
Minnesota 120

400-Yard Medley Relay
1.University of Florida A, 3:19.16
(Kellam, Tjin-A-Tam, Mangabeira, Schultz)
3.University of Florida B, 3:24.40
(Ulrich, Ratliff, Borreca, Hartley)
Exh. University of Florida C, 3:32.29
(Fischetti, Welch, Zumsteg, Meena)

One-Meter Diving
1. Zach Wilcox, UF, 311.93
4. Justin Schmidt, UF 282.90

1,000-Yard Freestyle
1. Travis Beckerle, UM, 9:14.77
2. Jan Wolfgarten, UF, 9:18.64
3. Scott Kaufmann, UF, 9:20.22
5. Steve Friedlander, UF, 9:23.75
6. Matt Coan, UF, 9:32.81

200-Yard Freestyle
1. Ryan Lochte, UF, 1:37.15
4. Kris Wiebeck, UF, 1:39.23
5. Adam Sioui, UF, 1:40.44
Exh. Bryan Yasinsac, UF 1:44.16

50-Yard Freestyle
1. Gabriel Mangabeira, UF, 20.82
5. Nick Borreca, UF, 21.55
6. Scott Schultz, UF, 21.56
7. Will Ratliff, UF, 22.33

200-Yard IM
1. Adam Mitchell, UM, 1:50.10
3. Brian Hartley, UF, 1:52.47
4. Chris Kellam, UF, 1:53.14
6. Robbie Fischetti, UF, 1:56.16
7. Bill Mrazek, UF, 1:56.41
Exh. Corey Welch, UF, 1:57.05
Exh. Scott Mullervy, UF, 1:57.75

Three-Meter Diving
1. Zach Wilcox, UF, 310.12
4. Justin Schmidt, UF, 276.50

200-Yard Butterfly
1. Ryan Lochte, UF, 1:50.02
2. Justin Zumsteg, UF, 1:53.78
3. Elliot Meena, UF, 1:53.90

100-Yard Freestyle
1. Terry Silkaitis, UM, 45.53
3. Gabriel Mangabeira, UF, 45.89
5. Adam Sioui, UF, 46.69
6. Scott Schultz, UF, 46.79
8. Bryan Yasinsac, UF, 48.07

200-Yard Backstroke
1. Adam Mitchell, UM, 1:46.79
2. Chris Kellam, UF, 1:46.80
3. Kris Wiebeck, UF, 1:48.21
5. Claudio Ulrich, UF, 1:53.31
8. Robbie Fischetti, UF, 1:57.63

500-Yard Freestyle
1. Brian Hartley, UF, 4:30.60
2. Scott Kaufmann, UF, 4:31.54
4. Jan Wolfgarten, UF, 4:36.06
5. Matt Coan, UF, 4:37.46

200-Yard Breaststroke
1. Alejandro Jacobo, UM, 2:04.52
2. Bill Mrazek, UF, 2:04.59
4. Ansel Tjin-A-Tam, UF, 2:05.23
6. Corey Welch, UF, 2:05.62
7. Will Ratliff, UF, 2:07.85
Exh. Scott Mullervy, UF, 2:10.38

400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. University of Minnesota A, 3:01.24
(Silkaitis, McCaffrey, Volcansek, Cerensek)
2. University of Florida A, 3:02.67
(Wiebeck, Sioui, Borreca, Lochte)
4. University of Florida B, 3:10.82
(Coan, Ulrich, Kaufmann, Yasinsac)

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