No. 4 Auburn Men Cap No. 11 Florida

AUBURN, Alabama, January 20. THE 11th-ranked University of Florida men's swimming and diving team (4-5, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) dropped a 163-137 dual-meet decision to fourth-ranked Auburn on Friday night at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.

"After seeing how we performed tonight, I'm excited for what we can do at the conference meet," Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. "It's not much fun losing, but it was a great atmosphere to race in and it gave our young guys a great taste of what they'll see in a few weeks. It would have been easy for us to roll over tonight, but we showed great character and did a fantastic job of racing tonight."

Sophomores Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Lucas Salatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil) each won a pair of events to bolster the Gators' cause, as did freshman Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary). Salatta was the first of the three to earn a victory against the Tigers, touching first in the 100 back with an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 48.16, and later won the 100 fly with a time of 48.18 that was good for another NCAA B cut.

Rudolf, who has won two events in each of UF's last two outings, collected Florida's next win with an NCAA-provisional and career-best time of 1:45.24 in the 200 back. Late in the meet, he earned his second provisional standard in his last two attempts at the 500 free, dating back to the Indian River CC meet, when he clocked a 4:24.14 to take the win.

Ally swam to his initial first-place finish of the night in the 200 breast, notching an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:58.95 in the process. He would later repeat that result in the 200 individual medley, pacing the field with a time of 1:47.05 – the fastest UF time of the season in the event.

Salatta captured his third NCAA B cut of the meet in the 200 IM with a time 1:47.30 en route to placing second, giving him seven provisional standards in Florida's last three dual meets. Ally and Rudolf swam to runner-up finishes in the 100 breast (55.27) and 200 free (1:38.19), respectively.

"Each of those three individuals are tough guys," Troy said. "They raced with a lot of pride tonight, and they stood up when we needed them. Lucas, Bradley and Roland set a great example for our team tonight, and we'll most certainly be counting on them when the stakes are high at the end of the year."

Junior Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) got the Gators' winning ways started with an early win in the 1,000 free (9:04.35), less than two seconds behind his career best. Work also posted a runner-up effort in the 500 free with an NCAA provisional standard-meeting time of 4:24.51, while junior Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) did the same in the 200 fly (1:47.46). UF's 400 MR squad of Salatta, Ally, freshman Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and junior Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) opened the meet with its first NCAA provisional cut of the season, recording a time of 3:15.60.

Freshman Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) brought home an NCAA provisional cut of his own against Auburn, clocking a career-best 1:45.80 in the 200 back while finishing behind only Rudolf. Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), another member of the Gators' dynamic freshman class, earned the first NCAA B cut of his career on Friday with a time of 2:00.09 in the 200 breast. Burckle's swim was good for a second-place finish behind winner and teammate Ally.

UF will visit Tuscaloosa on Saturday for a tri-meet with conference foes Alabama, the nation's No. 18 team, and South Carolina. The meet is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x