The Florida men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams won their second meet in as many days, defeating FAU on Saturday at the O’Connell Center.
The No. 6 Gator men topped the Owls 179-103 with 11 event victories, while the No. 19 women defeated FAU 180-101 with 11 victories of their own.
The men began the day winning seven events in a row to clinch the victory. The men’s 200 medley relay of Michael Taylor, Stanley Wu, Jan Switkowski and Caeleb Dressel got the Gators off to a strong start.
Individual wins by Drew Clark (1000 free), Grady Heath (200 free), Dakota Mahaffey (100 back), Switkowski (100 Breast), Dressel (200 fly), Bayley Main (50 free) rounded out Florida’s seven straight event victories.
On the women’s side, the Gators recorded five straight wins to start the meet, with the 200 medley relay team of Sherridon Dressel, Paige Scheriger, Georgia Marris and Kelsey Dambacher kicking it off.
The relay was followed by individual wins from Kelly Fertel (1000 free), Georgia Marris (200 free), Sydney Sell (200 back) and Dani Keymont (100 breast).
Heath (100 free), Ethan Beach (200 back), Mark Szaranek (200 breast) and Khader Baqlah (500 free) made up the rest of the Gator wins for the men.
The rest of the wins on the women’s side were comprised of Emma Ball (50 free), Brooke Madden (3-meter), Bella Garofalo (100 free), Savanna Faulconer (200 back), Keymont (200 breast) and Amelia Maughan (500 free).
Dalton Goss recorded the Gator men’s best finish in the 1-meter event, finishing with a mark of 287.48, while Alex Farrow notched the top score in the 3-meter, recording a 257.33.
Brooke Madden led the women once again in diving, recording a score of 277.50 in the 3-meter event and a 292.50 off the 1-meter board.
The Gators are back in action Jan. 20 when they face Auburn on Senior Day at noon.
INDOOR TRACK
Gators shake off rust
CLEMSON, S.C. — Florida track and field opened its 2018 campaign Saturday at Clemson’s Orange & Purple Classic, and a number of Gators turned in standout performances.
Freshman quarter-miler Benjamin Lobo Vedel tied teammate Grant Holloway for the fourth-fastest 300 meters time in collegiate history, finishing his first career race in 32.80 seconds. Vedel, a native of Denmark, set a national record (previously 33.07 outdoors), in addition to tying Holloway’s school and facility records. Holloway ran 32.80 at this same meet last season.
Holloway, a sophomore, won the 60-meter hurdles with the second-fastest time in the nation (7.69). The Virginian is the reigning SEC and NCAA 60 hurdles champion.
Florida’s other big winners Saturday were throwers Lloydricia Cameron and AJ McFarland. Cameron won the shot put with the fourth-best throw of her career (17.32 meters / 56 feet, 10 inches), while McFarland won the weight throw with the second-best throw of his career (21.24 meters).
Also in the weight throw, freshman Thomas Mardal posted the No. 5-ranked mark on UF’s All-Time Indoor Top 10 (20.49 meters), garnering runner-up honors.
