Swimming & Diving Finishes Day One at Florida Invite
Oct. 1, 2010
Florida Invite First Day Results (PDF) 
Gainesville, Fla. – The University of Miami swimming & diving team began the 2010-11 season Friday, with the women’s swimming team sitting third (239.5 pts) after first day action, and the men’s diving team collecting 20 points of their own, as part of the Florida Invitational at the Stephen O’Connell Center. The event is being hosted by the University of Florida.
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Christie Shefchunas, the Hurricanes swimming team began the event with a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Annika Saarnak, Kelsi Hall, Whitney Stephenson and Sofia Johansson turned in a time of 1:35.49 – one second off last year’s top time in the event for the `Canes. The “B” squad for the `Canes finished with a time of 1:38.37, finishing sixth overall.
Sophomore Christine Anderson finished sixth in the 500-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 5:06.23, while senior Ryann Labreche touched the wall at 5:04.55 for a 12th place finish overall – fourth in the “B” Final.
In the 200-yard individual medley, seniors Lauren Jacoby (2:07.74) and Deidre Novotny (2:07.95), as well as sophomore Anderson (2:08.63) followed each other in order for second through fourth place, respectively, in the “B” Finals. The trio finished 10th through 12th overall in the event.
Hall, a junior transfer from the University of Kentucky, finished in second place of the 50-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 23.31 seconds. Saarnak finished tied for fourth with Florida State’s Tiffany Oliver, each posting a mark of 23.52 seconds. Johansson, a sophomore from Ramlösa, Sweden placed 12th overall (fourth in the “B” Finals) with a time of 24.85.
The Hurricanes’ best showing of the day came in the 400-yard medley relay. Using the team of Stephenson, Johansson, Saarnak and Hall, UM posted a second place mark of 3:45.14, shattering last year’s top time of 3:46.88, set at the ACC Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. The “B” squad for the `Canes, consisting of Hannah Kling, Dana Hatic, Novotny and Jacoby, turned in a sixth place mark of 3:57.87.
Meanwhile, over in the diving well, UM freshman Thea Vock and Alabama junior transfer Carrie Dragland finished second and third on the women’s 3-meter springboard. Vock registered a score of 311.60 in her first collegiate event, while Dragland finished with a score of 300.95 in her first event as a Hurricane. Freshman Lindsay Lester rounded out the scoring for the `Canes in sixth place with a score of 276.55.
On the men’s side of things, freshman diver Sam Dorman took first place in his first collegiate event, scoring 357.55 points on the men’s 1-meter springboard. Dorman is the only male diver on this year’s roster for the Hurricanes, under the guidance of veteran head coach Randy Ableman.
Day two of the first-ever All Florida Invitational begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with prelims, followed by finals at 7 p.m.
Live results and scores for this weekend’s event are available by visiting www.gatorzone.com.
For more information on the University of Miami swimming & diving program, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, results and information regarding the Hurricanes swimming & diving program.
You can also keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports.
