Oct. 23, 2010
Tallahassee, Fla. – The University of Miami swimming & diving team was back in action Saturday at the Morcom Aquatics Center, splitting a tri-meet with Florida Gulf Coast (W, 174-126) and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Florida State (L, 179.5-120.5) in Tallahassee, Fla. FSU was the host for the event, which also housed a men’s meet that included Florida A&M.
A week after defeating FIU at home, the `Canes (2-1) were back on the road Saturday, meeting their first ACC opponent of the year, while also stepping out of league competition against the FGCU Eagles.
The `Canes began the day with a victory in the 200 medley relay, the second consecutive win for UM in this event, turning in a season-best performance of 1:43.92, using the team of Whitney Stephenson (leadoff), Sofia Johansson (second), Annika Saarnak (third) and Kelsi Hall (anchor). The “B” team for the `Canes turned in a time of 1:48.35 with the help of Hannah Kling (leadoff), Dana Hatic (second), Deidre Novotny (third) and Kayla Smith (anchor).
In the 1000 freestyle, sophomore Christine Anderson finished fourth at 10:19.72, with teammates Ryann Labreche (10:36.33) and Alicia Casillas (10:45.40) competing as well. Lauren Jacoby was the fastest Hurricane in the water during the 200 freestyle, touching the wall at 1:57.06.
Transfer Whitney Stephenson finished third in the 100 backstroke, posting her second-fastest time of the year in the event at 56.75, followed by Hannah Kling (58.28) in fifth place. Junior Roxanne Meyer was seventh at 59.76.
Miami captured the top two spots in the 100 breaststroke, using the strength of Sofia Johansson for the win, as the sophomore collected a time of 1:03.55. She was followed by teammate Dana Hatic with a personal season-best mark at 1:05.06. Anderson was fourth in a time of 1:06.13.
Kelsi Hall led two `Canes in the top five spots of the 50 freestyle, turning in a second place time of 23.42, and Smith was fifth for UM at 24.55.
Saarnak continues to improve her time in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in second place with a UM season-best time of 50.81, followed in third place by Hall with a personal-best mark of 51.85. The `Canes also took second and third, respectively, in the 200 backstroke as Stephenson added a UM season-best performance of 2:02.93, followed by Kling in her season-best time of 2:04.86.
Johansson and Hatic finished among the top five in the 200 breaststroke, as Johansson collected a UM team-best time of 2:19.13. Hatic posted her season-best mark at 2:22.00 for the `Canes. Meanwhile, in the 100 butterfly, Saarnak continued her winning ways, as she posted a time of 55.41 in the win. Senior Deidre Novotny touched the wall in fourth place with a personal season-best time of 57.38.
Novotny came back strong in her best event, the 200 individual medley, scoring a third place time of 2:07.18, while Jacoby finished in the top 10 in a time of 2:09.90.
The team of Saarnak (leadoff), Hall (second), Stephenson (third) and Kling (anchor) earned UM a second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay – good enough for a team-best effort on the year in the event. The team of Smith (leadoff), Smiddy (second), Alexis Fee (third) and Katherine Nicholson (anchor) finished fifth at 3:38.17.
In the diving well, newcomer Carrie Dragland took top honors on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 293.60, followed by teammates Lindsay Lester (292) in third, and Thea Vock (291.25) in fourth. On the men’s 1-meter board, freshman Samuel Dorman finished fourth, putting up a score of 340.65.
On the three-meter board, Vock took second place with a score of 311.35, followed in third by Dragland at 302.35. Lester scored 283.95 in the event. Dorman took the win on the men’s side, scoring 319.25 on his six-dive performance.
“Today we went up against two very strong opponents,” said UM head swimming coach Christie Shefchunas. “I was proud of the heart this team showed through the meet. We had some bright moments, but we still have a long way to go. This team is the most talented I’ve had since I’ve been here. We need to keep learning with every race and keep up the intensity. We look forward to facing FSU again at ACC’s in February.”
UM will have a short break before taking to the water again on Nov. 5, traveling to Houston for a pair of meets at Rice (Nov. 5) and the University of Houston (Nov. 6).
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