Swimming Wraps Up All Florida On High Note
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes wrapped up their weekend in impressive fashion at the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invite Sunday at the Stephen O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus.
Competing without its diving content, the Miami swimmers rebounded with a solid performance to end the weekend on a high note.
“It was a much, much better day today,” head coach Andy Kershaw said. “I’m really proud of how the team responded after kind of a mediocre session Saturday night. We committed to each other, came back today and put together two great sessions where we really focused on the plan we’ve been working on.”
Boosted by the return of junior swimmer Cameron Davis, the Hurricanes got off to a strong start with the 1,650 freestyle. Davis touched the wall in a time of 16:36.71.
“They committed to each other and came through today, and it showed in our results,” Kershaw said. “We had a lot of very good swims for this point in the season. Starting off with the mile, it was great to have Cameron back.”
Kershaw said Davis’ performance was especially impressive given the early nature of All Florida, which took place nearly a month later in 2014-15.
“She did a great job leading the way,” Kershaw said. “It’s probably the hardest event to perform well early in the season, since it requires a little more training time under your belt.”
Junior Christina Leander and freshman Roxanne Yu, who have both impressed in their Hurricane debuts in Gainesville, continued their momentum Sunday in the 200 backstroke.
Freshman Katie Sickinger added depth to the event, finishing the consolation finals in 2:08.55.
“Both Christina and Roxanne had excellent swims,” Kershaw said. “Katie had a much better swim tonight in the consolation finals. Christina and Roxanne both had great swims the entire way through this weekend – they’re all great additions to our team, no doubt about that.”
Miami entered the weekend expecting big results from its 100 freestyle contingent, and the group – led by Julie Suarez – delivered. The sophomore finished the event in third place with a time of 51.34.
Junior Angela Algee finished sixth with a time of 52.07.
“We thought the 100 free was one of our strongest events, and that showed through today. Julie really was looking for some redemption and just proved it,” Kershaw said. “She attacked all the 100 free’s she got to swim today, that was great to see.”
Kershaw gave junior Julia Schippert “great credit” for her determination in the 200 breaststroke, where she finished in 2:23.91.
“She wouldn’t stop working on what she needed to do to have a great swim,” he added.
Algee, a constant for Miami throughout the weekend, took third in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.22.
“That was a great finish there, taking third in a very well-swum race. Jessica Hurley also had a great swim in the consolation finals, probably the best 200 fly I’ve ever seen from her. That was great to see.”
Miami capped off the weekend with a strong showing in the 400 free relay, where the “A” entry – comprised of Algee, Fridell, Suarez and Yuskova – took second overall in a time of 3:24.56.
“We finished the 400 free relay in a way we can all be proud of,” Kershaw said. “They were determined for us to finish strong tonight. That was a really exciting relay. We had great swims all around through out it, Angela’s anchor at 50.1 [seconds] really sealed the deal. We were basically tied with Florida State going into that last leg, and Angela really threw it down. It was a great finsih to the meet for her.”
Miami will continue training over the next month before it begins competition once again.
“Overall it was a great start to the season – now we go back to work and get to swim again in a month against a lot of local teams,” Kershaw said.
