Blagg, Yu Impress in Season Opener vs. Florida
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Redshirt sophomore diver Alicia Blagg and senior swimmer tri-captain Roxanne Yu impressed in the Miami Hurricanes’ season-opening dual meet vs. Florida Friday at the Whitten University Center Pool.
Despite a strong showing from a number of veterans, Miami fell to the visiting Gators, 184-95, and will welcome FIU Saturday for another home dual meet at 11 a.m.
“It’s a starting point, and for a lot of our swimmers, it was a good starting point,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “We’ve got some younger swimmers that we need to develop, and we have already developed them to some degree over the past month. We’re on that journey and we have to continue.”
Blagg, an ACC gold medalist a season ago, opened her 2018-19 season on the right foot, capturing both of the diving events Friday. Blagg earned top finishes in both the 1-meter (346.13) and the 3-meter (379.80) against a talented Gators roster.
Yu, named one of Miami’s three captains prior to the season, was impressive in her own right Friday. Yu took second place in the 100-yard backstroke (56.04), the 200-yard backstroke (2:01.58) and the 100-yard butterfly (56.88).
Fellow tri-captain Katie Sickinger added a second-place finish of her own in the 400-yard IM, touching the wall in a time of 4:33.94.
“Roxanne was a rock today,” Kershaw said. “Great start to her senior season. Katie Sickinger led the way in the 400 IM and really battled, that was good to see. Unfortunately Sydney Story got hurt this morning and is on crutches. That was disappointing and another hit, but she was here, in great spirit amid all of that.”
But Miami’s veterans weren’t the only ones who performed well against the Gators.
Standout freshman Zorry Mason captured the first win of her collegiate career with a time of 1:04.46 in the 100-yard breaststroke, narrowly edging out Layla Black (1:04.86) and Jessica Rodriguez (1:06.72) of Florida.
Sophomore Sydney Knapp took third in the 100-yard freestyle (52.78) and Mason finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:20.50).
“You saw some of the freshmen really stepping up in key roles. Zorry got a win for us,” Kershaw said. “It was a good showing by some of our younger swimmers.”
The Hurricanes will host FIU Saturday at 11 a.m. in another dual meet before two more weeks of training before the SMU Classic from Oct. 12-13.
“A big part of the design of swimming against Florida today and FIU tomorrow morning is to practice preliminaries to finals, getting the recovery strategy down and hopefully we’re here tomorrow even better than we were today,” Kershaw said. “That’s the goal and I’m excited to see it happen.”
