The No. 8 UF men's swimming and diving team defeated Virginia 162-133 in its season opener Thrsday night.
The Gators combined for a total of 10 first-place finishes. UF was led by its 200-yard medley relay teams as they took first and second place in the event. Omar Pinzon, Bradley Ally, Shaune Fraser and Daniel Penniman won the medley with Rex Tullius, Clark Burckle, Tim Hughes and Jos Smith coming in second.
UF also earned the top three spots in the 200 butterfly, with Pinzon coming in first.
Fraser won the 100 free. Sophomore Roland Rudolf earned a B standard qualifying time of 1:38.14 in the 200 free as he won the event, just ahead of fellow Gator Tobias Work, who came in third with a time of 1:40.29.
Ally also won the 200 breast with a time of 2:03.12 and Work won the 500 free with a B qualifying time of 4:26.38.
The No. 6 women's team was also in action against the Cavaliers and came away with a 169-126 win.
The Gators finished first in 11 events.
Senior Caroline Burckle and junior Laurabeth Guenthner took first and second in the 1000 and 500 freestyles.
Senior Natalie Pike won the 200 free and picked up a B qualifying time with a time of 1:49.1. Elizabeth Kemp finished third behind Pike, just one hundreth of a second off a second-place finish. Kemp also won the 100 fly.
Sophomore Gemma Spofforth won the 100 and 200 backstroke events, and just missed an A standard qualifying time with a time of 54.69.
The Gators next meet is Saturday at Minnesota at 1 p.m.
-STAFF REPORT
