For the fourth consecutive year, the Gators were victorious at the All-Florida Invitational and remain the lone team to win the invitational since Florida began hosting it in 2009.
UF dominated the competition, winning 35 of the 40 events through the three-day meet. The women’s team scored 1146 points to second-place FSU’s 798. The men totaled 1269, overwhelming the field as Florida State’s 970 was good enough for second place.
All four years the Seminole’s men and women have come in second place at the invitational.
The Gator men pleased coach Gregg Troy by displaying roster depth, sweeping all of their races with seven different swimmers capturing a first-place finish.
“The men’s side, I liked the depth," Troy said. "I especially liked how the guys raced each other. We had some spots where we had two of our guys racing one another, and that is always good because if they can take that back to training it will make them tougher by the end of the season."
Florida State’s women managed to prevent a clean sweep for the meet by beating out three Gators in the 1650-yard freestyle, where Madison Jacobi out-swam Danielle Valley by more than five seconds. Kaitlyn Dressel earned two more first-place finishes for FSU by beating Natalie Hinds in the 50-and 100-yard free by 0.15 seconds and 0.41 seconds, respectively.
Hilda Luthersdottir out-touched Elizabeth Beisel in the 200-yard breaststroke by 1.14 seconds in her finals win, only 0.02 seconds slower than the margin Luthersdottir beat Beisel by in the prelim swim.
Diving was in action on Saturday when Kahlia Warner earned her second consecutive victory thanks to a 300.45 point performance on the one-meter springboard to go with Friday’s win on the three-meter springboard.
Troy mentioned the importance of being a well-rounded team in and out of the pool.
“For both teams, it is all about staying on top of social issues, grades and keeping everything together,” he said.
But his focus is still set on mid-spring when the NCAA Championships are set to take place in Austin, Texas starting March 27.
“It is nice where we are at, but it is a long time until March,” Troy said.
Florida’s postseason is looking promising after the first meet of its season, as the Gators notched 21 NCAA provisional cuts over the weekend.
The men’s team will compete next in Minneapolis, Minn., against University of Minnesota on Oct. 12. The women will travel to Columbus, Mo., to face Mizzou on Oct. 17.
Follow Logan McGuire on Twitter @loganjmcguire.
Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez competes in the men's open 400 IM at the Pinch a Penny All-Florida Invitation at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Sept. 28, 2013.
