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Despite placing third and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke finals,
Florida was unable to climb past seventh place on the final day of
the 2011 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
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Freshman Elizabeth Beisel earned her fifth All-America honor by
taking third place (1:51.60) in the 200 back finals, her third
finals round of the weekend. Junior Teresa Crippen took fourth
place (1.51.61) and earned her 11th career All-American award.
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Junior Shara Stafford missed the finals in the last day of
competition but placed 15th overall (18.60) in the 100 free, taking
her second straight All-America accolade in the event.
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Senior Monica Dodson hoped to final in the platform, her best
event, but missed the finals and placed 12th overall with 319.95
points.
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The 400 free relay team of sophomore Jamie Bohunicky and juniors
Stafford, Kirsten Smith and Sarah Bateman also missed the finals,
but tied for the seventh-fastest time in school history, taking
11th overall (3:16.54) in the competition.
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Bohunicky said she thinks this year’s experience will help the
Gators regain their title next year.
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“Obviously this isn’t where we wanted to finish, but I’m still
proud of the Gator spirit we showed in continuing to fight and
persevere,” she said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team, and I
know that this experience will help us next year.”
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Head coach Gregg Troy said he was disappointed in the weekend’s
outcome but still proud of the women’s effort.
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“I’m extremely proud of how the team competed,” he said. “We fought
hard all weekend long. As a staff, we probably didn’t do as good of
a job as getting them prepared as we would have liked, but it was
tremendous effort on their part. They showed a lot of character and
mental toughness in the adversity they overcame, not only this
week, but the entire season.”
