FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 ALLIGATOR 11
SWIMMING
UF hosts Auburn for seniors’ final lap By Ainslie Lee Sports Writer
On Saturday afternoon, 24 of Florida’s swimmers and divers will jump into the O’Dome Natatorium water in their final dual meet as Gators when the Auburn Tigers come to town. The No. 9-ranked men’s team (6-1, 1-1 SEC) will recognize 11 seniors while the eighth-ranked women’s team (10-0, 2-0 SEC) will celebrate 13 seniors of its own. For the men, their opponent comes into Gainesville unranked with a record of 5-1 (2-0 in SEC). The Tigers are led by Davis Edwards and Owen Upchurch who are both finding success as of late. During home win against GardnerWebb on Jan. 17, Edwards, a freshman, won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:34.04. Meanwhile, Upchurch found victories in both the 100 and 200 freestyle. In the orange and blue, the men’s team has stepped away from competition with its last meet having been Dec. 7 at the Toyota U.S. Open where it saw three of its swimmers bring hardware back to
Gainesville. Kieran Smith nabbed a silver medal during the open with his swim in the 400 freestyle, while Clark Beach (200 back) and Robert Finke (1,650 free) each managed to grab bronze. Finke’s 1,650 free (14:47.51) leads the SEC by four full seconds. “It’s going to be a great feeling getting back into the water and competing in a dual meet again,” men’s coach Anthony Nesty said. “It’s been a while...We look forward to some tough competition from Auburn.” For the women, Auburn (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) visits the O’Connell Center as the No. 14 team in the country. The Tigers’ Julie Meynen contributes to Auburn’s sprint efforts with a time of 47.73 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Meynen’s time currently sits as the third-best in the SEC. However, the Gators’ and the Tigers’ two distance swimmers will likely bring the most attention come Saturday. While Florida’s distance swims are led by Leah Braswell, who leads the SEC in the 1,000 free (9:34.47) and the 1,650 free
(15:47.85), Auburn’s Emily Hetzer touches the wall soon thereafter. Hetzer’s leading times this season are 9:43.67 in the 1,000 free and 16:09.24 in the 1,650. Additionally, in the diving pool, Auburn’s Alison Maillard has received conference-wide attention all year long and has picked up three SEC Diver of the Week recognitions this season. Maillard also holds the top score in the SEC for the 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 326.55 and 347.55, respectively. However, Florida’s Ashley McCool’s best score on the 3-meter is just 2.77 points under Maillard, making the battle on the boards an interesting one for the women. Saturday’s dual-meet has drawn the attention of the SEC Network, which will broadcast the meet live. Action will get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the Gators will honor the 2010 women’s national championship team during the second break of the meet.
Gators on TV Weekend Schedule Gymnastics vs. No. 8 LSU 7:15 p.m. Friday: ESPN2 Men’s and women’s swimming and diving vs. No. 14 Auburn 11 a.m. Saturday: SEC Network Women's basketball vs. No. 21 Arkansas 3 p.m. Sunday: SEC Network+ Men’s tennis vs. USF 11 a.m. Saturday: Livestream on Floridagators.com Women’s tennis vs. Oklahoma 11 a.m. Saturday: Livestream on Floridagators.com Men’s basketball vs. No. 1 Baylor 8 p.m. Saturday: ESPN
@AinsliesTwoBits alee@alligator.org
TRACK
Florida throwers set to compete in Hokie Invitational By Declan Walsh Sports Writer
Three Florida throwers will make the trip up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to participate in the Hokie Invitational, the third event of the indoor season. Beginning on Friday, the meet will feature 55 events showcasing athletes from 14 different schools across two days. The first and only Gator in action on Friday is senior Amara Wiggan, who is competing in the women’s weight throw at 7 p.m. She won first place in that same competition just two weeks earlier in the
Orange and Purple Elite Invitational at Clemson, as her 19.03m mark bested the competition by more than 1.5m and saw her fall just short of her personal record. That 19.03m mark places Wiggan at the top of her field for tomorrow’s event, but Virginia Tech’s Emma Thor and Pavla Kuklova have earned similar scores, throwing 18.85m and 18.95m, respectively. Connor Bandel is the next Gator to compete, he’ll throw at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the men’s shot put. The redshirt junior is coming off of a similarly impressive performance in Clemson, as he threw 19.29m, breaking his in-
door PR and seeing him climb to seventh all-time among UF indoor shot put throwers. The Michigan native appears to be a favorite to score consecutive victories in the men’s shot-put, but may face stiff competition from talented Virginia Tech sophomore Tyson Jones. The final Gator slated to compete in the Invitational is Thea Jensen. The freshman impressed in her first collegiate performance at the Orange and Purple Invitational. Jensen registered a 15.25m throw, finishing in third and losing out to former Gator Lloydricia Cameron. Despite having just one meet under her
belt, Jensen had posted a better PR in the shot put than all but three of her competitors this weekend, meaning another strong performance is on the cards. The Gators will be in action next weekend, as well, as they travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take part in the Razorback Invitational.
@dawalsh_UF dwalsh@alligator.org
MEN’S TENNIS
Gators hold ITA Regional Kick-Off Weekend at home By Zachary Huber Sports Writer
Samantha Harrison // Alligator Staff
Duarte Vale (above) and Josh Goodger are 2-0 this season in doubles play.
The Gators men’s tennis team is poised to return to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, for the fourth-straight year. It starts its journey to Wisconsin when Florida hosts the 12th-annual ITA Kickoff Weekend. UF will welcome USF, Temple and Fresno State to Gainesville to compete in a single-elimination regional. The No. 1-seeded Gators are slated to open against No. 4 seed Temple Saturday at 2 p.m. at Linder Stadium. This will be the fourth year in a row and the 11th occurrence overall Florida has hosted the ITA Kickoff Weekend. On Wednesday, the SEC released its Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Gators were picked as the favorite by the league’s coaches to win the SEC title for the second-consecutive year. Florida racked up 155 points with Texas A&M in second (139) and Georgia and South Carolina tied for third (120).
Last year, Florida knocked off FAU 4-1 on Jan. 27 for the right to compete in the 2019 National Team Indoors in Chicago. The opening round will start Saturday when No. 2 seed USF takes on No. 3 seed Fresno State at 11 a.m. The losers will square off in a consolation match at 10 a.m. on Sunday followed by the championship match at 2 p.m. UF enters the ITA Kickoff weekend 4-1 on the year after dominating UCF 6-1 and Stetson 7-0 last weekend. Florida has yet to drop a doubles point this season. They hold a 10-1 mark in dual doubles action. The duos of Will Grant and Johannes Ingildsen (3-1), Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice (2-0) and Duarte Vale and Josh Goodger (2-0) have carried UF in doubles action. The Gators have been steady in singles, winning 23 out of 30 matches. They are led by Duarte Vale (4-1) and freshman Blaise Bicknell (4-0). Riffice, Goodger, Ingildsen, Crawford, Andy Andrade and Lukas Greif, who each have tallied two wins. USF (3-0) comes into town undefeated.
Its best player, No. 121 Chase Ferguson, is undefeated with three wins along with four other Bulls. The Bulls doubles duos have been strong, failing to lose a doubles point all season (6-1). Florida previously faced USF on Jan. 28, 2018, when they dominated the Bulls 4-0. Fresno State is the defending Mountain West Conference champion and are coming off a solid fall tournament season and are led by reigning conference player of the year, Zdenek Derkas, who sits at No. 124 in the ITA rankings. Finally, the Temple Owls will be playing their first match. They finished last season with a 16-7 record going 3-1 in American Athletic Conference play. Florida and Temple will play their first match in their programs’ respective histories.
@zacharyahuber zhuber@alligator.org
