University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Upset No. 3 Florida 161-139
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The No. 10 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team upset No. 3 Florida 161-139 this afternoon in Gainesville, Fla. Senior Igor Cerensek (Zagreb, Croatia) led the Gophers by winning the 50 and 100 freestyles and anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay. The Gophers also won both relays to help the Gophers improve to 2-0 on the year.
To start the afternoon, Minnesota's 200-yard medley relay team of Dan Berve, Colin Lee-To, Matt Engel and Cerensek touched the wall first in a time of 1:30.27. Florida was second in 1:30.27 but the Gophers picked up two more team points with a third place finish of 1:31.51. Florida's Dustin McLarty rebounded for the Gators in the 1000 freestyle, winning with a time of 9:17.71 while freshman Nico Zebley touched second in 9:20.15. Sophomore Mike Holmes (9:22.82) and senior Zach Wood (9:29.57) finished 3-4 for valuable team points.
Junior Mike Woodson had a strong showing with a time of 1:39.71 to win the 200 freestyle while Tyler Schmidt (1:40.40) finished third. Reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week David Plummer picked up a win in the 100 backstroke in a time of 49.33, edging Florida's Omar Pinzon (49.56). Berve took third in 50.08 and Russ Payne was fourth in 51.12.
Sophomore Colin Lee-To made it two straight wins with a victory in the 100 breaststroke with a solid time of 55.65. Senior Drew Knoechel was third in 56.68 and junior Jason Timmer was third in 56.77, giving Minnesota 16 points in the event. Florida finished 1-2 in the 200 butterfly while senior Hiro Sugimoto was the Gophers' top finisher in third at 1:49.79. Cerensek gave the Gophers a boost in the 50 freestyle, touching the wall first in 20.90 while senior Ales Volcansek was third in 21.30 and Lee-To was fourth in 21.46.
In 1-meter diving, Shaun Kennedy posted a solid score of 304.95 to take second, just behind Florida's Jonathan Kennedy (327.00). Later in three-meter action, sophomore Cole Young posted a career-best tally of 340.28 and placed second behind Wilcox's score of 366.31. Young's score was also the first NCAA qualifying tally of his career. Kennedy was third with a score of 312.53.
Minnesota took control of the meet with a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Cerensek touched first with a time of 44.94 while Delac was second (45.26), Evan Bernier was third (45.77) and Schmidt was fourth (46.44). The Gophers gained 16 more team points in the event.
In perhaps the meet's most exciting event, Pinzon touched out Plummer in the 200 backstroke. Both swimmers posted NCAA B-cut times with Pinzon clocking a 1:46.89 and Plummer timing a 1:46.97. Florida won again in the 200 breaststroke with Clark Burckle winning in 2:02.80. Timmer took second in 2:03.84 and Knoechel was third in 2:04.56.
Zach Wood led the Gophers in the 500 free, taking second in 4:34.66 and Holmes was third in 4:35.56. Florida's Bradley Ally won the 100 butterfly in 49.29, followed by the Gophers' Bernier in 49.49 and Berve in 49.82. The Gators' closed the team point gap with a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 400 individual medley, giving Minnesota a nine-point lead entering the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. The Gophers put away any hope of a Gator comeback with a win in the event. The team of Delac, Woodson, Bernier and Cerensek clocked a winning time of 2:59.53 to seal the meet with 11 team points.
The Gophers return to action November 3-4 at North Carolina.
Players Mentioned
