Florida continues to find success on the second day of the Auburn Fall Invitational.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Three Gator victories and 20 championship final qualifications highlighted the opening session of swimming on the second day of the Auburn Fall Invitational at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
The Gators started off the morning with six of the top eight swims in the 400 IM, highlighted by a prelim victory by Kieran Smith. Behind Smith’s winning time of 3:51.65 was Robert Finke (3:52.87), Kevin Vargas (3:53.33) and Miguel Cancel (3:53.70). Rounding out the top finishes and championship heat qualifiers in sixth and seventh-place were Brennan Gravley (3:53.96) and Tyler Watson (3:55.47).
Five Gators will also take to the water in the consolation final after John VanDeusen (3:56.74), Mateusz Dubas (3:56.98), Ethan McCloud (3:58.17), Caleb Kravitz (4:05.21) and Wesley Hyde (4:06.98) all posted top-16 times, led by VanDeusen’s 10th-place effort. Advait Page also earned a qualification with his swim of 4:03.15, but will not swim in the evening heat.
The 100 fly prelim was controlled by the Gators as UF posted the top-three efforts. The heat was won by Eric Friese in a B-cut swim of 46.33 with Isaac Davis finishing behind him for a runner-up nod and Dillon Hillis trailing in third-place. Will Davis will join the trio after posting a sixth-place effort of 48.16.
The lone competitor in the consolation final of the event will be freshman Mitchell Meyer, who will enter the heat with the third-fastest time after an 11th-place finish overall.
Florida’s final prelim victory of the morning was posted by Trey Freeman, who touched first in the 200 free in an effort of 1:36.11, meeting the B-cut standard for the second time this year. Alfonso Mestre continues to out perform his previous lifetime-bests to begin his sophomore season, finishing in a new top swim of 1:37.04, ..19 seconds better than his swim at the Auburn Invitational in February.
Jorge Depassier will join the pairing in the championship final after posting a swim of 1:38.53, good for eighth.
The 200 Free consolation will feature four freshmen, led by Jace Crawford who will own the top time in the heat of 1:38.64. VanDeusen (1:40.64), Brendan Peacock (1:41.48) and Wesley Hyde (1:45.58) will all join their classmate in the heat.
Five Gators finished in the top-eight to claim spots in the 100 breast championship final. Dillon Hillis led the way with his swim of 54.40, with Dubas trailing him by just .45 seconds in fourth. Vargas, Al-Wir and Friese produced top-eight performances to join them.
Brisco will swim in a three-man consolation heat in the 100 breast after he finished in 10th-place overall with a prelim swim of 55.99.
Freshmen Adam Chaney and Trevor McGovern led Florida’s 100 back prelims effort. Chaney finished just .11 seconds behind the top time for a second-place finish, while McGovern finished in seventh with a swim of 49.22.
The consolation final will be just Mitchell Meyer (50.26) and Ethan McCloud (51.35) as the pairing finished back-to-back in ninth and tenth.
What’s Next
Thursday action will resume with at 7:00 p.m. after the conclusion of the men’s 3-meter prelim and final. The 200 medley relay will get things started, followed by championship and consolation heats from the morning prelims. Thursday night will conclude with the 800 free relay.
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