Catie Choate, Maddie Moreth Lead Florida Sweep of Kentucky
Catie Choate and Maddie Moreth picked up two individual wins apiece as Florida opened up with a pair of SEC victories over Kentucky on Friday.
The No. 3 ranked men’s team claimed a 194-103 decision, while the No. 10 ranked women won by a 183-115 margin. The Gators are 31-0 all-time against the Wildcats in dual meets.
Choate and Moreth started the meet by combining with Grace Rabb and Sylvia Statkevicius to win the 200 medley relay in 1:40.33.
Choate won the 100 backstroke in 53.11 ahead of teammate Zuri Ferguson, then bested Ferguson again with a 1:56.72 to win the 200 back. Choate joined Statkevicius, Valentina Procaccini and Lainy Kruger to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:21.93.
Moreth won the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.93, then claimed the 200 breast in 2:14.83.
Procaccini won the 1,000 free in 9:50.02 and the 500 in 4:50.51. She was second to Julie Brousseau’s 1:47.94 in the 200 free. Maeline Bessard won the 100 free in 50.67, .13 up on Statkevicius. Kruger won the 100 fly in 55.33.
Nil Cadevall assembled a dominant day for the Gators men’s team. He was on the winning medley relay that went 1:26.32, just edging a strong effort from Kentucky that was .13 behind. Jonny Marshall led off, with Cadevall on breaststroke joining Scotty Buff and Devin Dilger.
Cadevall won the 100 breast in 54.36, the 200 breast in 1:59.36 and the 200 IM in 1:47.74.
Buff won the 100 fly in 47.54, .17 up on teammate Tai Pearson. Dilger did the sprint double, at 19.49 in the 50 and 43.92 in the 100. He joined Buff, Aiden Norman and Paul Dardis to go 2:55.12 and win the 400 free relay, Dilger’s split of 42.77 on the third leg the difference between the squads.
Ahmed Jaouadi handled the 1,000 free in 8:55.90. Abdalla Youssef’s 1:37.72 edged Norman in the 200 free. Matt Cairns won the 200 fly in 1:47.64. Norman won the 200 back in 1:44.23.
Florida swept diving, with Jesus Agundez Mora (377.33) leading a 1-2-3 on 3-meter, then scoring 335.33 to pace a similar sweep on the shorter board.
Kentucky picked up wins on the women’s side via Billie Sherratt’s time of 2:01.25 in the 200 fly. Valeria Tarin’s 23.54 edged Statkevicius by .03 seconds in the 50 free. Hayden Penny won the 200 individual medley in 2:00.48.
Avery Giese handily topped Florida’s Camyla Monroy on 1-meter diving with a score of 312.83, though Monroy edger her with a 319.58 on 3-meter.
On the men’s side, Devin Naoroz went 46.45 in the 100 back to best Marshall. Naoroz was second to Norman in the 200 back. Filippo Bertoni won the 500 free in 4:24.68, an event that Jaouadi scratched.
