TALLAHASSEE, Florida, September 19. THE Seminoles Swimming team took to the pool this afternoon for the first intra-squad scrimmage of the 2009-2010 season. Head Coach Neil Harper was highly impressed by his squad in their first action of the season.
"I was very happy. We've been pounding them in the weight room and in the dry land exercises. It's been nonstop for about 3 weeks and I was very surprised by the way they responded. They were very positive. They were behind each other. We saw some fast swimming up top and that's probably the best the bottom end has been in terms of the great effort. It said a lot about this team and about the leadership so I'm excited at this stage."
All 53 of today's swimmers participated in five events, the 50 yard free, 100 yard fly, 100 yard back, 100 yard breast and 200 yard free. For the second consecutive year juniors C.J. Hendry and Andy Hodgson were declared the meet's champions. Although Hendry and Hodgson were the overall winners, a variety of Seminoles claimed victories in each event.
On the women's side Shanda Casella finished first in the 50 yard free with a time of 23.91. Hendry finished second (23.94) and Jocelyn Phillips came in third (24.11). Hendry led the way in the 100 yard free with a time of 55.35, followed by Tiffany Elias (56.83) and Caroline Smith (58.54). Stephanie Sarandos claimed the 100 yard back with a time of 57.27 followed Hendry (57.96) and Elias (58.15). Freshman Kristine Polley placed first in the 100 yard breast with a time of 1:05.91 followed by Jessica Sabotin (1:07.79) and Sarandos (1:08.88). In the final event, the 200 yard free, Phillips finished first with a time of 1:52.15 followed by Hendry (1:52.75) and Elias (1:53.02).
On the men's side Hodgson was victorious in 3 events, the 100 yard fly, 100 yard back and 200 free. In the 50 yard free Robby Hayes came in first with a time of 21.10 followed by Matt Shead (21.33) and Corey Swanson (21.40). Behind Hodgson's time of 50.78 in the 100 yard fly were Shead (51.06) and Hayes (51.09). In the 100 yard back Hodgson finished with a time of 50.05 followed by Ian Rowe (51.43) and Logan Mosley (53.49). Scott Thacker claimed a victory in the 100 yard breast with a time of 57.30, with Rob Holderness (58.42) and Shead (58.52) taking second and third place. Hodgson sealed his meet win with a time of 1:41.00 in the 200 yard free followed by Rowe (1:43.79) and Hayes (1:44.88).
Next up for the Seminoles is the annual Garnet vs. Gold intra-squad meet next Friday, September 25, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. at Morcom Aquatics Center.
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