Arkansas Falls To Florida In First SEC Meet
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Women’s Swim and Dive team fell for the first time this season Thursday evening, as the No. 18 Florida Gators defeated the Razorbacks by a score of 188-112 inside the Arkansas Natatorium.
The loss is the first under first year head coach Neil Harper as Florida remains undefeated all-time against the Razorbacks. It marks only the second time in the last six SEC dual meets that Arkansas has lost, dating back to the 2014-15 season.
Junior diver Nicole Gillis was remarkable once again. After setting a pool and school record in the 1-meter springboard against Drury earlier in the season, Gillis breaks the school record for the second consecutive meet with a zone qualifying score of 337.88. She also grabbed a first place finish in the 3-meter dive as well with a score of 304.05 to qualify for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in the event.
Freshman Ayumi Macias swam a personal best in the 1000 freestyle (10:04.90), which was quicker than any other time in the event a season ago.
Senior Aiden Lister took the victory in the 500 freestyle (4:51.82) and finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:49.83), while Madison Strathman won the 100 breaststroke (1:02.59) and Olivia Weekley claimed first in the 100 butterfly (55.03).
Coach Harper’s Thoughts
“I thought we performed really well. We have had a hard week of training and we didn’t want to do anything special for this meet. I just wanted them to compete with big hearts and pride, which they did. They came out and gave it their all. We can’t control what the opposition does, this is a sport where we get in our lane and do what we can. I was very happy about how we performed. We swam so much faster than we did last meet and most times, a lot of what they did today, will win most meets so I am very happy about their improvement at this point in the season.”
Up Next
Arkansas will conclude the second of two dual meets in back-to-back days tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 4, as the Razorbacks face the South Carolina Gamecocks at 3 p.m. at the Arkansas Natatorium.
For more information on Arkansas Swimming and Diving, follow @RazorbackSD on Twitter.
