Thanks to a strong performance by senior Igor Cerensek, Minnesota’s men’s swimming and diving team pulled off the upset of third-ranked Florida in Gainesville on Friday.
Cerensek won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events and was on winning 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays, helping the 10th-ranked Gophers win 161-139.
Minnesota had plenty of other winners on the day too.
Junior Mike Woodson won the 200-yard freestyle, junior David Plummer won the 100-yard backstroke and sophomore Colin Lee-To won the 100-yard backstroke.
But the best event for the Gophers by far was the 100-yard freestyle where Cerensek finished first (44.94), senior Mario Delac was second (45.26), sophomore Evan Bernier was third (45.77) and junior Tyler Schmidt was fourth (46.44) to tally 16 points for the Gophers.
Heading into the final event, Minnesota led by nine points and sealed the victory by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Women fall in Florida
Unlike the men’s team, the 16th-ranked women’s swimming and diving team could not pull off the upset of No. 2 Florida.
Minnesota lost 165-127, despite a strong day from sophomore Yuen Kobayashi. She finished second in the 1000-yard freestyle, second in the 200-yard freestyle and first in the 500-yard freestyle. She was also a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that won.
Other swimmers winning events were freshman Kim Kazika in the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Jenny Shaughnessy in the 400-yard individual medley and senior Jennifer Chang in the 100-yard butterfly.