Five Gators Advance to Saturday's Finals at NCAAs

Five Gators Advance to Saturday's Finals at NCAAs

Saturday, March 19, 2016 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Natalie Hinds will compete in tonight's 100-Free 'A' final

By: Benjamin Schmitz

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ATLANTA -- Five members from the University of Florida women's swimming and diving teams advanced to Saturday's finals competition at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Today's events mark the fourth and final day of competition inside the McAuley Aquatic Center.

In addition, UF's five qualifiers mark the highest qualifying-total this week.

Altogether, 11 members competed throughout four individual events on Saturday with the addition of the team's 400-Yard Freestyle relay -- which concluded the afternoon's preliminary swimming events. Of those 11 competing, junior Taylor Katz and senior Natalie Hinds were the two advancing in tonight's individual events. Freshman Mollie Pulte, and seniors Ashlee Linn, Lindsey McKnight, and Hinds were Saturday's qualifiers in the Gator Relay.

Hinds was UF's top finisher from this afternoon's preliminary events. The Midland, Texas, native competed in the 100-Yard Freestyle and touched out with a fourth-place time of 47.51, which sends her into tonight's 'A' final. Sophomore Amelia Maughan also competed in the event and clocked a time of 49.80 to finish 56th in the field.

Katz had a strong showing in the 200-Yard Butterfly event. Katz, a Sarasota, Florida, native, swam a time of 1:55.55 which marked a new season-best for her. She will compete in tonight's 'B' final. Junior Allyssa Yambor-Maul also competed in the event, finishing 28th among the field with a time of 1:57.30.

The 400-Yard Freestyle relay was the final event in which the Gators qualified in. The foursome of Pulte, Hinds, Linn, and McKnight posted a time of 3:15.34 (13th-place). The quartet will compete in tonight's 'B' Final.

In the 200-Yard backstroke, two Gators -- senior Ashlee Linn and redshirt junior Georgia Hohmann -- took the pool for preliminary races. Linn touched out with a time of 1:54.80 to finish 28th in the event while Hohmann followed in 40th (1:55.93).

In the diving well, senior Kahlia Warner's historic diving career at Florida came to a close. Although she didn't qualify for tonight's finals session, the Queensland, Australia, native put together a strong showing and finished 19th overall with a score of 240.25. Warner will leave the 2016 NCAA Championships with two All-American honors after placing sixth on the 1-Meter on Thursday, and third off the 3-Meter on Friday night.

Up Next:
The Gators' three mile swimmers -- Hannah Burns, Autumn FInke, and Jessica Thielmann -- will compete prior to tonight's finals session. After the mile, Florida's five finalists will compete at 6 p.m. ET, when they conclude the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Gator All-Americans
In NCAA swimming and diving, athletes and relay teams who make the championship final (top eight) are considered First-Team All-Americans. Athletes and relay teams that qualify for the consolation final (determines places 9-16) are considered Honorable Mention All-Americans.

With today's Top-8 finish, Hinds solidifies an All-American honor in the 100-Yard Freestyle while Katz and the Gator Relay will gather Honorable Mention All-American honors based on their Top-16 finishes.

Season Bests
Junior Taylor Katz swam a season-best time of 1:55.55 in the 200-Yard Butterfly, besting her previous mark of 1:55.69.

Looking Back:
Click here for a complete recap from Day 1 Competition.
Click here for a complete recap from Day 2 Competition.
Click here for a complete recap from Day 3 Competition.

Notable Links:
Complete NCAA Championship Notes
2016 Championship Central Page
Psych Sheet

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