The Florida Gators hosted the Indiana Hoosiers as they rang in the new year, celebrating their graduating senior class before the dual meet began. This competition marks the first of the second semester for both teams, and it’s a rare matchup. According to the Gators’ communications team, this is just the fifth head-to-head matchup between the Gators and the Hoosiers. Notably, Indiana has taken on a tough schedule this season; the team has already faced a high-powered Texas team.
The swimming portion of the meet was divided into three sections by the diving events. The meet kicked off with the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter. Then, after seven events, the women’s 3-meter competed. After five more events, the men’s 1-meter dove, then the meet concluded with the final two events.
Indiana had several big additions joining them for the second semester. Rafael Miroslaw returned to collegiate racing at this meet, and Matt Kingdove in for his first meet as a Hoosier. However, the squad was without Caspar Corbeau, who announced he was returning to the NCAA and joining Indiana’s quest for an NCAA title last month. Fifth-year Adam Chaney remains on the Florida roster but didn’t race today and still hasn’t swum in an NCAA meet this season.
First Period
Order of Events:
200 medley relay
1000 freestyle
200 freestyle
100 backstroke
100 breaststroke
200 butterfly
50 freestyle
The Gators started the meet strong, as the team swept the women’s and men’s 200 medley relay and 1000 freestyle. The women’s ‘A’ medley relay of Catie Choate (25.09), Anita Bottazzo (28.00), Olivia Peoples (23.54), and Micayla Cronk (22.21) earned a narrow win over Indiana’s ‘A’ relay of Kacey McKenna (25.35), Kabria Chapman (28.06), Miranda Grana (23.85), and Kristina Paegle (21.61). The Gators held a sizable lead at the final exchange; Paegle, Indiana’s top sprinter, anchored in 21.61 but ran out of pool to chase down Cronk, and the Gators grabbed the opening win by three-hundredths, 1:38.84 to 1:38.87.
The Florida men had a bigger margin of victory as Jonny Marshall (22.17), Julian Smith (23.63), Josh Liendo(20.11), and Alex Painter (19.49) logged 1:25.40 to win by .67 seconds over Indiana’s ‘A’ relay. Olympian Matt Kinggot his first NCAA swim in an Indiana cap under his belt by anchoring the Hoosiers’ ‘A’ relay in 19.21.
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The Gators’ distance group went to work in the 1000 freestyle. Sophomore Michaela Mattes pulled out another close win for the home team, clocking 9:45.64 to finish ahead of Indiana’s Mariah Denigan(9:46.04) and Ching Hwee Gan (9:46.32). The Florida men earned a 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s 1000 freestyle, led by Eric Brown’s 9:05.02. Freshman Luke Corey finished second, over a second behind Brown in 9:06.96.
Indiana struck back by sweeping the 200 freestyle. Olympian Anna Peplowskidominated the women’s race, clocking a 1:44.78 to beat her Olympic teammate Emma Weyantby 2.37 seconds. Weyant edged out Gator freshman Julie Brousseau for second place by a hundredth. Rafael Miroslaw earned a win in his return to racing for Indiana after spending the fall term on the World Cup circuit. He swam 1:34.33 for the win, also winning by a wide margin as he touched 3.09 seconds ahead of Florida’s Jake Mitchell(1:37.42).
The 100 backstroke was the first split event, as Florida got back in the win column on the women’s side as sophomores Bella Sims(52.07) and Choate (53.40) notched a 1-2 finish ahead of Indiana’s Miranda Grana (53.50), who’s been a standout for the Hoosiers since transferring to Bloomington this fall. Her fellow transfer, Owen McDonald, earned the win in the men’s 100 backstroke, roaring to a 46.99. He and Knedla (47.74) took first and second for Indiana, while Marshall joined the pair sub-48 with a 47.98 for third place.
Anita Bottazzo and Julian Smith had standout performances in the 100 breaststroke at the Georgia Fall Invitational. Bottazzo became the third-fastest freshman in the event in her first SCY meet (57.49), while Smith broke Caeleb Dressel’s SEC record, swimming 49.98 and moving to fourth-fastest in history. Both won the 100 breaststroke at this dual, with Bottazzo swimming 1:00.63 and Smith 53.20. Bottazzo won by 1.59 seconds, but Smith had a closer race on his hands. He was first at the halfway point, then held off strong closes from Hoosier grad students Brian Benzing and Jassen Yep. Benzing grabbed second in 53.33, with Yep just behind in 53.35.
The Florida women earned another 1-2 finish in the 200 fly, this time courtesy of Addison Reese (1:59.01) and Lainy Kruger (1:59.16). The race was one of the closest of the meet, as the top four swimmers were separated by .97 seconds. Anna Freed broke up the Gators’ party by touching in 1:59.46, earning third ahead of Mabel Zavaros. Indiana earned its second win of the period in the 50 freestyle, as Kristina Paegle soared ahead of Cronk for the win in 22.34.Cronk swam 22.97 and was the only swimmer to join Paegle under the 23-second mark.
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Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Florida closed out the period with two event wins. Mason Laur claimed the 200 butterfly for Florida ahead of a 2-3-4 finish from the Hoosiers. Liendo dominated the 50 freestyle, stopping the clock at 19.32. King finished second in 19.78, while Alex Painter out-touched Mikkel Lee by a hundredth for third (20.12).
Scores At The First Break (no diving):
Women: #4 Florida, 83 — #7 Indiana, 67
Men: #4 Florida, 76 — #2 Indiana, 74
Second Period
Order of Events:
100 freestyle
200 backstroke
200 breaststroke
500 freestyle
100 butterfly
The Indiana women came out of the first break strong, following up their win in the 50 freestyle by going 1-2 in the 100 freestyle. Anna Peplowski, swimming down to the 100 free, earned her second event win of the day. She logged 48.90 to touch .32 seconds ahead of Paegle, who won the 50 freestyle shortly before.
Liendo, the men’s 50 freestyle winner, picked up his second event win of the day in the 100 freestyle. Once again, he came out on top in his battle with King, swimming 43.40 to beat the second-place King by .32 seconds. Lee, a sophomore looking to keep rolling after big improvements as a freshman, took third (43.88).
The 200 backstroke is a strength for the Florida women, and indeed, Sims earned the backstroke sweep by placing first in the 200 backstroke with a 1:54.77. She won by over three seconds, but the Hoosiers didn’t let the Gators run away with the event; they earned second through fourth place, led by Freed’s 1:57.99. McDonald completed his backstroke sweep in the next event, hitting 1:43.48.
Florida freshman Aiden Norman, the double backstroke gold-medallist at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs, took second in 1:45.05, splitting 53.75 on the back half of the race to pass Knedla’s fast start. The Czech freshman earned third in 1:45.21.
Norman’s classmate Gracie Weyant followed up by winning the women’s 200 breaststroke in the next event. She swam 2:13.33, touching over a half-second ahead of Indiana freshman Mary Elizabeth Cespedes (2:13.98). The Indiana men currently have a stronger men’s breaststroke group nationally, but the Hoosier women did their job here, earning another 2-3-4 finish. Unsurprisingly, Indiana won the men’s 200 breaststroke, with Jassen Yep swimming 1:54.93. Aleksas Savickas got in for second place (1:59.66), but Josh Matheny (1:59.94) and Benzing (2:00.03) added points with their third and fourth-place finishes.
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The Florida women extended their lead in the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly, earning 1-2 finishes in both events. Weyant and Brousseau took the top two spots in the 500 freestyle; like the 200 freestyle, it was a close race between the two Olympians. Weyant bested Brousseau again, this time with a wider margin of victory as she swam 4:44.32 to out-touch Brousseau’s 4:44.68. Denigan and Gan finished third (4:50.89) and fourth (4:52.43). Sims picked up her third event win in the 100 butterfly, swimming 52.84 in the 100 fly to beat Peoples (53.57), the reigning SEC champion. Grana earned her second third-place finish of the day in 53.79.
The Florida men’s distance group returned to work in the 500 freestyle and earned the top two spots. However, they weren’t nearly as dominant as they were in the 1000 freestyle, where they swept the top four spots. Mitchell (4:23.41) and Brown (4:25.55) were the top two finishers, but the Hoosiers cleaned up the rest of the points by taking third, fourth, and fifth. Miroslaw led the Hoosier finishers with a 4:27.00 for third.
Liendo won his third individual event of the meet with a 47.13 in the men’s 100 butterfly; sophomore Scotty Buff followed him to the wall in 47.52. Buff’s swim earned the Gators a 1-2 finish, with Indiana’s Raekwon Noel finishing third in 47.61, unable to close the gap to Buff. Indiana earned another 3-4-5 finish for the second straight event. That ensures that though they were down by two at the first break, they head into the last men’s diving event and the final two swimming events with a one-point lead over the Gators.
Scores At The Second Break (no diving):
Women: #4 Florida, 148 — #7 Indiana, 116
Men: #2 Indiana, 123 — #4 Florida, 122
Third Period
Order of Events:
200 IM
400 freestyle relay
Paris Olympic teammates Peplowski and Weyant faced off for the second time this meet in the women’s 200 IM. Peplowski led Weyant by over two seconds at the halfway mark; she still led with 50 yards to go, but Weyant had closed the gap significantly with a 33.99 breaststroke split. Weyant headed to the free leg just three-tenths behind Peplowski.
She out-split Peplowski by three-hundredths on the freestyle leg, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap, and Peplowski earned the win by .27 seconds, 1:59.10 to 1:59.37. Indiana picked up some points against the Gators as they touched first, third, and fourth in the event.
The final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, saw another close race between Florida and Indiana. The Gators’ ‘A’ relay of Sims (49.44), Addison Reese (50.27), Kruger (50.24), and Cronk (48.68) prevailed by .24 seconds. The quartet once again held off a late charge from the Hoosiers ‘A’ relay. Paegle led off in 49.40, giving the Hoosiers the lead, though they got a 50.75 split from Mya DeWitt and a 50.51 split from Reese Tiltmann, the Gators went past them on the middle 200 yards. Fresh off the 200 IM, Peplowski anchored in 48.21, out-splitting the Gators’ anchor, but couldn’t quite pull ahead.
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Florida cemented its win with a 3:18.63, while Indiana claimed second in 3:18.87. Florida’s ‘B’ relay was disqualified, and the Hoosiers claimed the final points in the relay with a 3:27.37 from the ‘B’ squad.
On the men’s side, McDonald won his third individual event of the meet in the 200 IM. Smith was ahead of him after the butterfly leg, but McDonald passed him on the backstroke leg. Smith closed the gap with a 31.02 breaststroke split, but McDonald’s 25.48 anchor was enough to keep him ahead of Smith. McDonald swam 1:46.20, winning by a half-second over Smith (1:46.70). Notably, the Gators went 2-3 with Smith and Laur, with Indiana picking up points from its first, fourth, and fifth place finishes in the event.
Then, the Hoosiers dominated the 400 freestyle relay. They went with Miroslaw (43.43), King (43.10), Lee (43.10), and Frankel (43.83) for the ‘A’ relay, and the quartet won with a 2:53.46, beating Florida’s ‘A’ squad by 2.54 seconds. Florida’s ‘A’ team of Dilger (43.87), Painter (43.53), Buff (43.91), and Smith (44.69) swam 2:56.00.
There were disqualifications in the men’s 400 free relay as well. Indiana has been jumpy all season, and that continued here as the Hoosiers’ ‘B’ relay was disqualified. Florida’s ‘D’ squad was disqualified as well.
The meet administrators didn’t add the diving points in until before the final two events of the day. Quinn Henniger and Carson Tyler were the top two divers on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards (each won one event), which extended the Hoosiers’ lead. At the end of the final event, the Indiana men had racked up 163 points, beating Florida by 26 points. On the women’s side, the Gators claimed victory, scoring 163 points to the Hoosiers’ 136.
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According to Florida’s communications department, the Gator men held a 4-0 series advantage heading into the meet, meaning this win marks the Indiana men’s first against the Gators. The Florida women’s win means they improve to a 2-3 record against the Hoosiers.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall as football coach Sunday, settling for its second choice after Lane Kiffin picked LSU over the Gators.
Sumrall finalized a six-year, $44.7 million contract that comes with incentives, according to a person familiar with the search. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because financial details were not released. The deal averages $7.45 million annually.
The 43-year-old Sumrall will remain with the 22nd-ranked Green Wave for the American Conference title game next week and through the College Football Playoff if Tulane makes the 12-team field.
The Gators also agreed to terms with longtime NFL executive Dave Caldwell as their general manager. Caldwell won a Super Bowl during his five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and built a roster that made the AFC title game in eight years (2013-20) with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also spent time with Atlanta, Indianapolis and Carolina.
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Caldwell is expected to help manage Florida’s salary cap and evaluate talent — essentially taking some things off Sumrall’s plate as college football moves closer to adopting NFL-style front offices.
Sumrall played linebacker at Kentucky (2002-04) and returned to his alma mater for a three-year stint before becoming Troy’s head coach in 2022. He won consecutive Sun Belt championships in two seasons with the Trojans and then enjoyed similar success at Tulane.
Sumrall is 19-7 in two years in New Orleans and led the Green Wave to the American championship game both seasons. So he has made four league title games in four years as a head coach. The Gators are hoping he’s Urban Meyer 2.0 and not Billy Napier 2.0.
“Not many coaches win big at two different non-Power programs, and even fewer do it as quickly as Jon has done it,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “He joins rare company — coaches like Urban Meyer, Brian Kelly and Willie Fritz — who’ve delivered immediate success at multiple stops. Jon’s track record of rapid turnarounds speaks directly to his leadership and the culture he establishes.”
Sumrall had been considered a possibility at Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Florida made a late push when Kiffin’s interest in the Gators waned. Florida fans are likely to view him as a consolation prize, another gamble from a Group of Five conference.
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Sumrall replaces Napier, who was fired in mid-October and went 22-23 over four seasons in Gainesville. Napier was nicknamed “Sun Belt Billy” because he often looked in over his head in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.
Going back to Louisiana for another G5 coach? And a defensive guy to boot? That’s a bold move for Stricklin, who is sure to draw the ire of the Florida faithful for failing to land Kiffin.
He was roundly booed at a championship celebration to honor men’s basketball coach Todd Golden and his title-winning team in April. Now, the fan base is calling for his job.
A website titled FireScottStricklin.com documents Stricklin’s shortcomings, and some fans organized a rally Sunday outside Florida Field to promote Stricklin’s “immediate removal.”
But Stricklin seemingly has the support of the Board of Trustees, which gave him a three-year contract extension in June and allowed him to conduct a coaching search that included roughly 10 interviews without interference.
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There were rumors and reports about boosters getting involved and straining relationships with Kiffin and his camp. But Stricklin made it clear he was the only one making the hire. Kiffin chose LSU after a public tug-of-war involving all three schools.
Kiffin’s family members took scouting trips to Gainesville and Baton Rouge, and he met with administrators and fundraisers on several occasions. The trip to Gainesville was underwhelming, according to people familiar with the search, and high school football in the area left plenty to be desired.
Florida even turned to Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel during its pursuit of Kiffin, who eventually slowed communication with UF officials to the point where the Gators decided they had to move on in a crowded market.
Now, Sumrall will be counted on to lead a downtrodden program back to prominence in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.
Tulane’s numbers are far from gaudy: The Green Wave rank 39th in the country in total offense and 64th in total defense. Sumrall is expected to hire outside coordinators to help him rebuild in Gainesville.
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The Gators (4-8) clearly have talent and ended a dismal season with one of their best performances, a 40-21 victory against rival Florida State in the Swamp in which running back Jadan Baugh ran for a career-high 266 yards and two touchdowns and DJ Lagway threw for three scores.
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A Ukrainian delegation will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in Florida later Sunday for the latest round of negotiations over the US-backed plan to end the war.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will also attend the meeting in Miami, a White House official told CNN.
Ukraine is seeking international security guarantees as part of any agreement to end the war and a ceasefire based on the current frontlines. It has rejected ceding any territory not already occupied by Russian forces.
But Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has shown little signal he’s ready to offer concessions, saying that the war would only end “once Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy.”
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Rubio met the Ukrainian team in Geneva last weekend, but since then the lead Ukrainian negotiator, Andriy Yermak, has resigned amid a corruption scandal. Yermak’s place has been taken by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
The Geneva meeting substantially amended the original 28-point blueprintdeveloped by Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund and a Kremlin special envoy.
Ukraine’s European allies said that the original plan – which was seen as highly favorable to Russia – would require “additional work.”
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said last week the Kremlin had received the latest version of the plan.
“This isn’t an official one, but we do have the document. We haven’t discussed it with anyone yet because the points in it require truly serious analysis and discussion,” Ushakov said.
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After suggesting that he wanted Ukraine to agree to a deal by Thursday of last week, Trump backed away from imposing any kind of deadline.
“You know what the deadline for me is? When it’s over,” he said.
The negotiations come against a backdrop of persistent Russian missile and drone attacks against cities and infrastructure across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that in the last week, Russia had used nearly 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and 66 missiles in attacks.
For its part, Ukraine continues to target Russian energy and defense infrastructure with long-range drones and domestically manufactured missiles. Ukraine also used maritime drones on Friday and Saturday in strikes in the Black Sea against two sanctioned oil tankers used to ship Russian oil.
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The two tankers, which flew under the Gambian flag, were damaged but not sunk.
As the negotiations continue, Ukraine’s former military chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who is considered a potential rival to Zelensky, wrote in the Daily Telegraph Sunday that “war does not always end with the victory of one side and the defeat of the other.”
“We Ukrainians strive for complete victory, but we cannot reject the option of a long-term end to the war,” Zaluzhnyi wrote.
The finish line is right around the corner for the sweepstakes to land Lane Kiffin.
More News: Alabama Tries Coaching Shakeup Before Auburn Game
Florida dropped out of the marathon early. Reports surfaced on Friday that Kiffin pulled out of consideration for the Gators job. He’s set to choose between LSU and Ole Miss on Saturday.
Kiffin had been Florida’s top target after Billy Napier was fired on Oct. 19. However, communication broke down between Kiffin and the Gators in recent days.
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More News: Oregon Coach a ‘Prime’ Candidate for Newly Opened College Football Job
Florida has a couple of backup options for Kiffin. Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key is someone to keep an eye on.
On Saturday, the big name for Florida is Jon Sumrall. The Tulane head coach had been linked to Auburn for weeks, but he appears to be out of consideration for the job with the Tigers.
Multiple reports indicate that Sumrall is the top option for Florida.
Sumrall has gone 41-11 during his stints at Troy and Tulane. His resume is similar to that of Napier when Florida hired him in 2021 after going 40-12 at Louisiana.
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Florida fans on social media appeared upset with athletic director Scott Stricklin for fumbling the bag on Kiffin and then considering hiring a Group of 5 coach as Napier’s replacement. Some want Stricklin to be fired before he can hire Sumrall.
“Good morning, Gator Nation It is a great day to fire Scott Stricklin,” wrote a fan.
“Scott Stricklin is 1-for-7 on coaching hires. $31M+ wasted on buyouts. Elite coaches don’t want the job. Time for a change,” argued a fan.
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“Scott Striklin is the Billy Napier of athletic directors,” posted another.
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“If Scott Stricklin had any sense, Lincoln Riley would be headed to Florida, not Jon Sumrall. Unfortunately, it appears he paid Billy Napier $21 million to leave so he could hire Billy Napier 2.0. The Gators continue to be unserious about football,” argued a poster.
“We don’t want Jon Sumrall as our Head Coach, nor Scott Stricklin as our AD!” suggested a fan.
“So how can we get Scott Stricklin fired if majority think he sucks at his job and ruining the football program? We would have been great again with Kiffin. If he goes after Sumrall he should be fired on the spot,” wrote another.
It’ll be interesting to see if Florida continues to go after Stricklin amid the backlash. Texas A&M had a similar situation with Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops in 2023 before the Aggies hired Mike Elko away from Duke.
