The SMU women's swimming and diving team fell to the Florida Gators in its first meet of the year Thursday night, 130-108, at Perkins Natatorium.

The Mustangs captured first place in 6 events while the Gators won seven. The Mustangs were lead by Katina Maistrellis who had two first place performances in the 50 free (23.47) and 100 free (51.47), respectively.

The Gators were led by a pair of freshmen, Janelle Atkinson (Jamaica/The Bolles School) and Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla./DeLand), who each won two events.

Senior Sharon Rzadkowolsky (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) won the first event for the Gators, placing first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with her time of 9:55.98. Atkinson took first in the 200-yard freestyle with her time of 1:49.68 and also won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:47.38. She improved on her NCAA provisional qualifying times in both events.

McLarty took first in the 400-yard individual medley, touching the wall in 4:18.51, and finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with her time of 2:02.59. That time also met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in the 200-yard butterfly. Rzadkowolsky met a NCAA provisional qualifying standard with her time of 4:53.13 in the 500-yard freestyle.

Redshirt-sophomore Megan Melgaard (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) won the 200-yard backstroke with her time of 2:02.87 and senior Robyn Grimes (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) won the one-meter springboard with a score of 271.57.

With the loss SMU falls to 0-1 on the year, while Florida improves its' record to 5-1 in dual meet competition.

The Gators will be in action Nov. 3 when they take on TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. they will return to Dallas in time for the SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic Friday and Saturday. The meet will be held at Perkins Natatorium and will begin at 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are available at 214-SMU-GAME.