GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Lady Bulldogs finished second with 431 points and the Bulldogs took second with 342.50 points Saturday night at the SEC East Challenge in Gainesville. Tennessee's men (535) and Florida's women (463) won their respective sides of the invitational.

"On the women's side we had some outstanding swims once again this early in the season," said assistant coach Harvey Humphries, who was at the helm in the absence of head coach Jack Bauerle. "The girls seemed to get better and tougher as the meet went on. Stefanie Williams and Morgan Fleming were tremendous captains this weekend. Jack would have been proud of our efforts.

"It was nice to see the men come back and get a little revenge tonight (after losing to Florida in dual competition on Friday)," said Humphries. "Our guys swam a lot of events tonight, and some were back-to-back. We are exceptionally proud of our milers, Randy (Lam), Andrew (Mahaney), and Scot (Davis). We still have a long way to go, but the attitude and the way they fight will make each meet a challenge and fun to watch."

The women got off to a great start, winning the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:44.19. The foursome of Neka Mabry, Lindsay Ertter, Katie Yevak and Maritza Correia touched the wall just 0.69 of a second ahead of Florida for the win. The team of Williams, Virginia Pate, Stephanie Buck and Paige Kearns took fourth in the event with a time of 1:46.99.

Lady Bulldogs took two of the top three spots in the 100-yard backstroke. Mabry, a sophomore from Little Rock, Ark., took top honors with a time of 55.49, while Williams earned a third-place finish, touching the wall in 56.90. Buck and Pate finished 13th and 15th, respectively.

Ertter, who won the 200-yard breaststroke in Friday night's dual meet against Florida, led a 1-2 finish in the 100-yard breaststroke event Saturday. Ertter finished in the top spot with a time of 1:02.53, followed by Pate in second with a time of 1:04.95. Yevak, who won two individual events on Friday, took fourth in 1:05.84. Viki van den Barselaar finished ninth (1:06.90).

The Lady Bulldogs, who were in second place behind Florida after six events, made up a lot of ground by having seven participants picking up points for Georgia in the 100-yard butterfly. Yevak finished first with a time of 55.10, followed by Correia in fourth (56.05). Mabry, Williams and Permenter claimed the nine through 11 spots, respectively, while Thorburn took 13th place, and Buck finished 15th.

Yevak continued to have an impressive weekend as the freshman won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:15.08, for her fourth individual victory of the SEC East Challenge. Correia finished third with a time of 4:22.40, while Ertter edged Florida's Monica Shannahan by 0.11 of a second to take fifth (4:25.31). Four other Lady Bulldogs finished in the top 15.

Yevak's times in the both the 100-yard butterfly and the 400-yard individual medley were the fourth fastest times in the events in Georgia history.

The team of Williams, Mabry, Kearns and Correia were out-touched at the wall to finish second to Florida in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Williams had the fastest lead-off leg of the event (23.96), and the Lady Bulldogs finished the event with a time of 1:33.86, which was just 0.11 of a second behind the host Lady Gators. Georgia's second relay team finished sixth with a time of 1:37.44.

"We are exceptionally happy with Neka's backstroke and Katie (Yevak)'s IM," added Humphries. "Ertter came through with a great breaststroke