Queens vs South Carolina
- October 21, 2023
- Charlotte, N.C.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: South Carolina Athletics
Charlotte, N.C. – South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming split results against the Queen Royals in their Friday afternoon dual. The women’s team posted a commanding 156-106 win while the men’s team fell 119.5-141.5.
During the dual, the Gamecock’s won 12 of the 28 events with seven of those wins coming from the women’s team. The underclassmen continued to shine across the board with two freshman and three sophomores accounting for half of the team’s individual victories.
Gamecock Notables
- Sophomore Meaghan Harnish claimed the first event win of the day for the Gamecocks. Her time of 10:15.56 landed her in first place in the 1000 free. She was followed by fellow sophomore Jordan Agliano in second place with a time of 10:23.40.
- South Carolina’s men claimed the top four places of their 1000 free race. In first place was Connor Fry (9:23.71), followed by Umut Yildirim (9:24.50), Raymond Prosinski (9:30.05), and Tommy Mitchell (9:40.46).
- Freshman Ellery Ottem claimed the first individual win of her career in the 200 free. The Stillwater, Minnesota, native touched the wall first in 1:51.19. She was followed in second place by teammate Duda Sumida (1:52.26).
- The Gamecock women had a strong showing in the 100 back, claiming the top four finishes. Amy Riordan (55.02) won the event, followed by Bella Pantano (55.10), Tia Salcutan (55.85), and Dylan Scholes (57.25).
- Michael Laitarovsky claimed his third 100 back win in as many meets with a time of 48.46. He was followed in second place by freshman Ryan Hufford who swam a 49.72.
- Freshman Lien Yu was the fastest Gamecock in the women’s 100 breast. She swam a 1:04.58 for second place. Her time makes her the fastest on the team so far this season.
- Liam Kerns won the 100 breast for the men with a time of 55.97. It was his first 100 breast win of the season.
- Junior Greta Pelzek claimed the 200 fly victory for the women’s team. She swam a 2:01.63 for first place.
- Gage Hulbert was the fastest in the 200 fly for South Carolina’s men. He placed second with a time of 1:49.70.
- Senior Aubrey Chandler was the top-placing Gamecock in the 50 free with a time of 28.83.
- Mark Shperkin led the men’s team in the 50 free with a time of 20.73, landing him in second place.
- Chandler got right back in the water after the break to pick up another second place finish – this one in the 100 free with a time of 51.07.
- The Gamecock women earned yet another sweep in the 200 back. Salcutan placed first with a time of 1:58.71 followed by Riordan (2:00.70), Sumida (2:00.88), and Caroline Chasser (2:02.82).
- Wylie Kruse was the highest placing on the men’s team in the 200 back. He swam a 1:48.95 for second place.
- Kerns completed a sweep of the breaststroke events, claiming his second win of the day in the 200 breast. He swam a 2:03.72 to place first.
- Ottem also went on to claim a second individual event win, hers in the 500 free. The freshman claimed the win with a time of 5:02.04.
- The men’s team proved their strength in the distance events with a sweep of the 500 free. Sophomore Jose Castro place first (4:36.72) followed by Yildirim (4:38.73), Fry (4:39.309), and Mitchell (4:40.02).
- Nicholle Toh claimed her second win of the year in the 100 fly with a time of 54.48.
Up Next for the Gamecocks
South Carolina swimming & diving will return home for it’s next meet, hosting North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 3rd at 3:00 p.m. The meet will serve as the Gamecock’s annual Parent & Alumni weekend. More details on the event will be released at a later date.
Courtesy: Queens Athletics
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Royals were no match for the No. 8-SEC ranked South Carolina men’s team tonight, as Queens took the victory by a final score of 141.5-119.5. The Queens women weren’t able to seal the deal, falling by a score of 156-106.
Overall, the Royals claimed 16 event wins on the night.
“Tonight our men enjoyed a win that took the entire team top to bottom,” Senior Associate Head Coach Jon Lau said. “Our women also had one of the closest meets against South Carolina in our program’s history. To be competing with an SEC power shows that our team has been putting in the hard work that will make us successful at the end of the season. We look forward to continuing to build toward the Fall Frenzy in November.”
The Royals kickstarted the meet with a bang as the men & the women both snagged first-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relays.
The squad of Bianca Wettel, Maddie Foster, Annika Huber, and Danielle Melilli completed with a 1:42.89 final time while the men’s side of Andreas Marz, Balazs Berecz, Conner Wang, and Matej Dusa finished with a 1:28.97.
Queens grabbed their next first-place finish in the Men’s 200-yard free event, as Daniel Meszaros collected a 1:39.57 while Frantisek Jablcnik finished close behind with a 1:40.36.
The Gamecocks would take the next two events before Huber brought home a win in the 100-yard breaststroke event with a time of 1:04.06.
The Royals would just barely scrape behind first-place times of their opponents in the next two events (Men’s 100-yard breaststroke, Women’s 200-yd fly) before Yannick Plasil would take his first triumph of the day with a time of 1:49.43 in the Men’s 200-yard fly.
After the break, the Royals swiped the next four events at the hands of veterans Dusa and Melilli in the 50-yard and 100-yard free events. Dusa snagged the men’s 50-yard with a new ASUN-conference best time of 19.50 and claimed the 100-yard with a 44.10. Melilli finished with a similar fortune as the senior took the women’s events with ASUN record times of 23.13 and 50.62, respectively.
Huber snagged another win in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke as the sophomore finished with a winning time of 2:17.48. Next, it would be Plasil once again to grab another Queens victory in the Men’s 100-yard fly with a 49.62. From there, the Royals would win the last five events. In the Men’s 200-yard IM, Jablcnik took the win with a time of 1:51.06. Before the final events, Abigail Zboran would find her way on the board with a winning time of 2:04.18 in the 200-yard IM — a new ASUN-best time in the event.
Finishing off the meet, the Royals reigned supreme once again in the relays as the women finished with a time of 1:33.88 (Melilli, Foster, Libby Livesay, and Ryley Heck) while the men (Dusa, Meszaros, Nien Levy, and Wang) finished with a time of 1:20.75 in the 200-yard freestyle events.
Up next, the Royals are back home on Nov. 3 as they face Colorado State and Old Dominion in a tri-meet starting at 4:00 PM.
