Vanderbilt vs North Texas vs Little Rock (Women)
- January 27, 2024
- Little Rock, Ark.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Vanderbilt Athletics
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alina Stout won two races, with two other individuals adding victories as Vanderbilt swimming swept a tri-meet at the Donaghey Aquatic Center on Saturday.
In addition to claiming two distances in the fly, Mercedes Traba and Faith Knelson were also victorious to help the Commodores defeat North Texas 167-126 and host Little Rock by a 147.5-139.5 margin.
“It was a nice day for Alina, it was exciting to see her have some success today. She executed her races well—she really likes those sprint events—which was fun to watch,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “As a team, there were some really good performances but there were some times we saw the effects of the grind that we’ve been in. We’re starting to come out of it and see some good pop out of the ladies, they came together as a team to go one-two in that last relay.
“Now we have to get ready for Senior Day next week and to make a final push this year.”
Vanderbilt will recognize eight members of the program as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to taking on Tulane on Friday. The competition is set to begin at 2 p.m.
Meet Highlights
-The Commodores won the 200 medley relay to begin the competition as well as the 400 free relay to conclude the meet.
-Traba and Madelyn Porter recorded a one-two finish for the Dores in the 1,000 free.
-Stout won the 50 and 100 fly, with Karsyn Cook also coming in third in the former race as well.
-Knelson and Abby Francis claimed the top two spots in the 50 breast, and Francis also finished second in the 200 IM.
-Vandy took four of the top five spots in the 100 back, with Emily Carpenter coming in second followed by Hannah Weissman, Grace Ciaramitaro and Meredith DiPasquale.
-Megan Ciezczak was runner-up in the 50 free, then finished third in the 100 free that followed.
Notes
-In the 1,000 free, Traba broke her own school record in the event with a time of 10:03.16 while Porter’s mark of 10:24.05 moved her into ninth place on Vandy’s all-time performer list.
-Francis (29.24) and Liv Gooding (29.85) moved into second and fourth place, respectively, on the program’s all-time performer list in the 50 breast.
-Stout improved on her previous career-low time with a 24.87 mark in the 50 fly, as she became the second Commodore ever to post a sub-25 second time in the event.
-The victories were the second and third of her career, with all three coming in the same venue; the senior won the 100 fly at Little Rock on Jan. 29, 2022.
-Vandy’s 400 free relay team of Ciezczak, Francis, Weissman and Ellie Taliaferro posted the seventh-fastest mark in the event in school history after finishing in 3:24.63.
-Knelson (29.22) and Francis (29.24) both achieved the CSCAA National Invitational Championship A Standard in the 50 breast, with Stout accomplishing the same feat in the 50 fly.
-Knelson picked up her fourth individual victory of the season in the event—tied for most on the team—and has now won 12 races as a member of the program.
-Kate Heintz (1:52.01) posted the fastest mark of her career in the 200 free, with Ryen Bosuro (1:53.15) touching the wall in a season-best time.
-Gooding also led the Dores with a career-low 1:05.10 mark in the 100 breast, and Ella Platek added a season-best time of 1:05.94 in the race.
Courtesy: Little Rock Athletics
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojans celebrated Senior Day in style today, defeating North Texas for the first time in program history, scaring an SEC team in Vanderbilt, and setting a new school record unrested for the cherry on top. This also is the first year that Little Rock has put together a winning dual record since the 2016-17 season.
Although several Trojans recorded personal best times and season-best times in the final meet of the regular season, Gillian Boggs highlighted the day by lowering her own school record in the 200 IM down to 2:03.09. It’s a full second drop from the time she set at the midseason invitational in November.
“What a great way to send our seniors off!” said head coach Nathan Townsend. “The environment at the DSC was amazing today. A big thank you to all our fans for coming out to support the Trojans.”
“I’m really proud of this group and all their accomplishments this dual meet season. Our results today show that we are more than ready to do something really special at MVCs in about 3 weeks.”
Relays
The Trojans finished third in the 400 freestyle relay, besting the North Texas A relay by over four seconds but getting touched out by Vanderbilt’s two relays. Cheryl Poulsen, Jaelle Carlson, Delaney Crowder and Olivia Elgin turned in a time of 3:28.40.
Little Rock took third in the 200 medley relay, finishing with a time of 1:44.11, just two one-hundredths of a second behind North Texas. The relay of Caitlin Romprey, Karina Harr, Lauren Pieniazkiewicz, and Poulsen threw together a time less than a second off the school record set in November.
Freestyle
Olivia Elgin was the first place finisher in the 200 freestyle, throwing down a blistering 1:50.46, a personal best time and less than four tenths away from the school record. Gillian Boggs also had a monster swim to take second place with a time of 1:51.44, a nine-second drop from her previous best to move into third on the Little Rock Top Times list. Gabriella O’Neil was right in the mix, touching the wall at 1:53.41, just a second off her best time.
The senior came back in the 500 free to win it all, as O’Neil put up a 5:05.60, only three tenths off of her season best in November. Fellow senior Lexie Shelton was the next Trojan to finish, clocking in at 5:12.45 for a time that was also less than a second off of her season best.
The Trojans also took home a win in the 100 free as Jaelle Carlson was the only swimmer under 51 seconds. Her time of 50.94 was a season-best as well as less than half a second off her personal best.
The 1000 saw Duru Sibik lead the way, posting a new personal best time of 10:38.41 that places her into fourth all-time on the Trojans Top Times list. Lara Alsader wasn’t too far off, clocking in at 10:43.61, just six seconds off her previous mark.
Cheryl Poulsen collected third in the 50 free with a time of 23.78 to lead the Trojans, while fellow senior Delaney Crowder came in fifth with a time of 24.37.
Backstroke
Another gold came from Gillian Boggs in the 50 back as the junior clocked in at 26.02. Caitlin Romprey touched the wall at 26.38 for third while Anna Hess tied the fastest Vanderbilt swimmer for fourth with a time of 26.65.
Senior Taylor Floyd was the top finisher in the 100 back, touching the wall at 58.50, less than a second off of her best time.
Breaststroke
The Trojans went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke, as senior Karina Harr took home first in the event with a time of 1:04.25, less than a second off her best time. Lauren Pieniazkiewicz was also under the 1:05 mark, touching the wall at 1:04.95 for a new lifetime best.
Coming back in the 50 breast, Pieniazkiewicz claimed third with a time of 29.84, while Harr finished fifth in 29.86.
Butterfly
A time of 24.90 in the 50 butterfly gave Jaelle Carlson a new NIC cut and a second place finish to boot. It’s the first non-relay A cut for the meet that takes place in March. Anna Hess placed fourth once again with a time of 25.89 to round up the swimmers under the 26 barrier.
Carlson collected another silver in the 100 fly, touching the wall at 56.18, a half second off of her season best. Pieniazkiewicz earned a personal best in the event, clocking in at 57.45.
Individual Medley
Aside from the school record from Boggs, Olivia Elgin threw down a personal best in the 200 IM, touching at 2:05.01 for a four-second drop. It moves her into second on the Little Rock Top Times list behind Boggs. Caitlin Romprey collected a massive best time in the event as well, dropping nine seconds from her previous mark down a 2:10.64.
Diving
Kyra Apodaca took third place on both boards, scoring 251.03 points on the 1 meter before collecting 245.18 points in the 3 meter event. Julia Banister returned to the boards, taking fifth in both competitions.
Courtesy: Mean Green Sports
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The UNT swimming and diving team had its final competitive tuneup before the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships next month and had several student-athletes turn in encouraging performances in a tri-meet against Little Rock and Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The Mean Green set two new pool records, as Shaena McCloud won the 50 freestyle in a record time of 23.28, and Diana Kolb set a new mark in the 100 backstroke with a personal-best 54.72 to win the race by almost two seconds.
“Today was a strong showing for our team from top to bottom,” head coach Brittany Roth said. “With our final regular season meet, we saw our team members performing on par with some of their best results this season. Shaena McCloud had a monster meet anchoring the 200 Medley Relay, then following that performance by winning the 50 free and setting a pool record, and then putting together top end results in the 100 free and 100 fly. Kennedy Eichler is on fire, and had a really strong 1,000 and 500 free performance. She’s been working on the details of her race and is putting in the skills necessary for her best performance.
“Diana Kolb hit her stride in the 100 back, touching first, breaking the pool record, and going her PR, a feat that is hard to do at this stage of the season. Noelle Marsh had a great day. She doesn’t get to race the 50 free much due to her usual 200 free lineup, but it was great to see her under 24 seconds and leaning on the work she’s been consistently putting in. This is typically a tough part of the year in the homestretch, but it’s exciting to see the fight our team pulled together with today.”
On the boards, UNT took home 1, 2, 4 finishes in both the 1- and 3-meter springboards and saw several personal bests recorded.
In the 1-meter, Brigid Krbec won with 264.45 points, followed by Sydney Guidara in second with 261.23 points. Saylor Hawkins finished fourth with 249.15 points. In the 3-meter, Hawkins won with 284.85 points, followed by Guidara’s 254.78 points for second place. Michaella Rhodes finished fourth with 242.93 points. Rhodes and Gabi Somoza each hit new personal bests in both the 1- and 3-meter events, and Mackenzie Ferguson notched a new PR in the 1-meter.
“I was really proud of the whole team today,” diving coach Stephanie O’Callaghan said. “They’ve been working really hard the last few weeks. They were strong as a group today, hit some great dives and bounced back from some less than ideal circumstances. They were cheering loud, they were having fun and they were gritty. It was a great way to finish off the regular season and a great performance to build on for conference.”
UNT will next compete at the AAC Championships at SMU on Feb. 22-25.
