Gaines Doubles As Kentucky Women, Missouri Men Split 2020 Mizzou Invite

2020 MIZZOU INVITE

  • Thursday, November 19-Saturday, November 21
  • Teams: Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas (W)
  • University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
  • Format: Short Course Yards (SCY)
  • Prelims/Finals
  • Prelims @9AM Central, Finals @6PM Central
  • 2021 NCAA Qualifying Times
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 Mizzou Invitational”
  • Live Results

The Kentucky women finished things off in Columbia by winning 4 of the 5 individual events on offer on the final night of the 2020 Mizzou Invite.

Beth McNeese kicked off the session with a win in the mile, snagging an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the process with a 16:04.07. This chops 9 seconds off her previous lifetime best from the 2020 SEC Champs. Arkansas’s Peyton Palsha finished 2nd in 16:06.43, about 4.5 seconds off her best time but 25 seconds ahead of the 3rd place finisher, Allison Bloebaum from Missouri who touched in 16:31.59.

Kentucky followed that up with a 1-2 victory in the 200 backstroke where Caitlin Brooks and Sophie Sorenson finished in 1:51.55 and 1:54.44, respectively. For Brooks, that is a best time by 0.05 while Sorenson’s time falls about 2 seconds shy of her best. Kentucky picked up major points in this race with 5ht, 6th, and 7th place finishes.

Riley Gaines was the only Kentucky swimmer in the ‘A’ final of the 100 freestyle, but she got her hand on the wall first to win in 48.46. This morning, Gaines went under 49 in the 100 flat-start for the first time with a 48.88. Her time this evening comes as a full half-second drop from her lifetime best before this weekend. Gaines went on to also win the 200 fly in 1:56.10, getting o the wall 6/10ths ahead of teammate Izzy Gati who touched 2nd in 1:56.71. That’s about half a second off Gaines’s best time in the 200 fly, but easily a season-best. Arkansas’s Lizzy Linartas placed 3rd in 2:01.57 and Adela Vavrinova 4th in 2:01.76, though 5ht, 6th, and 7th places all went to Kentucky leaving only 8th to Mizzou.

Arkansas’s Vanessa Herrmann won the 200 breast in 2:08.78, chopping over 2 seconds from her lifetime best set at this meet in 2019. Kentucky’s Gillian Davey placed 2nd in 2:09.07, while Missouri’s Katrina Brathwaite took 3rd in 2:09.33. Kentucky, also took 4th, 5th, and 6th in the women’s 200 breast, leaving 7th and 8th to Mizzou. Seven of the eight women in the ‘A’ final of the 200 breast nabbed NCAA ‘B’ times this evening.

The Missouri women’s ‘A’ team claimed victory in the 400 free relay, the final event of the meet, beating Arkansas’s ‘A’ team 3:16.76 to 3:17.82. Kentucky’s ‘A’ team finished 3rd in 3:18.87. Sarah Thompson had the fastest split in the field with a 48.37 as the third swimmer on Missouri’s ‘A’ team, while Riley Gaines had the second-fastest split of the evening with a 48.58 as the anchor on Kentucky’s ‘A’ team.

The Missouri men were the dominating force in their meet. Jack Dubois started the session for the men with a win in the mile, stopping the clock in 15:05.36, about 5 seconds off his best time from the 2019 NCAA Championship. Kentucky’s Adam Rosipal and Jakob Clark took 2nd and 3rd in 15:10.38 and 15:21.29, respectively. Kentucky also placed 4th, 5th, and 8th in the men’s 1650.

Jack Dahlgren and Ben Patton held onto their top spots in the 200 back, finishing in 1:42.12 and 1:43.55, respectively. Matthew Connealy and Mikolaj Malec finished 3rd and 4th to give Mizzou a sweep of the top-4 spots. Dahlgren, Patton, and Connealy all snagged NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Kentucky finished 5th through 8th.

Missouri was very dominant in the 100 freestyle, taking 1st through 5th and 8th place, leaving only 6th and 7th to Kentucky. Danny Kovac won the men’s 100 free in a new lifetime best of 42.72. Daniel Wilson finished 2nd in 43.07, improving his pre-weekend best time by 0.35.

Will Goodwin was again the only swimmer to get under 2:00 in the 200 breaststroke, registering a 1:55.32, just missing his best time by 0.03 but easily clearing the NCAA ‘B’ cut for the second time today. Kentucky’s Henry Miller placed 2nd in 2:01.35, cutting a little over a second from his best time, and CJ Layne placed 3rd in 2:04.07.

Micah Slaton, swimming unattached for Mizzou, won the men’s 200 fly in 1:43.16, coming within a second of his own meet record. Kentucky’s Mason Wilby nabbed 2nd in 1:44.68 while Missouri’s Luke Davis finished 3rd in 1:45.71. Both Wilby and Davis swam under the NCAA ‘B’ cut time.

Daniel Wilson improved his PB in the 100 freestyle one final time as the lead-off for Mizzou’s ‘A’ 400 freestyle relay, cracking 43 for the first time with a 42.87. Danny Kovac dropped a 42.04 as the second swimmer on the ‘A’ team, then Kyle Leach a 42.56 on the third leg. Dahlgren brought, the champion in the 200 backstroke, anchored in 43.23. The Missouri ‘A’ team nabbed an NCAA ‘A’ cut with a 2:50.70 total time. Freddie Rindshoej, swimming on Missouri’s ‘B’ team, produced a 42.83 as the second swimmer to give Mizzou 4 men all under 43 in the relay and propelling the ‘B’ team to a time of 2:53.05. Kentucky placed 3rd, finishing behind Mizzou’s ‘B’ team in 2:59.17.

Final Team Scores

Women

  1. Kentucky, 1277
  2. Missouri, 862
  3. Arkansas, 822
  4. Brigham Young, 70
  5. Mizzou-Unattached, 40

Men

  1. Missouri, 1275
  2. Kentucky, 1057
  3. Mizzou-Unattached, 119
  4. Brigham Young, 43

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About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six with the Clay Center Tiger Sharks, a summer league team. At age 14 he began swimming club year-round with the Manhattan Marlins (Manhattan, KS), which took some convincing from his mother as he was very …

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