Kentucky Gets Season’s First SEC Win Against South Carolina

by Eli Noblitt 0

October 13th, 2016 College, News, Previews & Recaps, SEC

MEET STATS

  • Complete results
  • Hosted by South Carolina (Carolina Natatorium)
  • October 13, 2016
  • Dual meet (men and women), 25 yards
  • Team’s Record: Kentucky (M) (1-1), Kentucky (W) (1-1), South Carolina (M) (0-1), South Carolina (W) (0-1)

RECAP

The Kentucky Wildcats, both men’s and women’s teams, bounced back after losing to Auburn yesterday, defeating South Carolina in their second consecutive road meet. Today, Kentucky had straightforward victories by 90+ points (although none of the events were swum exhibition).

Women’s Competition

Kentucky got off to a strong start, going 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. Interestingly, the ‘B’ relay, which featured freshman Ali Galyer, beat out the ‘A’ relay, which featured older sister and NCAA Champion Danielle Galyer.

The Wildcats had four different swimmers with two individual wins: Geena Freriks in the 200 free (1:51.09) and 500 free (4:54.32), freshman Asia Seidt in the 100 back (54.90) and 400 IM (4:21.88), Kendra Crew in the 100 breast (1:03.93) and 200 breast (2:17.23) and Hayley McInerny in the 100 fly (56.24) 200 fly (2:02.88).

Single event winners for Kentucky included Kathryn Painter in the 1650 free (16:57.66) and Bridgette Alexander in the 200 back (1:58.66)—the defending NCAA Champion Galyer got second in the latter event.

Notably, Kentucky swept first through third in the 100 back and 400 IM.

South Carolina appears to be rebuilding, as the vast majority of their scorers were underclassmen. As an illustration, their ‘A’ medley relay team was made up of one 17-year-old, two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old. A silver lining for South Carolina is that they were most successful with their sprint freestylers, which bodes well for relays. The Gamecocks went 1-2 in the 50 free, with Christina Lappin (23.94) and Mckenna Keith (24.02), and in the 100 free, with Edith Lingmann (51.33) and Lappin again (52.05).

Diver Julia Vincent also won the 3 meter, and got second in the 1 meter.

Men’s Competition

The Wildcats relied on three swimmers and one diver for all of their individual wins in the men’s competition.

Sean Gunn was the hero, with three individual victories in the 50 free (20.79), 100 free (45.07) and 200 free (1:38. 74). Walker Thaning had wins in the 100 back (48.96) and 200 back (1:47.37), and Kyle Higgins picked up a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 fly (49.01) and 200 fly (1:45.96).

Seb Masterson won the 1-meter (328.58) and 3-meter (377.48) diving.

Kentucky swept the podium (first through third) in the 200 back, 100 fly and 50 free. Like their teammates on the women’s side, they also won both relays.

South Carolina men’s team was led by Akram Mahmoud and Nils Wich-Glassen, who each come away with two individual wins. Mahmoud touched first in the 500 free (4:25.98) and 1650 free (15:10.80), and Wich-Glasen dominated the 100 breast (55.42) and 200 breast (2:01.05).

The versatile Tom Peribonio won the 400 IM, while also touching third in the 200 free (1:39.20) and 100 free (45.79).

While the Lady Gamecocks shined in the sprint freestyle races, it was those same events where the men’s team struggled. Peribonio was the highest South Carolina finisher in the 100 and 200 free, and in the 50 free, the highest South Carolina finished was 5th with a time of 21.38. Even in the 200 medley relay, with the benefit of a relay start, no Gamecock swimmer could crack 21 seconds on the freestyle leg.

A strength for the South Carolina men, in addition to distance freestyle, is breaststroke. In the 100, they had four of the top five finishers, and in the 200, they finished first and third.

Up next, Kentucky will host a tri-meet on October 28th, against two formidable teams: Tennessee and Indiana. South Carolina will also return to action on October 28th, as they travel to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy of Kentucky Athletics:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Kentucky swimming and diving teams wrapped up their two-day road stretch on Thursday afternoon with a pair of wins over Southeastern Conference opponent South Carolina. Neither squad trailed in the outing, with the men winning 196-104, and the women 197-103.

Thursday’s meet gives the Wildcats their first wins of the season and a chance to build upon that success after dropping their season openers to Auburn on Wednesday.

“I thought both teams bounced back really well today,” said Head Coach Lars Jorgensen. “For us to be at Auburn yesterday then come back here today, I thought the spirit and the energy were really outstanding for us. It’s early in the season. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we look forward to our next meets and getting back to some really good training.”

The women’s squad posted a first-place finish in all but three events throughout the day, including two sweeps. The first sweep came in the 100-yard backstroke and the second in the 400-yard individual medley. Freshman Asia Seidt turned in the top times in both events, with her mark of 54.90 in the 100 back earning NCAA consideration. Her 4:21.88 time in the 400 IM is less than two seconds shy of the “B” standard.

“Going out and being able to race and win was a good feeling,” Seidt said. “Having meets like this makes you realize the little things you need to work on, so when we get back I’ll be working on those things.”

Bridgette Alexander touched in second in the 100 back with a time of 55.45, and Ali Galyer followed close behind with a 55.60 clip. In the 400 IM, Kathryn Painter and Ann Davies came in second and third, respectively to help the team earn its second sweep against the Gamecocks.

Alexander’s first-place finish of 1:58.66 in the 200-yard backstroke qualifies as her second B cut in the event after posting a 1:58.49 at Auburn.

Haley McInerny had an impressive showing for the Wildcats, turning in the top times in both butterfly events, as well as contributing to the Wildcats’ 400-freestyle relay team which also earned a first-place finish. McInerny was joined by Ali and Danielle Galyer and Geena Freriks in the event as the relay team earned a time of 3:26.29.

Rebecca Hamperian captured the top score in the 1-meter springboard event, once again, with a total score of 292.73. UK’s Kailey Francetic placed for the first time in both events this season, taking third place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

On the men’s side, the Wildcats swept three separate races and had four individual athletes win multiple events. Senior Kyle Higgins swam well for the Wildcats again, sweeping the butterfly events for the second-straight meet. His 1:45.96 finish in the 200 fly marks his second NCAA B standard in the event on the season.

Diver Seb Masterton made a huge impact on the men’s side, posting a 377.48 on 3-meter and a 328.58 on 1-meter for a first-place finish in both. UK’s Stephen Jou placed for the first time this season with a second-place score of 289.80 on the 1-meter springboard.

“Overall, I’m really happy with how I performed today,” Masterton said. “It’s been a really long meet doing two meets back-to-back, but I’m really happy with the outcome. I think the whole team’s done really good to push on through and get it done even though we’re all really tired.”

Though he finished second in the event, Andrew Aviotti’s time of 15:19.00 in the 1650-yard freestyle race puts him in NCAA consideration, falling only to South Carolina’s 2016 NCAA silver-medalist and SEC title holder in the event, Akram Mahmoud.  Mahmoud finished in 15:10.80 for a B standard as well.

Fans will have their first chance to see the Wildcats in action at home as Kentucky dives back into action Oct. 28. UK will host a tri-meet against SEC foe Tennessee and the Indiana Hoosiers. The meet is slated to for an 11 a.m. start inside Lancaster Aquatic Center.

Courtesy of South Carolina Athletics:

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina Swimming & Diving team dropped its season opener Thursday afternoon to Kentucky. The Carolina men fell, 196-104, while the women dropped a 197-103 decision at the Carolina Natatorium.

Despite the setbacks, Carolina had several student-athletes win multiple events. On the women’s side, Julia Vincent won the 3-meter dive, Christina Lappin took the 500-yard freestyle and Edith Lingmannnotched a victory in the 100-yard freestyle.

For the men, Nils Wich-Glasen collected two event victories, winning the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes. Akram Mahmoud also earned two event wins, taking first in the 1650-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Tomas Peribonio also picked up a win for the Gamecocks when he placed first in the 400-yard IM.

With the losses, Carolina’s men’s and women’s teams are both 0-1. Both Kentucky teams are now 1-1.

QUOTING HEAD SWIMMING COACH MCGEE MOODY

“It’s hard to be upset when you have a group out there and they’re doing their best to lay it on the line. We had some people that were really, really good today. We had some freshmen that stepped up and did a good job.

Heather Merritt swam really well today. The times that she put up were really solid. Edith Lingmann, one of our freshmen, was really good on the women’s side. This was the first dual meet she has ever had and I thought she did a great job with it. Christina Lappin had a very solid meet. Sarah Smith was good in her mile today. I was really happy with the women. Emily Cornell had a great meet. She just missed her lifetime best. Maggie Langdale also just missed her lifetime best today.

“We were lacking on the depth. We didn’t have quite the numbers that wanted to take out into a dual meet and race, but I thought the women did well.

“On the men’s side, we seemed a little bit sluggish. We didn’t quite have the pop that I was hoping we would have today. I think we did have some good events. I thought Tom Peribonio’s 400 IM was good.Nils Wich-Glasen was solid today. One of our freshman that took a step forward was Nic Pease. I thought he did a pretty good job today.

“We still have a lot of growing up to do. I think we made some silly mistakes. We have some people who need a little gut check on our team, and they need to decide how good they really want to be. We’ll see going forward. This is not how we wanted to see this meet come out. We’ll prepare next week to try to insure that this doesn’t happen again.”

QUOTING HEAD DIVING COACH TODD SHERRITT

“Overall, I think things were pretty productive. We had been working on some hurdles, some basic actions coming into this meet. Some people did them and some people didn’t. We’ve got a lot of room to improve in our hurdles. I think if there was anything that we looked weak in, it was that. So we’re trying to turn that into our strength.

“We had some good performances today. Lyle Markman did a good job today on the 3-meter. He had an outstanding performance. Marissa Roth did a great job on the 3-meter. Julia [Vincent] did a good job on the 3-meter as well. Mikaela [Lujan] coming off of surgery, to even be able to compete this week was miraculous. Allyson [Nied] didn’t have her best day, but she’s been diving great. I really had no issues with her performance.”

MEN’S RECAP

Carolina got off to a good start, Gotro finished third in the 1-meter dive with a score of 272.18. Lyle Markman finished fifth after scoring 247.05.

The Gamecock men finished second in the 200-yard medley relay, then came back with a win in the 1650-yard freestyle. Akram Mahmoud won the race with a time of 15:10.80.

Tom Peribonio placed third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.20. He also took third in the 100-yard freestyle after swimming the race in 45.79.

Newcomer Nicholas Pease finished third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.49. Nils Wich-Glasen earned his first victory of the day in the 100-yard breaststroke, while teammate Thomas Hang finished third. Wich-Glasen swam the race in 55.42 and Hang followed with a time of 57.70.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Caleb Tosh lead Carolina with a third place finish after swimming a time of 1:50.05, followed by Will Riggs with a time of 1:50.93.

Freshman Kevin Liu finished highest for the Gamecocks in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.78 for fourth place.

Wich-Glasen came up with his second win of the day in the 200-yard breaststroke. The junior posted a swim of 2:01.05, with teammate Hang placing third in 2:06.08.

Earning his second win of the day, Mahmoud took first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:25.98. Fynn Minuth placed second after swimming a time of 4:26.78.

Gotro took second in the 3-meter dive with a score of 364.13, while Markman followed in third place after scoring 278.78.

Peribonio was the top Gamecock in the 400-yard IM, taking first place with a time of 3:57.02

The last race of the day was the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kentucky took the top two spots, while Carolina’s top team placed third.

WOMEN’S RECAP

Julia Vincent got the Gamecocks off on the right foot, taking second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 275.55. Marissa Roth finished fourth after scoring 239.70.

After taking the third and fourth spots in the 200-yard medley relay, the Gamecocks took second in the 1650-yard freestyle after Sarah Smith the race in 17:05.56.

Edith Lingmann led the Gamecocks in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing second in a time of 1:51.55, while Heather Merritt took fourth following a time of 1:51.88.

Newcomer Emily Cornell was the highest finishing Gamecock in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.73 to take fourth. Ana Menendez Navaearned a third place finish for Carolina in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.02.

Marissa DelGado took third place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.41

Carolina took two podium spots in the 50-yard freestyle. Christina Lappin earned first place with a time of 23.94, followed by McKenna Keith in second after swimming a time of 24.02.

The Gamecocks reached the top of the podium again in the 3-meter dive. Vincent took first place with a score of 328.65, while Roth followed in second after scoring 319.05.

Emily Cornell swam into third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.64, and Brittany Oxley took second in the 200-yard breaststroke after swimming a time of 2:21.11.

Heather Merritt claimed another third-place finish for Carolina after swimming a time of 5:00.65 in the 500-yard freestyle.

Lappin led Carolina in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing second with a time of 56.32. Jordan MacDonald followed in at third after swimming time of 57.13. Albury Higgs was the highest-finishing Gamecock in the 400-yard IM, coming in at fourth with a time of 4:30.89.

South Carolina finished strong in the 400-yard freestyle relay, taking second and third place to round out the evening.

NOTABLE

  • Sixteen newcomers made their debut as Gamecock swimmers in the matchup with Kentucky.

UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA

The Gamecocks are back in action on October 28 as they head to College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M.

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