SOUTH CAROLINA vs. ECU
- January 11, 2020
- Hosted by ECU
- Short Course Yards
- Results
TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
- USC, 180
- ECU, 113
MEN
- USC, 156
- ECU, 144
The South Carolina men and women picked up their first wins of 2020 on the road as the beat ECU on Saturday. It was a close meet on the men’s side, with USC winning by 12 points. ECU’s Marek Osina was the only swimmer of the meet to win 3 individual events, starting with a 1:40.83 in the 200 free.
Osina and South Carolina’s Kevin Liu battled closely through the front half of the 200 back, but Osina pulled ahead to take the win in 1:48.20. Teammate Magnus Andersen (1:48.94) came from behind to give them a 1-2 finish, while Liu held on for 3rd in 1:50.96. He closed out his schedule with a 1:50.63 win in the 200 IM, again going 1-2 with Andersen (1:53.47).
The Pirates’ Lyubomir Epitropov swept the men’s breaststrokes. He was neck-and-neck with USC’s Lionel Khoo (55.64) in the 100 breast, getting his hand to the wall first in 55.60. They met again in the 200 breast, with Epitropov coming from behind in the back half to win 2:00.89 to 2:01.47.
USC distance standouts Coleman Kramer and Tamas Novoszath combined to sweep the distance events. Kramer got the first win in the 1000, breaking away on the back half in 9:31.21 to Novoszath’s 9:37.99. In the 500 free, Novoszath held off Kramer’s charge in the final 100 yards to win 4:36.45 to 4:37.50.
Christina Lappin was a multi-event winner on the women’s side, first claiming the 50 free in 23.40. She then battled with ECU’s Shannon Stott in the 100 fly. They were neck-and-neck at the 50, but Lappin pulled ahead on the 2nd 50 to win it 55.36 to 55.96. Stott was within a second of her best time.
ECU’s Adela Vavrinova also pulled off a winning double. Her first win came in the 100 free, where she edged out USC’s Emily Cornell, 51.59 to 51.66, after a stroke-for-stroke battle the whole way through. Vavrinova was dominant in the 200 IM, winning by nearly 3 seconds in 2:02.96. She was behind at the halfway point, but used her breaststroke speed to pull ahead of USC’s Albury Higgs (2:05.74).
PRESS RELEASE – SOUTH CAROLINA:
GREENVILE, N.C.— South Carolina Swimming and Diving started the new decade off right, turning in a dominating performance at East Carolina Saturday, winning 180-113 on the women’s side and 156-144 on the men’s. The wins mark the second on the season for the men and the women.
The Gamecocks started off the meet hot, taking home seven of the first 10 events, and never. looked back. South Carolina swept all four diving events en route to winning 20 of the 32 events on the afternoon.
Gamecock Notables
- The 200 medley relay team of senior Emily Cornell, senior Albury Higgs, sophomore Hallie Kinsey and senior Christina Lappin opened the meet with a win in 1:43.04.
- Junior Yu Qian Goh and sophomore Anton Down-Jenkins swept both diving events for the Gamecocks.
- Lappin added her sixth and seventh event wins of the year, claiming the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
- Sophomores Hallie Arner and Coleman Kramer swept the 1000 freestyle.
- Cornell and Kevin Liu continued their dominance in the 100 backstroke, winning the event for the second and third time this year, respectively.
- Kinsey added her first win of the year in the 200 butterfly, swimming a 1:59.23.
- Sophomore Lewis Burras won his second 100 freestyle of the year in 45.85.
- Sophomore Mari Kraus picked up a win in the 200 backstroke, swimming five seconds faster than anyone else with a 1:59.40.
QUOTABLE HEAD COACH MCGEE MOODY:
“We had the opportunity to start off our spring semester racing a great East Carolina team. Our men and women responded well to the training we have put them through over the last six weeks and were able to put up some solid times. ECU was ready to race, and we had to be at our best to get the win. We are going to get back to it on Monday and get ready for Georgia Tech next Saturday.”
Up next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks will return home to host Georgia Tech on Sat., Jan. 18, at noon at the Carolina Natatorium.
For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
