Gamecock Invitational Day One

North Carolina: Tyler Harris Shatters School Record In 200-Yard Individual Medley

Sophomore Tyler Harris of Richmond, Va., shattered the University’s short course record in the 200-yard individual medley that had stood for 18 years as the North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams sped to a big lead after the opening day of the Gamecock Invitational at the Carolina Natatorium.
 
Harris won the 200 IM in a time of 1:46.54, shattering his own career best time by 2.22 seconds. He broke the University record of 1:47.33 which was set by legendary Tar Heel swimmer John Davis in 1990. The record was the longest-standing record on the current Tar Heel record book.
 
Freshman Layne Brodie of Atlanta, Ga., was the Gamecock Invitational champion in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:02.44 while sophomore Chip Peterson of Pine Knoll Shores, N.C., captured the title in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:28.46.
 
Harris’ winning time in the 200-yard IM was the only career best time posted by a Tar Heel Thursday night but UNC individuals and relays did produce 23 season best clockings during the evening session.
 
UNC has sizeable team leads after the first night of competition.  On the men’s side, UNC leads with 378.5 points, followed by Duke at 230, South Carolina at 224.5, Syracuse at 107, East Carolina at 98 and College of Charleston at 43.  On the women’s side, UNC leads with 370, followed by Duke at 226.5, South Carolina at 208, East Carolina at 161.5, Syracuse at 107 and College of Charleston at 12.
 
Carolina also won three relay titles Thursday night.  The team of sophomore Rebecca Kane, junior Megan Steeves, freshman Sarah Tanner and senior Aubrette Biegel won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:33.71.
 
Freshman Evan Reed, freshman Steve Cebertowicz, freshman Brad Hamilton and junior Jeff James won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:22.47.  Sophomore Tommy Wyher, sophomore Vinny Pryor, freshman Brad Hamilton and freshman Evan Reed won the 400-yard medley relay in 3:20.49. That was a season best time for the Tar Heels.
 
Top four finishers for the Tar Heels Thursday were sophomore Katura Harvey, second in the 500-yard freestyle;  junior Ashley Howard, fourth in the 500-yard freestyle;  sophomore Chip Peterson, first in the 500-yard freestyle;  sophomore Joe Kinderwater, second in the 500-yard freestyle;  senior Yi-Khy Saw, fourth in the 500-yard freestyle;  freshman Layne Brodie, first in the 200-yard individual medley;  junior Alison Clemens, third in the 200-yard individual medley;  sophomore Tyler Harris, first in the 200-yard individual medley;  junior Jeff James, third in the 200-yard individual medley;  junior Megan Steeves, second in the 50-yard freestyle; and sophomore Rebecca Kane, third in the 50-yard freestyle.

South Carolina:McLean Gets School Record, 'B' Cut in 50 Freestyle at Gamecock Invitational
South Carolina senior Sharntelle McLean broke a 20-year-old school record in the 50-yard freestyle, grabbing a provisional NCAA qualifying time in the process, as the Gamecocks finished day one of the inaugural Gamecock Invitational with the men in second place with 226.5 points and the women in third. Fellow senior Kyle Cormier also posted a 'B' cut time in the men's 200-yard individual medley.

McLean touched the wall in 22.65 seconds, a full second faster than her preliminary time, as she snapped Dana Dutcher's 1988 record of 22.66 by the narrowest of margins. Her time easily eclipsed the NCAA provisional cut time of 22.80, giving Carolina one of its initial two qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA Championships.

Cormier, meanwhile, smashed his previous personal best with a 1:47.65 in the 200 IM, which gave the Carolina men their first NCAA 'B' cut of the season. He also earned big points for the Gamecocks with his second-place finish in the 50 free, touching in a season- best time of 20.76.

"We gave a very solid night tonight," head coach McGee Moody said. "We had some surprises, and they were all good surprises. I think in terms of how we swam tonight, it's pretty indicative of what we're going to see the rest of the way. I was very proud of Sharntelle and Kyle, as well as Andrew Atzhorn and Amanda Dunnigan. They all had huge nights. But as well as we swam tonight, we've got to be better in the prelim sessions to get to where we need to be. "

The Gamecock men piled up the points in the 50 free with Nicholas Walkotten and Todd Weyandt joining Cormier in taking the top three spots in the event. Walkotten touched the wall in 20.63 to get the win and Weyandt was third with a 20.98. Freshman Armin Hornikel turned in a tie for sixth place with a 21.16, his best of the season, and Gray Tedder (21.50) and Ryan Langley (21.54) snagged points for the Gamecocks with 15th and 16th place finishes, respectively.

On the women's side, McLean got the victory in the 50 free and had two teammates help the Carolina scoring effort. Kassy Kugler touched in 24.08 for a seventh-place finish while Sarah Bartlett snagged 12th place with a 24.32.

The night got off to a strong start with the women's 200 freestyle relay team grabbing a second-place finish and 34 points. The Gamecock team of McLean, Megan Sparks, Bartlett and Kugler finished just a hair behind first-place North Carolina, touching in 1:34.29. The Gamecocks' 'B' relay squad of Lindsey Olson, Shaylyn Blake, Kristina Delp and Christine Thompson took home an eighth-place finish in the 200 FR with a time of 1:38.58, and the 'C' squad of Sherah Aiken, Stephanie Hellenga, Kelly Kirchler and
Mallory Cage scored two points with a 16th-place finish of 1:42.46.

Gray Tedder, Josh Klotz, James Crawford and Ryan Langley took third-place points for the Carolina men in the 200 FR with a 1:24.36, while David Livsey, Brett Sexton, Isaac Badillo and Rory Grigull finished eighth in 1:25.84. The Gamecocks' 'A' team had the best time in the relay, but was disqualified for a false start.

However, a disqualification of Duke in the men's 400 medley relay bumped the Gamecocks up a spot and actually propelled them from third to second place. The team of Crawford, Hornikel, Walkotten and Cormier took third-place points with a 3:21.42. Ham Hollett, Andrew Atzhorn, David Livsey and Weyandt snagged eighth place with a 3:26.48, and Chris Kelly, Ryan Connolly, Badillo and Langley took 12th palce in 3:30.17.

For the women, Sparks, Amanda Dunnigan, Olson and Claire Thompson took third in the 400 MR with a 3:46.32. The Gamecocks got a sixth place finish from Saurman, Hackert, Delp and McLean (3:51.68) and a 12th-place showing from Bartlett, Cage, Kirchler and Kugler (3:59.24).

Dunnigan snagged a second-place finish in the 200 IM with a season-best 2:02.52, and Lindsey Olson finished fifth with a 2:04.53. Christine Thompson (2:08.96) grabbed 15th-place points for Carolina in the event.

Cormier's 'B' time in the 200 IM was good enough for second place, while Andrew Atzhorn took fourth with a 1:50.77. James Crawford finished 13th with a 1:51.72.

Claire Thompson got a seventh-place finish in the 500 free with a 4:57.48, and Chris Kelly finished 13th in the men's event, touching the wall in 4:34.09.

North Carolina leads both the men's and women's competition after day one with a 370 on the men's side and a 380.5 on the women's side.

The teams return to the pool at 10 a.m. Friday for the second day of preliminaries. The divers will also get in on the action as women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter competition takes place. Follow live results through sportstiming.com, and watch video recaps of each race at floswimming.com.

Duke: Blue Devils Wrap Up First Day Of Gamecock Invitational
The Duke women's swimming and diving team sits in second place and the men in third place after the first day of competition at the seven-squad Gamecock Invitational, hosted by the University of South Carolina. The first day's preliminary events were held this morning, while the finals concluded this evening at the Carolina Natatorium.

The women have a team score of 226.5, behind only North Carolina (370). The Blue Devils lead the host Gamecocks (208), East Carolina (161.5), Syracuse (107), Charleston (12), and Lenoir Rhyne (0). The men sit behind the Tar Heels (380.5) and South Carolina (226.5), and lead Syracuse (109), ECU (98), and Charleston (43).

"We had a very good day, and we're happy to have had a lot of athletes come back for the finals this evening," said head coach Dan Colella. "We're happy with the performances after day one - we saw a lot of improvement in a lot of places."

A highlight of the night was the Blue Devils women winning the 400 medley relay, as the team of Meghan Dwyer, Meredith Bannon, Steffi Niessl, and Shannon Beall took first overall in 3:45.43, besting their seed time by nearly five seconds and narrowly edging rival UNC in the event.

Also on the women's side, sophomore Ashley Twichell won the 500 freestyle in 4:46.01, an NCAA 'B' standard, after clocking a 4:50.11 in winning the prelims earlier today. Twichell's time is an eight-second improvement from her previous season-best. Jackie Fasano took third in the event with a 4:55.28.

The women's 200 freestyle relay team of Niessl, Bannon, Kirstie Jeffrey, and Beall took fourth to kick off the day, as they clocked a 1:34.92 - good for a season-best. Beall then took fourth in the 200 IM, coming in at 2:03.45 for a personal-best performance and a season-best for Duke.

The men's 200 free relay of Andy Osterland, David Carlson, Nick Garvy, and Ryan Packer took second in the finals in 1:23.00 for a season-best time. Duke's 'B' team of Murillo Adrados, David Hahn, Spencer Booth, and Piter den Hartog took fourth in 1:24.51.
Osterland placed fourth individually in the 50 free in 21.16, a personal-best time. Duke's 400 medley relay of Booth, Bryan Durazo, Garvy, and Osterland closed out the first day with their fourth-place time of 3:22.93.

Competition at the invitational will resume tomorrow and conclude Saturday at the University of South Carolina. The preliminaries will be held at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. on each of the remaining days.

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE

WOMEN
1. North Carolina            370
2. Duke                      226.5
3. South Carolina            208
4. East Carolina             161.5
5. Syracuse                  107
6. Coll. Of Charleston       12
7. Lenoir-Rhyne              0

MEN
1. North Carolina            380.5
2. South Carolina            226.5
3. Duke                      220
4. Syracuse                  109
5. East Carolina             98
6. Coll. Of Charleston       43