Gamecocks Earn Split with Kentucky

South Carolina and Kentucky split an early season SEC matchup.  With the win the SC men defeated an SEC opponent for the first time in three years The Gamecock women put together a strong performance, but dropped a 168-130 decision to the Wildcats.

Kentucky's relay squads were simply spectacular in the first meet of the year as both the men's and women's 200-medley and 400-free relays captured wins. UK went one-two in three of the four relays to highlight the impressive performance.

On the women's side, UK got things started with a sweep of the 200-medley relay. Juniors Chatham Penrod (26.48) and Lindsey Graessle (29.52) and sophomores Anna Mattox (25.58) and Chelsea Peterson (23.70) clocked in a time of 1:45.28.

The quartet of sophomores Claire Archibald (27.61) and Jenna Willis (30.46), junior Megan Pulskamp (24.79) and sophomore Kelsi Hall (23.25) touched in a time of 1:46.11 for second place.

On the men's side, it was a quartet of seniors that edged out their counterparts in the 200-medley. Warren Grobbelaar (24.05), Eric McGinnis (26.12), Elvis Burrows (21.74) and Alex Forbes (20.13) put together a 1:32.04 time to take the meet's first event.

Freshman Ramon Walton (24.43) and seniors Julio Vallette (25.73), Travis Muzzillo (22.70) and Colin Faris (20.55) out-touched South Carolina by a mere six one-hundredths of a second to take place. UK's squad tapped in a time of 1:33.41, with the Gamecocks coming in at 1:33.41.

The Gamecocks got strong performances where they most needed them – in distance and stroke events, and also in the diving well. Major contributions came from freshmen, particularly Bobby Cave, Michael Flach, Brooks Ross and Rylan Ridenour.

Cave, a native of London, won both his events in his initial collegiate competition. He took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.81 seconds, eking out a one-hundredth of a second victory over Kentucky’s Julio Vallette. He also led a 1-2 finish in the 200 breast, running away from the field in 2:03.51, three seconds ahead of teammate Armin Hornikel in second place (2:06.53).

Flach, who was the No. 91-ranked recruit in the nation when he signed with Carolina, lived up to his billing with victories in the 200 butterfly (1:51.45) and 500 free (4:33.78), a time faster than any swam by any Gamecock last season. He also picked up a second-place finish in the 200 IM (1:54.04). Ross got his first win in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:32.58, and finished third in the 500 (4:42.19). 

Sophomore James Crawford, coming off a strong summer, pulled away early and never looked back in the 200 backstroke, touching in 1:50.77 to win by more than two seconds. He was second in the 100 freestyle in 1:40.35. Junior Dominique Lendjel made his return to the pool after missing the entire 2008-09 season with injury, winning the 100 backstroke in 51.37. He would also finished runner-up in the 100 fly (50.06).

The Gamecocks put the meet out of reach with a 1-2-4 finish in the 200 IM, with freshman Collin Kaden taking top honors in 1:53.29. Flach was second, followed by Andrew Atzhorn in fourth place (1:54.36). 

In the diving well, Carolina got wins in all four events, with junior Taryn Zack continuing her dominance on the 1-meter board. She turned in a score of 312.30 to outpace teammate Courtney Forcucci (291.08), making her first appearance as a Gamecock. Forcucci would win the 3-meter event with a score of 315.90 with Zack third (302.10). For the Carolina men, Ridenour dominated the 3-meter board in his first collegiate meet, scoring 343.65 to outpace his nearest competitor by 52 points. He would finish second in the 1-meter to teammate Ryan Kuser, who turned in a score of 281.70.

Zack, Forcucci, and Ridenour all turned in scores to qualify for NCAA Zone competition, as did junior Allison Barr with a score of 283.20 in 1-meter.

For the Gamecock women, junior twins Claire and Christine Thompson swept the top spots in the mid-distance and distance events. Claire took first in the 200 (1:50.85), 500 (4:58.33) and 1,000 (10:08.49) with Christine second in all three events. Junior Megan Sparks got a win in the 200-yard backstroke, touching in 2:01.29, and she finished third in both the 100 back (57.39) and 200 IM (2:07.52). Freshman Haley Staubach had a strong showing in her initial collegiate event, earning second-place points in the 100 back (57.28) and 100 fly (57.14) and fifth place in the 200 back (2:03.96).

Sophomore Lydia Hackert earned her first career win with a 2:23.07 in the 200 breaststroke; she would finish fourth in the 100 breast (1:07.62).

Sophomore Tyler Reed achieved UK's first individual win of the season when he claimed first in the 200-free with a time of 1:39.22. On the women's side, Penrod was the first of many individual winners for the Blue and White capturing first in the 100-backstroke in a time of 56.40.

Hall, Graessle and Willis finished 1-2-3 in the 100-breaststroke. Hall touched in a time of 1:05.52, with Graessle clocking in at 1:06.13 and Willis finishing in 1:06.53.

Pulskamp led a sweep of the 200-fly for the Wildcats with a time of 2:04.26. Seniors Casey Miller (2:06.87) and Anna Sirmon (2:06.88) finished just behind.

Newsome placed first in the 50-free in a time of 23.51 for the third individual win of the day for the women.

Forbes led a 1-through-4 finish in the 50-free on the men's side by clocking in at 20.68. McGinnis (20.76), Burrows (20.89) and Faris (21.14) were the next in line for Kentucky.

Junior Kayla Sergesketter topped the field in the 100-free with a time of 51.65 to lead a sweep for the Blue and White in the event. Newsome finished in a time of 51.93 and Pulskamp with a time of 52.28.

Forbes won his second event of the day by taking the 100-free on the men's side with a time of 45.63. McGinnis and Faris were the third and fourth finishers in the event.

Pulskamp captured her second win of the day with a first place finish in the 100-fly. Pulskamp an All-American in the event as a junior began the season with a win behind a 56.39 time. Grobbelaar achieved his first individual win of his senior season after coming off of a redshirt season. The senior tapped in a time of 49.25 to take the 100-fly.

Archibald and Miller came in at a one-two finish in the 200-individual medley for the women. Archibald needed just 2:06.27 to take the win with Miller clocking in at 2:07.48.

Rounding out the wins for the Blue and White was a sweep of the 400-freestyle relay. The women behind the quartet of Newsome (51.89), sophomore Mandy Myers (51.96), Sergesketter (51.17) and Hall (51.26) tapped in a time of 3:26.28.

The men once again took the top two spots in the relay with the team of McGinnis (46.11), Forbes (45.00), Reed (46.22) and senior Kyle Greene (45.66) coming in at 3:02.99. UK's second team tapped in a time of 3:06.57. That quartet was comprised of Faris (47.92), junior Reinhardt Strijdom (45.88), Grobbelaar (46.57) and Burrows (46.20).

It marks the first men’s SEC meet victory for South Carolina under McGee Moody and his staff. The last Gamecock men’s victory in a conference dual meet came on Oct. 27, 2006, also against Kentucky. Coincidentally, Don Gibb – now an assistant coach for the Wildcats – was the Gamecocks’ head coach at the time.

The Gamecocks will return to the pool next Saturday, Oct. 17, as they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a tri-meet with North Carolina and Virginia Tech. Action gets underway at noon at the Koury Natatorium on the UNC campus.