Competing for the first time in nearly two months, the Liberty swimming & diving team swept a tri-meet at Vanderbilt, defeating the host Commodores (140-121) and West Florida (209-52), Saturday at Tracy Caulkins Competition Pool.
The Lady Flames completed a season sweep of Vanderbilt of the SEC, as Liberty defeated the Commodores, 152-104, on Nov. 8 at LaHaye Aquatic Center.
For the meet, Liberty recorded six individual event victories, while also winning both relays. Senior Emilie Kaufman picked up wins in both breaststroke races, while Meghan Babcock, Heather McCorkel, Jess Reinhardt and Kristin VanDeventer all won one event apiece.
Liberty’s A 200 medley relay, consisting of Kendall Hough, Kaufman, Reinhardt and Babcock, swam 1:44.06 to give the Lady Flames a meet-opening victory.
VanDeventer then won the 1000 freestyle in 10:29.03, with Hannah Wakeley (10:45.30) following in third place.
During the 200 free, McCorkel edged out Vanderbilt’s Carrie Bencic by .04, taking first place in 1:53.22. Bethany Kennon swam 1:54.00, good for fourth in the tight race.
Kaufman clocked 1:03.26 in earning the 100 breaststroke victory. The senior later claimed victory in the 200 breast, with a time of 2:20.14. She has won the 100 and 200 breast four times each this season.
Babcock was the only swimmer to break 24 in the 50 free, winning in 23.55. Liberty made it 1-2-3 in the event, with Chloe Thomas (24.44) and Cori Gary (24.45) taking second and third, respectively.
Reinhardt gave Liberty its final individual event win of the day, swimming 54.62 to win the 100 fly. Kennon followed in third with a 57.90 performance.
Liberty closed out the meet placing first and third in the 200 free relay. The A team of Gary, Reinhart, Thomas and Babcock paced the field in 1:35.77.
The Lady Flames went 2-3-4 during the 100 back. Emily Duff took second place with a season-best time of 57.53, while Hough (58.57) and Victoria Tschoke (59.37) placed third and fourth, respectively.
During the 200 fly, Reinhardt finished in second, at 2:05.34, while Ranndi Grubbs’ season-best 2:10.45 was good for fourth place.
Babcock and Kaufman placed second and third, respectively, in the 100 free, with Babcock swimming 52.30 and Kaufman following in 52.32.
Duff led a 2-3-4 Liberty showing in the 200 back, swimming 2:03.25. Tschoke went 2:04.68 and Hough touched the wall in 2:06.28. All three times represented season bests.
McCorkel placed second during the 500 free with a 5:04.59 clocking.
Duff placed swam 4:35.80 to place third in the final individual event of the day, the 400 individual medley.
Liberty will next compete at the Davidson Duals, held on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Davidson’s Charles A. Cannon Pool. The Lady Flames’ participation at Davidson will bring their dual-meet season to a close.
The West Florida women’s swimming and diving team finished its weekend road trip in a double dual at Vanderbilt on Saturday, and the Argonauts fell to Vanderbilt by a score of 203-57 and to Liberty 209-52. UWF dropped to 7-8 in dual meets heading into their regular season finale on Feb. 1.
“These are two excellent schools that we got to swim against today,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “It’s a very tough thing to race two very good schools the night before and come back and do it again in the morning. Our girls did a great job. We had the right attitude, and we’re working on the details. It’s always a pleasure to have schools like this on our schedule because it’s a great opportunity for us to learn about what we need to do and where we ultimately need to be.”
UWF started the meet with a solid finish in the 200 medley relay, as Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa/Drury), Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany/Darton State), Emily Mitchell (Allen Park, Mich./Darton State) and Cheryl Corvo (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast) finished third with a time of 1:49.09. The Argos’ A team in the 200 free relay of de Villiers, Mitchell, Carla Robles (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef HS) and Corvo placed fourth at 1:39.91.
Freshman Savannah Antonetz (Lake Charles, La./Barbe HS) had a strong race in the 1000 free where she placed fifth with a personal best time of 11:01.34.
Also of note, diver Josie McKee (Canton, Ohio/Malone) made her swimming debut for UWF as the anchor for the Argos’ C team in the 200 free relay. The team, which also included Karisa Kostecki (Lithia, Fla./Newsome HS), Nicole Harder (Lutz, Fla./Sunlake HS) and Alysiah Stock (Panama City, Fla./Mosley HS), posted a time of 1:55.21.
West Florida will have one more regular season meet this year, and it will be at home at the UWF Aquatic Center. The Argos will host Birmingham-Southern, Delta State, LaGrange and Thomas (Ga.) in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 1.
