The University of South Carolina Swimming & Diving team honored seven departing seniors and added six victories to the ledger on Saturday morning at the Carolina Natatorium as they concluded their two-day quad meet against Queens, UNC Wilmington and Wingate. Both Gamecock squads are now 4-3 this season.
In their dual meets against Queens, UNCW and Wingate, both the Gamecock men and women earned 175-125 victories. Queens was victorious over the Bulldogs and Seahawks, while Wingate defeated UNCW in both men’s and women’s action.
Prior to the day’s action, the Gamecocks honored seniors Bobby Bittner, Ashleigh Ferguson, Ellen Johnson, Lauren Lamendola, Kevin Leithold, Brooke Morton and Elise Weisert. Saturday’s meet was their last competitive race inside of the Carolina Natatorium.
MEN’S RECAP
The day started for South Carolina with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Caleb Tosh, Nils Wich-Glasen, Kevin Leithold and Jonathan Boland secured Carolina’s first victory of the season in the event with a time of 1:30.81. Bryce Kananowicz, Phillip Willett, Jack Smith and Patrick McCrillis were on the team that placed third.
Cody Bekemeyer won the 1,650-yard freestyle for Carolina’s first individual victory of the day, posting a swim of 15:35.23. Travis Morrin finished in 15:56.81 to take third.
Leithold snagged his second individual win of the weekend with the 100-yard butterfly. His time of 50.12 was good for his second win this season in the event. Jack Smith was second in 50.92, and Anthony Tremmel placed third with a swim of 50.42.
Boland earned his second win in as many days with a time of 20.77 in the 50-yard freestyle. He also won the 100-yard freestyle on Friday.
Kananowicz earned his first individual win of the season in the 100-yard backstroke. His time of 50.81 took the top position by .17 seconds in a close battle.
In the final race before the diving break, Willett took second for the Gamecocks in the 200-yard breaststroke, with a time of 2:04.51. The Gamecocks also posted a pair of top-three finishes out of the break, with Wich-Glasen placing second in the 200-yard freestyle, at a personal best 1:39.55, and Evan Freed coming in third at 1:40.45
The Gamecocks finished second and third in the 400-yard IM. Tomas Peribonio grabbed second, with a performance of 3:57.55, and Willett came in third at 4:01.51.
Diving was one again South Carolina’s domain on Saturday. Jordan Gotro won the 3-meter dive with a finals score of 378.45, and Lyle Markman placed third at 310.20. Gotro won both men’s dives this weekend.
The last race of the day was the 400-yard freestyle relay, where the Gamecocks placed second. Leithold, Akaram Mahmoud, Wich-Glasen and Boland tallied a time of 3:02.43
WOMEN’S RECAP
South Carolina opened the day with a third place result in the 200-yard medley relay. Heather Merritt, Kersten Dirrane, Paige Maynard and Maggie Harman combined to swim the race in 1:47.64.
Next up was the 1,650-yard freestyle, with Tierney Shimansky pacing the Gamecocks. The sophomore finished the race in 17:08.93 and was awarded third place. Carolina also took third in the following race, the 100-yard butterfly, with Katie O’Brien swimming the race in 56.64.
Three Gamecocks earned podium spots in the 50-yard freestyle. Katherine McComas came in second, with a swim of 24.23, while Taylor Vincent and Katherine Malinski tied for third, at 24.28
Maggie Langdale was South Carolina’s top finisher in the 100-yard backstroke, taking third. Her swim was timed at 57.64, less than a second off the top spot.
Emma Barksdale earned her first win of the day for Carolina in the 200-yard breaststroke. She finished the race in 2:19.03
Three Gamecocks finished on the podium in the 200-yard freestyle. Harman won the race, her third event victory of the weekend, with a time of 1:50.67. Jean Livingston and Makenzie Miller tied for third, each touching the wall in 1:52.81.
Barksdale came through with another victory, her seventh of 2015-16, in the 400-yard IM. Swimming the race for just the third time this season, Barksdale posted a time of 4:20.58. Megan Carlson came in second, with a swim of 4:27.33.
A day after taking the top five spots in the 3-meter dive, Carolina won the top six positions in the 1-meter. Julia Vincent’s 339.23 was the winning score, followed by Lauren Lamendola (317.55), Marissa Roth (291.83), Mikaela Lujan (281.10), Marisa Rasnick (261.00) and Allyson Nied (252.90)
In the last race of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Carolina grabbed two podiums. Taylor Worrell, McKenna Keith, Caroline Petrone and Harman placed second with a swim of 3:29.93, while Merritt, Taylor Vincent, Barksdale and Maynard came in third, at 3:30.92.
The Gamecocks have one final tune-up before the SEC Championships, as they will face East Carolina and William & Mary in a tri-meet on Saturday, Jan. 30. ECU will serve as the host, with the meet beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET in Greenville, N.C.
Queens (NC)
The Queens University of Charlotte men's and women's swim teams each saw wins over Wingate University and the University of North Carolina- Wilmington during the University of South Carolina Invite on Saturday, January 23, 2016. The Royals would fall to South Carolina but not without seeing some individual victories against the division I school. The Royals secured nine first-place finishes on the concluded day of the meet.
Hannah Peiffer, Shelly Prayson, Jessica Parmenter, and Kyrie Dobson started the morning off with a win for the Royals in the women's 200 medley relay. The four, respectively, would glide into the wall with over a second of separation from the competition to take a time of 1:45.09.
The Royals saw two swimmers top the pool in the women's 1650 yard freestyle as Meridith Boudreaux clocked a 16:57.90, her fastest this season, for an NCAA "B" Standard time and first place finish. Kathryn Johnston finished in second, finding a time of 17:09.38. Lauren Frizzell and Hannah Craig saw a sixth and seventh place finish, respectively, as Frizzell swam a 17:45.37 and Craig swam a 17:56.21.
Dobson leaped into first with a swim of 24.17 in the women's 50 freestyle. Mary Claire Beaver followed with a time of 24.81 to place seventh overall.
With another first place finish, Caroline Arakelian clocked a 56.80 in the women's 100 yard backstroke. Kristina Kosloski aided the team finding the wall for eighth place and a time of 1:01.39.
Rostyslav Fedyna topped the pool in the men's 200 yard breaststroke as he finished with a time of 2:03.62. Devyn Hughes would place 10th with a time of 2:10.11.
Leading the way in the men's 200 yard freestyle, Dion Dreesens reached the wall in first place after swimming a 1:37.32. Ben Taylor took eighth overall reaching the wall in a time of 1:42.38. Parker Cook-Weeks took 10th with a time of 1:43.91.
Nicholas Arakelian secured the last individual first place as he clocked a 3:56.35 in the men's 400 individual medley. Hector Tricas saw his way to eighth in the race, reaching the wall with a time of 4:06.78.
With the conclusion of the meet, C. Arakelian, Dobson, McKenzie Stevens, and Prayson, gave the team another first place victory as they four, respectively, touched the wall in a 3:27.71 time for the 400 freestyle relay. The men's relay team of Dreesens, Taylor, N. Arakelian, and Ben Mayes clocked a 3:00.69 for the top time on the men's side of the 400 freestyle relay.
The Royals saw additional successful swims throughout the meet starting in the men's 200 medley relay. The Queens 'team of Zachary Phelps, Fedyna, Felipe de Oliveira, and Mayes, respectively, made their way to the wall in 1:32.46 to place second in the competition.
Hector Tricas led the team in the men's 1650 yard freestyle reaching the wall with a 15:56.68. His time ranked him second overall. Jackson Kojima tabbed fourth in the race with a time of 16:21.98.
Clocking a 55:68, Peiffer reached the wall for second place in the women's 100 yard butterfly. Josephina Lord-Taylor tabbed sixth in the event clocking a 58.40 while Amanda Tipton finished ninth with a time of 59.49. Parmenter rounded out the top ten with a time of 59.99.
Oliveira once again led the team in his event, this time taking fourth place in the men's 100 yard butterfly. He finished the race with a 51.75. Enzo Pazos placed fifth with a 52.30.
In the men's 50 yard freestyle, Mayes touched for second place after securing a time of 21.18 for the event. Bryant Burney (22.15) and Mitchell Frey (22.20) would finish in sixth and eighth place, respectively, while Brad Hancock took tenth with a time of 22.42.
Grabbing third, fourth and fifth in the men's 100 yard backstroke, the Royals saw great success as Phelps led the team with a 51.56. Taylor swam a 51.59 for the fourth place finish as Mitchell Harwood swam a 51.77 for fifth place. Chris Glafenhein also found his way into the top ten as he touched the wall for seventh place with a time of 52.56.
Phelan clocked a 2:21.37 in the women's 200 yard breaststroke for third place. Sude Ozgen would place sixth with a time of 2:25.96 while Prayson took seventh with a time of 2:26.46.
Nearing the end of the meet, McKenzie Stevens added to the Royals score taking second place in the women's 200 yard freestyle with the help of Lord-Taylor who placed fifth. Stevens secured a 1:52.53 for the event while Lord-Taylor secured a time of 1:53.37. Linda Baron and Braelyn Tracy also saw success as Baron clocked a 1:55.20 for sixth while Tracy clocked a 1:56.73.
With a fifth place finish Tipton reached the wall in a time of 4:35.78 in the women's 400 yard individual medley. Olivia Gutknecht took a time of 4:42.58 for eighth place and Hayley Blaauw took a time of 4:45.15 for ninth place finishing the individual events for the women's side of competition.
The Royals turn their sites to the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships on February 10 in Rock Hill, S.C., as the team looks to take the conference title for the second year in a row.
Wingate
Wingate University men's and women's swimming teams prepped for the upcoming Bluegrass Mountain Conference meet by participating in a two-day quad meet at the University of South Carolina Friday and Saturday. In addition to the Bulldogs and the host Gamecocks, Bluegrass Mountain Conference member Queens and CAA member UNC Wilmington were involved in the two-day event.
The meet featured five ranked teams; the Wingate women are tied for number four in NCAA Division II, while the Bulldog men occupy the number 11 spot in the CSCAA top 25 poll. The Queens men and women are the number one team on the D2 charts, while the South Carolina me are number 23 squad in the most recent NCAA Division I top 25 listing.
Wingate Women
Wingate senior Armony Dumur (Amiens, France) won the 100 Butterfly with a time of 55.66. A two-time NCAA Division II national champion, Dumur started her day by leading the Bulldogs to a second-place showing in the 200 Medley Relay.
Dumur was joined on the 200 Medley Relay team by senior Rita Koryukova (Omsk, Russia), junior Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) and senior Ana Fish (Carthage, N.C.). The Bulldogs posted a silver-medal time of 1:46.40. Dumur and Fish concluded their day with a fourth-place finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay (3:34.00). Wingate juniors Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) and Sofia Petrenko (Arkhangelsk, Russia) completed the 400 Free Relay quartet.
Counting Dumur's 100 Fly victory, Wingate had the top NCAA Division II finisher in three individual events Saturday. Weiss was second in the 200 Breaststroke with her time of 2:21.32. Petrenko had the top D2 time in the 400 Individual Medley with her bronze medal clocking of 4:29.28. Petrenko was fifth in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 57.75.
Arkhipova earned a silver medal in the 100 Backstroke with her time of 57.62. Fish was fifth in the 50 Freestyle with her time of 24.61, while senior Julie Wessler (Sprockhövel, Germany) was fifth in the grueling 1650 Freestyle with her time of 17:45.01.
On the team scoreboard, Wingate defeated UNC Wilmington. Both Queens and South Carolina outlasted the Bulldogs on the team scoring charts.
Wingate Men
Wingate junior Academic All-America Lucas Cuadros (Cali, Colombia) earned two bronze medals Saturday (one individual, one relay). Cuadros finished third in the 50 Freestyle with his time of 21.22. In the meet-ending 400 Freestyle, Cuadros swam the second leg as the Bulldogs claimed third place with a time of 3:07.36.
Cuadros was accompanied on the 400 Free Relay quartet by junior Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany), redshirt freshman Lennart Queiss (Langen, Germany) and sophomore Jerome Heidrich (Hamburg, Germany). Earlier in the day, Heidrich was fourth in the 200 Freestyle (1:40.88), while Queiss was fifth in the 50 Freestyle (21.97).
Bulldog senior Ossian Arvidsson (Kungälv, Sweden) was fifth in the 400 Individual Medley (4:05.31), while classmate Roman Kanyuka (Moscow, Russia) was fifth in the 200 Breaststroke (2:06.97). Freshman Camden Wunderlich (Snohomish, Wash.) was fifth in the 1650 Freestyle with his time of 16:29.07.
Kanyuka started his day by swimming the second leg on Wingate's fourth-place 200 Medley Relay team as the Bulldogs posted a time of 1:34.92. Kanyuka was joined by freshman Niklas Martin (Kempton, Germany), junior Mehdi Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium) and sophomore Stephen Tresslar (Wake Forest, N.C.).
The Wingate men matched their female counterparts by defeating the UNCW Seahawks. Both Queens and South Carolina outscored the Bulldogs on the team leader boards. The USC quad meet concludes the regular season for both Wingate teams. The Bulldogs host the Bluegrass Mountain Conference (BMC) meet in the Rock Hill Aquatics Center Feb. 10-13.
