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Kansas Grabs Lead at Kansas Classic

Kansas grabbed a lead after day 1 of the Kansas Classic.

Kansas Press Release

TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas delivered in its most loaded final heat as Libby Walker and Jenny Nusbaum finished first and second and four Jayhawks scored points in the 500-yard freestyle, part of an effort that saw KU end the first day of the Kansas Classic at the top of the leaderboard. Walker and Nusbaum both swam lifetime bests on a day full of top times at Capitol Federal Natatorium.

Kansas logged 25 season-best times in prelims Friday morning and advanced eight to finals in three individual events, including Walker, Nusbaum, Nika Fellows and Sammie Schurig in the 500-yard freestyle. Coupled with a pair of runner-up finishes in bookend relay races, Kansas placed among the top four in every race to lead with 282 total points at the end of day one. Nebraska was second with 263 points, followed by Iowa State (169.5), Northern Iowa (137), Northern Arizona (109) and Arkansas-Little Rock (84.5).

"We swam really, really well," Kansas head coach Clark Campbell said. "Last year, our first day at this meet was a little rocky. Today our team really came out fired up, with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and carried that from the start of prelims all the way through the last relay."

Walker shaved two seconds off her lifetime best and Nusbaum dropped six seconds - in one day - off of her fastest time while chasing down Iowa State's Keely Soellner near the midpoint of their race, then the two Jayhawks pulled away, spurred on by each other.

"Having a better race than this morning was really important, because (my swim) this morning was not very good," Walker said of qualifying fourth after prelims, more than five seconds behind Soellner's top time. "I just wanted to get out there and race. I went in with the mindset that I wanted to go out there and have the best race that I can. I don't think I would have gone that fast if I didn't have Jenny there pushing me. It's really awesome having someone on your team pushing you."

Iowa State opened the evening session with a win in a tightly contested 200-yard freestyle relay, claiming the top spot in 1:32.91, just over one-tenth of a second faster than Kansas' 1:33.04. Nebraska (1:33.16) and Northern Iowa (1:33.63) were also just a hair off the fastest pace.

Walker and Nusbaum's one-two finish provided an answer, then Kansas claimed three out of the six top spots in the 200-yard individual medley as Nebraska claimed it's own mini-sweep of the top two positions. Kansas freshman Elizabeth Amato-Hanner (2:03.06) and senior Pia Pavlic (2:03.24) touched near the same time after the Huskers' Anna McDonald (2:01.41) and Tori Beeler (2:01.44) provided a photo finish. Madison Straight finished sixth in the final heat, swimming a 2:03.64, further lowering her season-best time from prelims .

Haley Bishop was Kansas' lone 'A' finalist in a wide-open 50-yard freestyle and finished fourth in a time of 23.47 before contributing to KU's second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. In that closing relay, Nebraska's team of Erin Oeltjen, Tori Beeler, Dana Posthuma and Allie Worrall lowered the Huskers' own meet record set last season with a winning time of 3:39.56.

"We got the start that we wanted and that's the goal: getting our season best times at this meet and using that momentum to carry us into the real important time in February and March," Campbell said. "If we can be where we are right now, with what we've done up to this point with half a season to go, we're in a really good spot."

With every Kansas swimmer turning in season-best times, Campbell noted that Jayhawk freshman Katy Schlies was named the team's swimmer of the session for her morning performances. Schlies turned in a 200 IM finals time of 2:06.37, a lifetime best that topped her 2013 Indiana High School State Championships lifetime best.

"She dropped a ton of time in the 200 IM," Campbell said. "Katy's an interesting swimmer because she's very versatile. We really don't know what to put her in, so we were like, 'Alright, be an IMer.' She did great."

UALR Press Release

TOPEKA, Kan. – Four school records fell for Little Rock swimming and diving on Friday in the first day of the three-day Kansas Classic at Capitol Federal Natatorium.
 
In the evening's first event, the quartet of Courtney Coe, Courtney Goff, Laura Ruiz Astorga and Emma Doll broke the 200-yard free relay record with a time of 1:34.75. Their time was just under three quarters of a second faster than the previous record of 1:35.48 set in 2012 by former Trojans Kara Raney, Jenna Rutecki, Lexie Keller and Amber Kelly.
 
Tori Fryar broke the first individual record of the night with her performance in the 500-yard freestyle. Fryar won the B-Final with a time of 4:54.47 — breaking her own record by over a second.
 
Emma Doll had the other individual record for the Trojans with a time of 23.66 in the B-Final. Doll’s time broke former Trojan Kara Raney’s mark of 23.70 set in 2013.
 
The final record to fall on Friday was in the 400-yard medley relay as the group of Ruiz Astorga, Nuria Gallego Murcia, Coe and Doll came in with a time of 3:49.69 — breaking their own record of 3:50.37 set last season.
 
In the 200-yard individual medley, Imre van Huyssteen had the top time for the Trojans at 2:09.54 in the C-Final — her second-fastest career time in the event. Jinson Kang had the D-Final’s best mark with a time of 2:07.79 — her second-fastest career time.
 
The Trojans finished the day in sixth place with 84.5 points. Kansas leads with 282 points while Nebraska currently sits second with 263 points. Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Northern Arizona sit third, fourth and fifth with 169.5, 137 and 109 points, respectively.
 
Little Rock will return to the pool tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. for preliminaries in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. Finals for those events, the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay will take place at 6 p.m.

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