Feb. 19, 2015
AUBURN, Ala. – Freshman Meredith Vay highlighted the Gamecocks’ third day at the SEC Championships with her third-place performance in the women’s 200 freestyle final. Vay set a personal record of 1:45.94, which is just .14 seconds shy of the school record.
The Gamecock men remain in seventh place with 324 points. The women’s squad also stayed put in ninth place with 255 points. Florida leads the men’s competition while Georgia has the edge on the women’s side.
Freshman Tomas Peribonio placed 14th overall in the men’s 400 IM with his personal-record time of 3:47.32, which ranks second in school history. Peribonio finished sixth in the B final after his 16th-place performance in the preliminary.
Freshman Bryce Kananowicz just missed the C final of the 400 IM as he placed 25th overall in 3:53.81. Senior Alex Vance and freshman Jeremiah Bohon both posted career-best times and finished 29th and 30th overall, respectively.
Sophomore Megan Carlson swam in her first finals at the SEC Championship and finished 24th overall with a time of 4:20.58. In the preliminary competition she recorded a career-best time of 4:17.39, which is a NCAA B cut and fifth fastest in school history.
Seniors Elisabeth Worrell and Annika Jonsson finished 29th and 33rd with times of 4:18.30 and 4:22.07, respectively in the preliminary of the women’s 400 IM. Freshman Kersten Dirrane finished 43rd overall with a personal-record time of 4:32.09.
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold turned in an 18th-place performance in the preliminary of the men’s 100 butterfly with a time of 47.22, which moved him up to third all-time in school history. He finished 23rd overall with a time of 48.06, swimming in the C final.
Sophomore Jonathan Boland set a personal record in the men’s 100 butterfly preliminary with his time of 48.38, earning him a 32nd-place finish. Senior Michael Covert, junior Bobby Bittner and freshman Caleb Tosh placed 42nd, 45th, and 47th, respectively.
Mairyn Branaman represented the Gamecocks in the women’s 100 butterfly. She finished the preliminary in 55.56, which is a personal record and put her 45th overall.
Cole Miller took eighth place in the men’s 3-meter diving final with a score of 325.20. He finished the preliminary in fifth place with a score of 375.55.
Sophomore Jordan Gotro and freshman Lyle Markman placed 13th and 26th with scores of 310.70 and 253.90, respectively, in the men’s 3-meter diving preliminary.
Marwan El Kamash swam a career-best 1:35.14 in the A final of the men’s 200 freestyle, earning him sixth place. He also finished sixth in the preliminary competition with a time of 1:35.27.
In the men’s 200 free preliminary, freshman Patrick McCrillis finished 30th overall in 1:37.42 while sophomore Robert Gilchrist placed 33rd overall with a tine of 1:37.72.
Taylor Worrell finished 22nd overall in the women’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:48.57. She advanced to the C final with her PR of 1:47.43 in the preliminary. Vay finished the preliminary in sixth place with a time of 1:45.98.
With a personal record of 1:49.78, sophomore Cooper Brown finished 39th overall in the women’s 200 freestyle preliminary. Freshman Sarah Smith also recorded a career-best time as she finished in 1:51.34 and 51st place.
NOTABLES
- Through three days of competition the Gamecock men have recorded seven times that rank in the top-5 in school history, including a school record. The women have recorded five times that rank in the top-5 in school history, including two relay records.
- Six Gamecocks recorded NCAA provisional in today’s three events.
- Cole Miller advanced to finals in both of his events (1-meter and 3-meter) thus far.
- Freshman Tomas Peribonio has advanced to finals in both of his events (500 freestyle and 400 IM) thus far.
- Marwan El Kamash has advanced to finals in both of his events (200 and 500 freestyle) thus far.
- Elisabeth Worrell’s time of 4:18.30 in the 400 IM is a personal record.
- Michael Covert’s time of 49.27 in the 100 butterfly is a career best.
- Caleb Tosh recorded a career-best time in the 100 butterfly finishing in 49.72.
- Both Patrick McCrillis and Robert Gilchrist recorded career-best times in the 200 freestyle.
QUOTABLE Head Swimming Coach McGee Moody
“Tonight was good night. We’re in the middle of big team battle right now. We had some big swims today, we had some people step up and move up but we have to be great tomorrow if we’re going to move up in the standings.”
Head Diving Coach Todd Sherritt
“We did a good job today. Jordan (Gotro) was 13th and he stayed steady and Cole (Miller) made another final. Top eight in the conference is awesome. I think he (Cole) was off for him tonight, but he still has another event to go. I think that it’s hard to continue to stay sharp in a meet like this, you have to really pace yourself. I think he just got a little bit quick tonight; he wasn’t his normal self in terms of being smooth. On the other hand, I’m really happy he made it into finals. It was a very tough event and very difficult to make it into the top eight today so I’m really happy.”
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks continue with day four of five of the SEC Championships on Thursday, beginning with preliminaries at 10 a.m. CT.
