Nov. 21, 2014
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. –
The South Carolina swimming team had another successful day at the Virginia Tech Invitational and both the men and women remain in third place through two days of competition.
The Virginia Tech men and women retained their lead and are currently in first place with 860 and 922 points, respectively. Alabama finished the day in second place as the men tallied 761 points and the women have 501 points. The third-place Gamecocks have 523 points on the men’s side and 433 on the women’s side.
The women opened day two finals with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Freshmen Heather Merritt, Mairyn Branaman and Meredith Vay teamed up with junior Ellen Johnson to record a season-best time of 1:41.69, which ranks third all-time in school history. In the men’s relay, the team of sophomore Jonathan Boland, redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold, senior Michael Covert and freshman Nils Wich-Glasen turned in a fourth-place finish with a season-best time of 1:28.36, which ranks seventh in school history.
In the women’s 400 IM final, senior Victoria Mitchell finished third with an NCAA B cut time of 4:15.05. Seniors Annika Jonsson (4:20.31) and Elisabeth Worrell (4:21.77) placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
After finishing second in the preliminary heat, freshman Tomas Peribonio won the 400 IM final with an NCAA B cut time of 3:51.41. Freshman Bryce Kananowicz finished third, also recording an NCAA B cut time of 3:52.94. Freshman Nils-Wich Glasen shaved more than eight seconds off of his preliminary time to finish 10th overall and second in the B final, with a time of 3:54.29, also an NCAA B cut.
Freshman Heather Merritt advanced to the A final of both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke after placing fourth and third, respectively, in the preliminaries. She finished eighth in both finals with times of 56.32 in the 100 butterfly and 56.91 in the 100 backstroke.
Sophomore Jonathan Boland recorded a pair of top-five finishes for the Gamecocks, placing fifth (48.48) in the 100 butterfly final and third (48.54) in the 100 backstroke final. Boland recording a new personal best and an NCAA B cut time of 48.32 in the preliminary heat of the 100 backstroke.
In the women’s 200 freestyle final, freshmen Meredith Vay (1:48.50) and Taylor Worrell (1:49.98) finished third and sixth, respectively. Junior Marwan El Kamash won the men’s final with a time of 1:36.88.
Freshman Kersten Dirrane placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke final with a time of 1:03.36. Swimming in the B final, junior Ellen Johnson set a new personal record with a time of 1:02.63 and finished 10th overall.
Leithold won the 100 breaststroke final with a school-record and NCAA B cut time of 53.36. In the preliminary heat, Leithold matched the previous record of 53.57, which he had set at last year’s Virginia Tech Invitational, to finish first and advance to the final. Wich-Glasen placed fourth in the final with a NCAA B cut time of 54.71 and sophomore Evan Mahoney finished eighth with a time of 56.17.
In the women’s 800 freestyle relay, the team of Merritt, Vay, Mitchell and Taylor Worrell finished in fourth place with atime of 7:27.31. The Gamecock men concluded the day with a win in the 800 freestyle relay. Leithold, El Kamash, Peribonio and Patrick McCrillis teamed up to finish in 6:29.80, which ranks sixth all-time in school history.
DIVING AT GEORIGA TECH INVITATIONAL
At ATLANTA Ga. – The Gamecock divers had a successful day at the Georgia Tech Invitational, as seniors Cole Miller and Patricia Kranz both won their events. Miller took first place in the men’s three-meter final with a score of 392.35, while Kranz finished first in the women’s one-meter final with a score of 323.90. Sophomore Jordan Gotro and freshman Julia Vincent also advanced to finals, finishing in fifth and third place, respectively.
KEY STAT
Both Kevin Leithold and Marwan El Kamash recorded their second wins of the invitational.
NOTABLES
• Six Gamecocks recorded at least one NCAA B cut time.
• Kevin Leithold set a new school record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.36. Leithold matched the previous record of 53.57 in the preliminary heat – he had set the previous record at last year’s Virginia Tech Invitational.
• Victoria Mitchell’s time of 4:15.05 in the 400 ranks second in school history, entering the day her time of 4:15.33 ranked third.
• Tomas Peribonio set a new PR of 3:51.41 in the 400 IM, his time ranks seventh in school history.
• Bryce Kananowicz set a new PR of 3:52.94 in the 400 IM, his time ranks 10th in school history.
• Wich-Glasen has now recorded an NCAA B cut time in four different events this season (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM).
• Heather Merritt’s set a new personal record in the 100 backstroke prelim with a time of 55.30, which ranks second in school history.
• Jonathan Boland set a new personal record in the 100 backstroke prelim with a time of 48.32, which ranks fourth in school history.
• Jeremiah Bohon set new personal records in the preliminary heats of both the 400 IM (4:01.43) and the 100 breaststroke (57.38).
• The time of 6:29.80 in the men’s 800 freestyle relay ranks sixth in school history.
QUOTABLE
Head swimming coach McGee Moody
“Tom (Tomas Peribonio) had a great night. He had a really strong 400 IM and swam well in every race. His performance says a lot about what he’ll be able to do at the end of the season. Kevin Leithold broke the school record, which we knew he was capable of doing, but then to turn around have a top-10 (in school history) relay time was huge. The women’s relay at the end of the day was really good as well. Victoria Mitchell had a great 400 IM and Meredith Vay had a good night in the 200 freestyle. All in all, it was a very successful day and something for us to build on moving forward.”
Head diving coach Todd Sherritt
“The women did a great job today. Lauren (Lamendola) just missed making the finals and both Patricia (Kranz) and Julia (Vincent) were diving really well today. There are a lot of divers at this event and it’s very similar to what we’ll see in the postseason, so it’s an important meet for us. Cole (Miller) beat a really good diver from Utah (Jacob Crayne) and Jordan (Gorto) did a good job as well. Overall, I’m really proud of this group. We accomplished what we needed to and this will help prepare for the postseason.”
UP NEXT
The third and final day of the Virginia Tech Invitational begins on Saturday with preliminaries at 10 a.m. and finals to follow at 6 p.m. The diving team will compete in the final day of the Georgia Tech Invitational, beginning 10 a.m.
