Nov. 8, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
The South Carolina swimming and diving team picked up wins over East Carolina and College of Charleston on Saturday afternoon at Carolina Natatorium. The Gamecock men defeated the Pirates 169-104 and the Cougars 157-135 to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Gamecock women are now 5-1 after defeating the Pirates 157-116 and the Cougars 161-131.
Sophomore Jonathan Boland, freshman Nils Wich-Glasen, sophomore Kevin Leithold and junior Marwan El Kamash teamed up for the Gamecocks’ first win of the meet in the 400 medley relay.
The Gamecocks swept the next four events starting with Senior Victoria Mitchell and freshman Tomas Peribonio claiming first place in the 1000 freestyle. Mitchell also took first place in the 500 freestyle and Peribonio logged a second victory in the 200 backstroke
South Carolina then claimed first place in the 200 freestyle with wins from freshman Meredith Vay and El Kamash, the 100 backstroke with wins from freshman Heather Merritt and Boland and the 100 breaststroke with wins from junior Ellen Johnson and Leithold.
Vay and Merritt each added another win for the women in the 50 freestyle and 200 backstroke, respectively. On the men’s side, El Kamash took first place in the 500 freestyle and Leithold tallied his second win in the 100 freestyle.
Wich-Glasen claimed the 200 breaststroke for the Gamecocks while setting a new personal record with a NCAA B cut time of 1:58.49.
The Gamecocks swept the diving events as seniors Cole Miller and Patricia Kranz and junior Lauren Lamendola combined for four wins. Miller took first on both boards, posting a season best score of 375.00 on the one-meter. Sophomore Jordan Gotro finished in second place in both events with season best scores of 308.70 on the one-meter and 366.90 on the three meter. Patricia Kranz got her win on the one-meter while Lauren Lamendola placed first on the three-meter.
KEY STAT
Six different Gamecocks won two events apiece.
NOTEABLES
• Travis Morrin set a new personal record in the 1000 freestyle (9:31.11)
• Merritt set a new personal record in the 100 backstroke (56.63)
• Wich-Glasen recorded the Gamecocks’ first NCAA provisional cut of the season
• Wich-Glasen remains undefeated in the 200 breaststroke
• Peribonio’s wins in the 1000 freestyle and 200 backstroke were the first of his career
• Miller remains undefeated on the three-meter springboard
• Mitchell is still undefeated in the 1000 freestyle
• Johnson recorded her third win in the 100 breaststroke this season
• Marissa Roth posted career best scores of 278.05 on the one-meter and 318.05 on the three-meter
QUOTABLE
Head swimming coach McGee Moody
Opening Statement
“All in all I thought we were pretty good today. This was one of the highest volume weeks we’ve had as far as training goes and we raced well. We had some especially good races and some average races. For the most part I think we stood our ground in our home pool. Our women got a little revenge from a loss last year against East Carolina, which was good. I thought all in all it was a good day for us.”
On Nils Wich Glasen
“Nils had a great day. He got an NCAA provisional cut in the 200 breaststroke and I think that puts him around top-10 in the country right now, which is a good place to be. He still has some things he can improve on but he had a really good day.
On Thomas Hang
“Thomas Hang is a walk on and he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen. He had three personal bests today and he keeps showing a lot of promise. He’s a guy that we’re really proud of. His teammates love him and he’s a great kid.”
Head diving coach Todd Sherritt
“We have great divers on our team and they did a great job. Lauren Lamendola winning an event is huge. She’s been coming along all these years and I think its one of those things where you get confident and start competing to win. It was great to see her go out there [and perform well] and that was the best performances I’ve seen her have. Marissa Roth, she just keeps climbing every week. Patty (Patricia Kranz) and Julia (Vincent) had solid performance as well. On the men’s side I was pretty happy. We had some glitches here and there. Jordan (Gotro) stepped up today and looked a little better. We have some things to work on with Cole (Miller) and his hurdles but it was a solid performance.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will conclude their fall season Nov. 20-22 at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Christiansburg, Va.
