Nov. 17, 2011

Complete Results Thursday’s Prelim Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The South Carolina swimming and diving teams wrapped up their first day of competition at the Nike Cup Invitational on Thursday night at Koury Natatorium. The Gamecock men are in fourth place, while the Carolina women are third heading into Friday’s preliminaries.

The Gamecocks sent 22 swimmers to Thursday’s finals.

In the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Rachel Elliott, Lauren Raczkowski, Rachael Schaffer and Morgan Brooks finished sixth with a time of 1:35.88. The Gamecocks’ best finish in the men’s event was a fourth-place showing by the team of Andrew Seiler, Jacob White, Isaac Badillo and Max Heinze with a time of 1:23.27.

Junior Lindsey Olson had a strong showing in the women’s 500 freestyle C-final as she won the event with a time of 4:57.73. Junior Whitney Avers finish third in the C-final in a time of 4:59.60, and freshman Annika Jonsson took sixth with a time of 5:03.06. Junior Matea Peteh finished sixth in the B-final with a time of 4:59.81.

Junior Matt Columbus won the men’s B-final in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:31.71 to finish ninth overall, while junior Brooks Ross finished eighth in the A-final with a time of 4:31.20.

Schaffer achieved the Gamecocks first NCAA `B’ cut of the season in the 200 IM as she won the B-final with a time of 2:00.74 to finish ninth overall. Sophomore Abby Galbreath finished 17th overall by winning the C-final with a time of 2:03.43, while teammate Aileen Atzhorn finished 19th overall with a time of 2:08.24.

Junior Collin Kaden finished seventh in the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:52.44, while sophomore Matt Navata claimed 12th with a time of 1:52.65. Senior James Crawford placed third in the C-final with a time of 1:54.05 to finish 19th overall.

Elliott finished sixth overall in the women’s 50 freestyle with a time of 23.89. Raczkowski finished 13th overall in 25.08, and Brooks took second in the C-final and 18th overall in a time of 24.38.

On the men’s side, Seiler placed second in a time of 20.81 in the B-final and 10th overall. Heinze placed 16th in a time of 21.33. Senior Rory Grigull (21.30) and White (21.43) finished 21st and 22nd, respectively.

In the women’s 400 medley relay, South Carolina’s team of Peteh, Amanda Rutqvist, Schaffer and Raczkowski claimed fourth with a time of 3:44.87. In the men’s event, the Gamecocks finished fifth in a time of 3:20.87 with the team of Jay Warner, Bobby Cave, Badillo and Seiler.

Host North Carolina leads the men’s competition with 334 points, while the Tar Heels are also in the lead on the women’s side with 435 points.

Friday’s preliminaries get underway at 10 a.m. followed by the finals at 6 p.m. Live results are available at tarheelblue.com.