Nov. 18, 2005
College Station, Texas – The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed day one of competition at the Texas A&M Invitational. Both the Carolina men’s and women’s teams are in fourth place after the first day. The Gamecocks had three first place finishers on Friday evening as Senior women’s diver Allison Brennan and freshman men’s diver David Ovelson each won their respective events on the one-meter and three-meter boards and sophomore swimmer Dan White took home the top place in the 500 freestyle. Texas A&M sits in first place in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
“I think overall we competed pretty well today,” said USC assistant coach Phil Kraus. “This is the first time this year that the swimmers have had to swim twice in one day and I thought they adjusted and for the most part, our times improved from the morning to the evening. This format will be used at the SEC Championships, and that’s a reason why we came here. It will really play out for us as we continue to work and improve on our racing. We may not be as well rested as some other teams competing here this weekend but they went out there, worked hard and did a good job. We are extremely pleased after the first day.”
Brennan, who won a national championship for Carolina on the one-meter two years ago at the Student Rec Natatorium, continued her senior season success winning a tight battle on the low board. Brennan finished with a score of 330.35, seven points ahead of second place finisher Tania Cagnotto of Houston, a former world champion. In his first invitational, Ovelson didn’t disappoint for the Gamecocks on the three-meter as he scored 359.30 to take the top spot.
“That was a huge win for Allison tonight,” said USC diving coach Todd Sherritt. “This is a very good meet and it had a feel of what the NCAA Championships will be like. She did a great job and just competed very well against some of the best divers in the nation. Tomorrow it will be even more a test on the three-meter. For David, it came down to the last dive and he hit it. He did a great job as did Ian (Balman) and Tracey (Richardson). It was a good first day for them.”
White continued to excel in the distance events for Carolina as he won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:27.64, his fastest of the season. White won a tight race with LSU’s Julius Gloeckner, who finished second at 4:27.99. The men’s 500 freestyle was the top event for the Carolina men on the first day with sophomore Kyle Cormier and senior Tim Farrington also competing in the “A” final. Cormier finished fourth at 4:33.53 with Farrington taking fifth place at 4:40.02. Amanda Dunnigan also qualified for the “A” final in the 500 freestyle on the women’s side and went 5:00.56 to finish in eighth place.
Sophomore swimmer Christy Williams was another “A” finalist for Carolina as she took home fourth place in the 200 individual medley. Williams finished with a time of 2:03.63 that was an NCAA “B” qualifying standard. On the men’s side, White also competed in the “A” final of the 200 IM and was sixth place finishing 1:54.91 in the event. Junior swimmer Colby Mack also had a strong performance for Carolina on the men’s side. Mack had the men’s fastest performance of the season in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.26 and winning the “B” final in the evening session.
Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 12
1. Texas A&M University 367.5
2. Southern Methodist University 324.5
3. Louisiana State University 215
4. University of South Carolina 201
Women – Team Rankings – Through Event 11
1. Texas A&M University 344
2. Southern Methodist University 295
3. University of Michigan 253
4. University of South Carolina 133
5. Louisiana State University 127
6. University of Houston 46
7. Tulane University 41
