Feb. 10, 2007

Lexington, Ky. – The Gamecocks qualified ten swimmers on the final day of SEC Championships in Lexington, Ky. Three Gamecock swimmers are seeded eighth or higher and will be competing in championship heats this evening.

Freshman Dominique Lendjel was the first South Carolina to qualify this morning. Lendjel is seeded in eighth going into the finals, with a time of 1:46.46 in the men’s 200 backstroke. Junior Kyle Cormier qualified in the men’s 100 free with a time of 44.62. Cormier is seeded twelfth going into the finals. This is the third consecutive day that the co-team captain has made it to the finals. The men also qualified both sophomore Steven Luckie and junior Leopoldo Andara in the 200 butterfly. Luckie is seeded fifteenth, with a preliminary time of 1.51.13. Andara is seeded eighth with a time of 1:48.99.

On the women’s side, the Gamecocks were able to qualify three individuals in the women’s 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Amanda Dunnigan is seeded highest among the three in ninth, after a prelim time of 2.18.90. Senior Lindsey Tiberio is seeded tenth with a time of 2.19.82, and junior Carly Hensel is seeded sixteenth with a time of 2:20.70. The women also qualified three individuals in the 200 butterfly. Senior Meredith Ruka is seeded sixteenth, with a time of 2:05.54. Junior Heather Roffey is seeded fourteenth, with a time of 2:04.68. Junior Christy Williams was the final women’s qualifier for the Gamecocks. She is seeded fourth in the 200 butterfly, after swimming a 1:59.91 in prelims. Both Dunnigan and Williams will be returning to finals for the third consecutive day.

Entering the last day of finals, the Gamecock men are in seventh with 197.5 points and the women are in eighth with 128 points. Preliminaries for the men’s and women’s 1650 will begin at 3:15 p.m. this afternoon. On the men’s side, Luckie, junior Dan White and freshman Trey Tharpe will be trying to advance; and on the women’s side, Roffey and senior Stephanie Margalis will be swimming. Finals will begin at 6 p.m.