Nov. 20, 2008
Video of McLean’s Record-Breaking Swim (floswimming.com)
COLUMBIA – South Carolina senior Sharntelle McLean broke a 20-year-old school record in the 50-yard freestyle, grabbing a provisional NCAA qualifying time in the process, as the Gamecocks finished day one of the inaugural Gamecock Invitational with the men in second place with 226.5 points and the women in third . Fellow senior Kyle Cormier also posted a `B’ cut time in the men’s 200-yard individual medley.
McLean touched the wall in 22.65 seconds, a full second faster than her preliminary time, as she snapped Dana Dutcher’s 1988 record of 22.66 by the narrowest of margins. Her time easily eclipsed the NCAA provisional cut time of 22.80, giving Carolina one of its initial two qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Cormier, meanwhile, smashed his previous personal best with a 1:47.65 in the 200 IM, which gave the Carolina men their first NCAA `B’ cut of the season. He also earned big points for the Gamecocks with his second-place finish in the 50 free, touching in a season-best time of 20.76.
“We had a very solid night tonight,” head coach McGee Moody said. “We had some surprises, and they were all good surprises. I think in terms of how we swam tonight, it’s pretty indicative of what we’re going to see the rest of the way. I was very proud of Sharntelle and Kyle, as well as Andrew Atzhorn and Amanda Dunnigan. They all had huge nights. But as well as we swam tonight, we’ve got to be better in the prelim sessions to get to where we need to be. “
The Gamecock men piled up the points in the 50 free with Nicholas Walkotten and Todd Weyandt joining Cormier in taking the top three spots in the event. Walkotten touched the wall in 20.63 to get the win and Weyandt was third with a 20.98. Freshman Armin Hornikel turned in a tie for sixth place with a 21.16, his best of the season, and Gray Tedder (21.50) and Ryan Langley (21.54) snagged points for the Gamecocks with 15th and 16th place finishes, respectively.
On the women’s side, McLean got the victory in the 50 free and had two teammates help the Carolina scoring effort. Kassy Kugler touched in 24.08 for a seventh-place finish while Sarah Bartlett snagged 12th place with a 24.32.
The night got off to a strong start with the women’s 200 freestyle relay team grabbing a second-place finish and 34 points. The Gamecock team of McLean, Megan Sparks, Bartlett and Kugler finished just a hair behind first-place North Carolina, touching in 1:34.29. The Gamecocks’ `B’ relay squad of Lindsey Olson, Shaylyn Blake, Kristina Delp and Christine Thompson took home an eighth-place finish in the 200 FR with a time of 1:38.58, and the `C’ squad of Sherah Aiken, Stephanie Hellenga, Kelly Kirchler and Mallory Cage scored two points with a 16th-place finish of 1:42.46.
Gray Tedder, Josh Klotz, James Crawford and Ryan Langley took third-place points for the Carolina men in the 200 FR with a 1:24.36, while David Livsey, Brett Sexton, Isaac Badillo and Rory Grigull finished eighth in 1:25.84. The Gamecocks’ `A’ team had the best time in the relay, but was disqualified for a false start.
However, a disqualification of Duke in the men’s 400 medley relay bumped the Gamecocks up a spot and actually propelled them from third to second place. The team of Crawford, Hornikel, Walkotten and Cormier took third-place points with a 3:21.42. Ham Hollett, Andrew Atzhorn, David Livsey and Weyandt snagged eighth place with a 3:26.48, and Chris Kelly, Ryan Connolly, Badillo and Langley took 12th palce in 3:30.17.
For the women, Sparks, Amanda Dunnigan, Olson and Claire Thompson took third in the 400 MR with a 3:46.32. The Gamecocks got a sixth place finish from Saurman, Hackert, Delp and McLean (3:51.68) and a 12th-place showing from Bartlett, Cage, Kirchler and Kugler (3:59.24).
Dunnigan snagged a second-place finish in the 200 IM with a season-best 2:02.52, and Lindsey Olson finished fifth with a 2:04.53. Christine Thompson (2:08.96) grabbed 15th-place points for Carolina in the event.
Cormier’s `B’ time in the 200 IM was good enough for second place, while Andrew Atzhorn took fourth with a 1:50.77. James Crawford finished 13th with a 1:51.72.
Claire Thompson got a seventh-place finish in the 500 free with a 4:57.48, and Chris Kelly finished 13th in the men’s event, touching the wall in 4:34.09.
North Carolina leads both the men’s and women’s competition after day one with a 370 on the men’s side and a 380.5 on the women’s side.
The teams return to the pool at 10 a.m. Friday for the second day of preliminaries. The divers will also get in on the action as women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter competition takes place. Follow live results through sportstiming.com, and watch video recaps of each race at floswimming.com.
TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
WOMEN1. North Carolina 3702. Duke 226.53. South Carolina 2084. East Carolina 161.55. Syracuse 1076. Coll. Of Charleston 127. Lenoir-Rhyne 0
MEN1. North Carolina 380.52. South Carolina 226.53. Duke 2204. Syracuse 1095. East Carolina 986. Coll. Of Charleston 43
