Nov. 22, 2008
COLUMBIA – – South Carolina put together a third straight successful preliminary session in day three of the inaugural Gamecock Invitational, advancing six swimmers and four divers to their respective `A’ finals to be held Saturday night at the Carolina Natatorium.
Nicholas Walkotten continued his impressive run at the meet, swimming the fastest heat in the men’s 200-yard butterfly as he clocked in with a season-best 1:48.51. He will be joined in the evening session by Steven Luckie (1:54.62), who qualified 11th and will swim the consolation final, and Andrew Atzhorn (1:54.74), Nathan Figg (1:54.89), Dan Jackson (1:55.99), David Livsey (1:56.13) and Chris Kelly (1:56.85), who all qualified for the bonus final.
On the women’s side, Lindsey Olson turned in the second-fastest time in the 200 fly with a 2:03.77. Amanda Dunnigan qualifed for the consolation finals with a 2:04.95, and Aileen Atzhorn (2:09.62) and Claire Thompson (2:11.95) will swim the bonus final.
Kyle Cormier earned his fourth entry into a super final of the weekend as he swam the fastest time in the 100 free, clocking in at 44.38 to gain the top seed in tonight’s final. Ryan Langley (46.50) and Todd Weyandt (46.56) will swim the consolation final, and David Livsey (47.08) and Rory Grigull (47.09) earned berths in the bonus final.
Sharntelle McLean continued her strong showing in the sprint freestyle events, turning in a 51.57 to earn the third spot in the super final. Kassy Kugler will swim the consolation final in the event after a 52.66.
The Gamecocks got two qualifiers in the men’s 200 backstroke as Andrew Atzhorn (1:49.44) and James Crawford (1:49.52) finished third and fourth, respectively. Chris Kelly (1:51.42) and Ham Hollett (1:52.82) earned consolation final spots, and Trey Tharpe (1:53.19) will compete in the `C’ final. For the women, Kelly Saurman got the seventh spot with a 2:05.90, and Meridith McKee (2:11.33) and Sarah Bartlett (2:12.80) earned their way to the bonus final.
Freshman Mallory Cage had the top Carolina finish in the women’s 200 breaststroke, clocking in at 2:23.87 to finish seventh. She will join Aileen Atzhorn (2:24.65) in the consolation final while Lydia Hackert (2:27.82) earned a spot in the bonus final. Armin Hornikel took fifth in the men’s 200 breast, only three-hundredths of a second behind the fourth-place spot with a 2:05.57. Ryan Connolly also qualified for the evening session with a 2:13.13 to swim the bonus final.
Both the men’s and women’s diving teams took the top spots in their respective preliminaries. Corry Christian scored 325.75 in the men’s one-meter prelims to earn the top seed in tonight’s final, with Ryan Kuser fifth with a 263.85. Taryn Zack took first in the women’s three-meter prelims with a 335.35, and joins Allison Barr (261.75) in the finals later this evening. Helen Alvey and Morgan Ricke will dive in the consolation final.
For complete coverage of the final day of the Gamecock Invitational, stay with GamecocksOnline.com. A link to live results through sportstiming.com is available on the Gamecock Invitational page, and video recaps of the entire meet can be found at floswimming.org.
