Jan. 10, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – In a hotly contested swimming and diving meet that came down to the final event, South Carolina’s women pulled out a thrilling 151-149 victory over homestanding Duke while the Gamecock men fell just short, dropping a 153-145 decision Saturday afternoon at the Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion. Both Gamecock squads soundly defeated Davidson in the double-dual meet with the men winning 157-116 and the women prevailing by a 150-121 score.
The Gamecock women improved to 3-3 in dual meet competition this season while the men picked up a win and a loss to move to 2-4 overall.
Entering the final event of the afternoon, the 400 medley relay, Duke held a seven-point lead in the women’s competition and led by 13 over the Carolina men. The Gamecock women needed the first-place points and at least a third-place finish in the relay to earn the victory – and that’s exactly what they got. The team of Sharntelle McLean, Kassy Kugler, Megan Sparks and Claire Thompson touched in 3:28.08 to get the all-important 11 first-place points. Duke finished second, and the Carolina `B’ squad of Christine Thompson, Shaylyn Blake, Bridget Halligan and Kristina Delp beat out the hard-charging Blue Devils by 0.12 seconds to claim a third-place time of 3:33.60 and a Carolina dual meet victory.
On the men’s side, the Gamecocks needed a first- and second-place finish in the final relay to secure a tie. South Carolina got the first-place finish it needed with a 3:06.29 by Kyle Cormier, Josh Klotz, James Crawford and Todd Weyandt. But Duke took second and third place to take the eight-point victory.
South Carolina’s women’s divers performed well as Taryn Zack took first place overall in the three-meter competition with a 337.35, then finished a close second in the one-meter event with a 319.80, only 2.10 points behind the first-place Duke finisher. Corry Christian took second place for the men in the three-meter event with a 318.00.
The Gamecocks fell behind early, but got a pair of first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle to climb back into contention. Claire Thompson swam a 1:52.04 in the women’s event to get first-place points, and Kyle Cormier touched in 1:40.70 for a top finish in the men’s event.
Amanda Dunnigan had a strong meet for the Gamecocks with wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.19), 200 breaststroke (2:18.48) and 400 IM (4:22.69). Carolina also continued to shine in the 100 backstroke, getting first-place finishes from Megan Sparks (56.81) and Chris Kelly (52.44).
Nicholas Walkotten got wins in the 100 (49.82) and 200 fly (1:51.71), and the Gamecocks controlled the sprints with wins from Sharntelle McLean (23.78) and Cormier (21.42) in the 50 free, then again in the 100 free with McLean touching in 51.82 and Cormier turning in a 46.09. South Carolina picked up a wealth of points in the 100 free, taking four of the top five spots in the women’s event and three of the top five in the men’s 100 free.
South Carolina won every event it contested against Davidson and swam exhibition the last five events against the Wildcats with the outcome already determined.
The Gamecock women will welcome SEC foe Vanderbilt to the Carolina Natatorium next Saturday for a 2 p.m. dual meet. The men will join the women and return to action the following Saturday, Jan. 24, for a Senior Day meet against College of Charleston.
