Feb. 19, 2009

AUBURN, Ala. – Kyle Cormier picked up his second school-record time of the week, earning his way to the “A” Final of the 200-yard individual medley at the SEC Championships Thursday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center on the campus of Auburn University. Three Gamecock women’s swimmers and two divers also earned their way into the evening’s consolation finals, most notably senior Amanda Dunnigan, who shattered the school record in the women’s 200 IM, and Taryn Zack, who will go for her second medal of these championships in the evening’s one-meter diving finals.

“We had a bunch of great swims this morning,” head coach McGee Moody said. “Amanda and Kyle both swam great, and they can go even lower tonight. The top four times we got in the 50…that will be a fast (200 freestyle) relay tonight. Sharntelle (McLean) is a better swimmer at night, so she could knock another half-second or so off her time in the 50. Looks like we’re rewriting the (South Carolina) top 10 across the board.”

Cormier, who already held an NCAA `B’ cut time in the 200 IM, improved his chances greatly by shaving nearly two seconds off his previous personal best with a 1:45.49, breaking Istvan Bathazi’s five-year old record, set at the 2003 Auburn Invitational. Cormier will become South Carolina’s first swimmer to compete for an SEC Championship this season as he will be seeded fourth in the `A’ final.

Dunnigan also set a school record with her NCAA `B’ cut time of 2:00.57 in the women’s 200 IM. The previous record was set by Christy Williams two years ago when she swam a 2:01.86 in the NCAA Championships at Minneapolis, Minn. She will be joined in the women’s consolation finals tonight by freshman Lindsey Olson, whose 4:46.32 in the 500 freestyle lowered her NCAA `B’ cut time and personal best by nearly half a second.

McLean earned her way into the 50 freestyle consolation final with an 11th-place time of 22.72 seconds, only two hundredths of a second out of eighth place and a spot in the “A” final. Her time was only .07 seconds off her school-record time of 22.65 from earlier in the season.

In the diving well, Taryn Zack and Allison Barr will compete in the women’s one-meter diving finals after finishing first and seventh, respectively, in the afternoon’s prelims. South Carolina will join Florida as the only two teams with multiple entries in the `A’ final. Zack finished with a score of 309.85, and Barr had a 289.90.

“I’m elated that we got two in the finals,” head diving coach Todd Sherritt said. “We just have to seal the deal tonight. Taryn stayed solid throughout, she did a couple of great dives. Tonight she needs to tweak her backs and gainers if she wants to take the title. Allison is just a phenomenal competitor. We switched her last dive for a little strategy and it worked out for her, getting her in the finals.”

While only six Gamecocks advance to this evening’s finals, almost everyone that swam Thursday morning turned in career-best times. A total of 12 men’s swimmers and 12 women’s swimmers earned personal records with their swims in the morning preliminaries. Those times are noted by “PR” below.

Finals get underway at 6 p.m. Central time with women’s one-meter diving. That will be followed by the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, men’s three-meter diving and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Live results can be accessed through AuburnTigers.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA PRELIMINARY RESULTSMen's 500 FreestyleAthlete Time    PlaceDan Jackson   4:36.19 26thSteven Luckie    4:42.58 28th
Women's 500 FreestyleLindsey Olson   4:46.32b    14th (B Final)  PRClaire Thompson    4:52.58 20thChristine Thompson  4:52.90 21st
Men's 200 IMKyle Cormier  1:45.49!b   4th (A Final)   PRJames Crawford 1:49.03 19th    PRAndrew Atzhorn  1:50.68 25thChris Kelly 1:51.08 26thHam Hollett 1:55.22 37th    PRRyan Connolly   1:53.93 exh PR
Women's 200 IMKelly Kirchler  2:11.49 47th    PRLydia Hackert   2:10.21 46th    PRAlyssa Hand   2:09.42 45th    PRAileen Atzhorn 2:07.35 43rd    PRAmanda Dunnigan    2:00.57!b   12th (B Final)  PR
Men's 50 FreestyleBrett Sexton  21.37   exh PRDavid Livsey 20.82   34th    PRRyan Langley  20.90   36th    PRGray Tedder 20.89   35th    PRRory Grigull 21.22   44th    PRJosh Klotz  20.93   37th    PRArmin Hornikel 20.78   33rd    PRTodd Weyandt  20.53   28th    PR
Women's 50 FreestyleSharntelle McLean    22.72   11th (B Final)Kassy Kugler  23.31   25th    PRBridget Halligan  23.36   27th    PRMegan Sparks  23.69   38thKristina Delp    23.91   40th    PRSarah Bartlett 24.35   46thShaylyn Blake    24.45   52nd    PRMallory Cage 25.06   56th    PRMeridith McKee  25.59   exh PR
Women's One-Meter DivingTaryn Zack  309.85  1stAllison Barr  290.70  7thHelen Alvey   235.25  19thMorgan Ricke  212.80  23rd
Men's Three-Meter DivingRyan Kuser 268.10  18th