Nov. 20, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – More than a dozen South Carolina swimmers and divers advanced to championship finals in their respective events on Friday at the second annual Gamecock Invitational, putting the Gamecocks in good position to continue to move up in the team standings.
The Gamecocks got their usual top-notch performances from their women’s divers with Taryn Zack, Helen Alvey and Allison Barr taking three of the top four spots in one-meter preliminaries and advancing to the finals. The trio completed half their finals in the afternoon and will perform three dives in the second half of finals Friday night. On the men’s side, Rylan Ridenour was the prelims winner in 3-meter diving, with Nikolas Sachs also advancing to the finals.
Leading the way for the Carolina men’s swimmers was redshirt junior Dominique Lendjel, who earned two spots in championship finals. He made the 100 backstroke final with a seventh-place time of 51.79, and took seventh in the 100 butterfly final as well with a 50.37. Sophomore Isaac Badillo took fourth in the 100 fly (50.18), while Alex Fitton (51.20) and David Livsey (51.29) earned spots in the consolation. Livsey (52.27) and Trey Tharpe (52.32) earned evening swims in the 100 backstroke consolation finals, and James Crawford (52.66) will swim the bonus final. Fitton also earned the fourth seed in the 200 freestyle with a 1:40.63, with Rory Grigull (1:42.64) and Crawford (1:43.11) in the consolation.
Sophomore Armin Hornikel’s time of 56.06 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke qualified him as the number two seed heading into the evening’s finals. Freshman Bobby Cave was fifth with a 57.94, while Andrew Seiler (58.92) earned a spot in the consolation finals. Brett Sexton (1:01.60) will swim the `C’ final, as will sophomore Ryan Connolly (1:02.81). The Gamecocks grabbed three of the top eight spots in the 400 IM with Michael Flach (4:00.36) fourth, Andy Atzhorn (4:01.72) seventh and Chris Kelly (4:01.90) eighth. Connolly (4:07.00) will swim the consolation final, and Kaden (4:12.11) and Dan Jackson (4:16.19) earned swims in the bonus final.
On the women’s side, junior Claire Thompson qualified fourth for the 200 freestyle final with a 1:51.76. Freshman Meghan Brockington (1:53.25) and junior Christine Thompson (1:53.28) took spots in the consolation final. Brockington will also swim the `A’ final in the 100 fly with a preliminary time of 56.91, with Lauren Plowman (58.52), Kristina Delp (58.60) and Kerry Abel (58.66) earning spots in the `C’ final.
Megan Sparks and Haley Staubach finished in the top eight in the 100 backstroke prelims with Sparks touching in 57.06 and Staubach clocking in at 57.69. Sharntelle McLean snuck into the consolation final with a 58.84. In the 100 breaststroke, Lydia Hackert (1:06.97) made her way into the consolation final with Mallory Cage (1:08.55) earning a spot in the bonus final.
Finals get underway at 6 p.m. at the Carolina Natatorium. Admission is free.
