Nov. 18, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The South Carolina swimming and diving teams had another solid day of preliminaries on Friday on day two at the Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium.
The Gamecocks had one NCAA `B’ cut time, and 14 student-athletes swam personal bests on the day. In all, South Carolina posted 37 times that qualified for Friday night’s finals and had four divers advance to the finals.
Sophomore Amanda Rutqvist achieved the Gamecocks second NCAA `B’ cut time of the season by posting a 1:02.86 in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke to finish fourth and advance to the A-final. Senior Mallory Cage swam a 1:05.33 to finish 11th to qualify for the B-final, while Aileen Atzhorn (1:07.27) and Alyssa Hand (1:07.65) also made the B-final. Junior Maquala O’Brien (1:09.97, PR), junior Logan Griffith (1:10.34) and freshman Maggie Malaney (1:12.49) will swim in the C-final.
Sophomore Rachael Schaffer will head to tonight’s A-final in the 400-yard IM after finishing third with a time of 4:21.05. Sophomore Abby Galbreath (4:28.50) and freshman Annika Jonsson (4:28.74, PR) will compete in the B-final after finishing 11th and 12th, respectively, while junior Whitney Avers finished 18th with a time of 4:33.23 and will race in the C-final.
In the men’s 400 IM, sophomore Matt Navata led the Gamecocks with a fourth-place showing in a time of 4:01.71 to advance to the A-final. Senior Ryan Connolly qualified for the B-final with a time of 4:05.51.
Sophomore Meghan Brockington swam a personal best of 55.38 in the 100-yard butterfly to finish fourth and qualify for the A-final. Freshman Sara Drake advanced to the B-final with a personal best of 56.91, and sophomore Lauren Raczkowski made the C-final with a personal best of 57.57.
Senior Isaac Badillo posted a time of 49.71 to finish seventh and qualify for the men’s 100 butterfly A-final. Junior Max Heinze finished ninth with a time of 49.75, narrowly missing the A-final by three one-hundredths of a second. Junior John Metts finished 13th to make the B-final with a time of 50.10, and junior Collin Kaden advanced to the C-final with a time of 50.32.
Junior Matea Peteh (1:51.46) and Brockington (1:52.07) each swam personal bests to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, in the women’s 200 freestyle to advance to the A-final. Junior Lindsey Olson and freshman Morgan Brooks made the B-final with times of 1:53.18 and 1:53.40 (PR), respectively, while sophomore Taylor Josserand advanced to the C-final with a personal best of 1:54.10.
The Gamecocks placed four swimmers in the men’s 200 freestyle finals, as senior Rory Grigull led the way with an eight-place showing in a time of 1:40.61 to make the A-final. Sophomore Gerard Rodriguez finished ninth in 1:41.06 to advance to the B-final along with teammate Michael Covert, who finished 11th with a personal best of 1:41.20. Sophomore Tim Berens will represent Carolina in the C-final after posting a 1:42.51.
In the men’s 100 breaststroke, juniors Andrew Seiler (57.25) and Graham Kauffman (57.83, PR) advanced to the B-final.
Peteh finished eighth in the women’s 100 backstroke with a personal best of 56.22 to advance to the A-final, while sophomore Lauren Rosenberg swam a 57.63 to make the B-final. Brooks claimed the final spot in the C-final with a personal best of 59.04.
Heinze led the way for the men in the 100 backstroke with a fourth-place showing in a time of 50.16, while Covert finished eighth with a PR of 50.79. Sophomore Jay Warner just missed the A-final by two one-hundredths of a second as he claimed ninth with a time of 50.81. Senior James Crawford advanced to the C-final with a time of 52.57.
On the boards, junior Rylan Ridenour heads into tonight’s one-meter springboard finals with the top preliminary score of 351.80, while freshman Cole Miller was fourth with a score of 315.85. Senior Courtney Forcucci posted a score of 332.05 for the top mark on the women’s three-meter springboard to qualify for tonight’s final, and freshman Patricia Kranz also qualified by finishing third with a score of 320.90.
The finals are slated to get underway tonight at 6 at the Koury Natatorium. Live results will be available at tarheelblue.com.
