Feb. 2, 2013
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The South Carolina women’s swimming and diving team pulled out a thrilling 162-148 victory over Alabama on Saturday at the Alabama Aquatic Center, giving head coach McGee Moody his 100th career victory.
In the other three matchups, the Gamecocks lost to both Georgia squads and dropped a 157-143 decision to the Alabama men.
The Gamecocks trailed Alabama by two heading into the final two women’s events but they closed out the meet in strong fashion. Juniors Rachael Schaffer and Abby Galbreath finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 200 IM, which was ahead of all the Alabama swimmers. In the 400 freestyle relay, the Gamecocks secured the victory with a fourth-place finish in 3:29.19, while the Crimson Tide placed fifth in the event with a time of 3:29.78. South Carolina outscored Alabama 26-10 down the stretch to capture Moody’s milestone win.
“We’ve had a lot of kids that swam for us not only at South Carolina but at my previous head coaching position at William & Mary,” said Moody, who now has a 100-94 career record. “They’ve all been great kids and have all worked very hard. The 100th win is a great thing and fun to talk about, but at the same time we were hoping to come out a little bit better today.”
With the split, the South Carolina women wrap up the regular season at 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. On the men’s side, the Gamecocks finish the year with a 6-6 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the conference.
On the afternoon, South Carolina won five individual events. Sophomore diver Cole Miller captured two of those wins for the Gamecocks as he swept the men’s boards. Miller ran away with the men’s one-meter competition with a score of 338.00, winning by 56.05 points. On the men’s three-meter board, Miller placed first with a score of 337.05.
Sophomore Patricia Kranz finished third on both the women’s boards as she posted a score of 283.90 in the one-meter competition and 310.75 in the three-meter competition.
Senior Matea Peteh swam to a victory in the women’s 100 freestyle with a time of 49.77, which is a personal record and the fourth fastest time in school history.
Freshman Alicia Cheripka posted a PR in the women’s 200 backstroke as she placed first with a mark of 2:00.98, which ranks eighth all-time in school history.
Junior Amanda Rutqvist recorded the final win in the pool for the Gamecocks as she captured the 200 breaststroke with a NCAA B cut of 2:15.37.
The Gamecocks will now begin to taper in preparation for the SEC Championships, which will be held Feb. 19-23 in College Station, Texas.
