Jan. 23, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina swimming team leads Queens, Wingate and Vanderbilt after the first session of a two-day meet. The Gamecock men lead Queens 129-51 and Wingate 150-30. In the women’s competition South Carolina leads Queens 132-48, Wingate 104-44 and Vanderbilt 115-65.
The Gamecocks won two of four relays as the women claimed the 200 freestyle relay to open the meet and men closed out the day with a win in the 400 medley relay. Freshman Nils Wich-Glasen tallied two wins, taking first place in the 100 breaststroke (55.59) and 200 IM (1:52.10).
Freshman Akram Mahmoud (4:25.79) and junior Marwan El Kamash (4:28.14) finished first and second in the men’s 500 freestyle while freshman Taylor Worrell (4:56.06) and senior Victoria Mitchell (4:58.66) took second and third on the women’s side.
Ashleigh Ferguson added a second-place finish for the women with her season-best time of 2:01.13 in the 200 backstroke. The men swept the 200 backstroke as freshman Bryce Kananowicz (1:50.86), senior Michael Covert (1:51.24) and sophomore Jonathan Boland (1:52.02) placed first through third, respectively.
Freshman Meredith Vay (51.10) and seniors Rachel Elliott (51.11) and Sarah Drake (51.57) scored points in the 100 freestyle as the trio placed second, third and fourth, respectively. Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold won the men’s race with his time of 45.35.
In the head-to-head competition between South and Clemson in women’s diving the Gamecocks defeated the Tigers. On the one-meter springboard Julia Vincent placed first with a score of 316.27 and senior Patricia Kranz followed with 304.80 points for second place. The duo also claimed the top two spots on the three-meter with Kranz winning the board (354.22) and Vincent taking second (340.20). Freshman Marissa Roth finished third on the one-meter with a career high score of 288.80 and sixth on the three meter with 282.15 points.
KEY STAT
The Gamecock men won six of the day’s eight events.
NOTABLES
Men
• Akram Mahmoud recored a career-best time of 4:25.79 in the 500 freestyle.
• Tomas Peribonio matched a personal record time of 1:52.12 in the 200 backstroke.
Women
• Sarah Drake recorded a personal record in the 100 freestyle with her time of 51.57.
• Rachel Elliott posted a career-best time of 51.11 in the 100 freestyle.
• Elizabeth Maltby’s time of 4:54.27 in the 500 freestyle is a personal record.
• Karalyn Gibbs’ times of 2:05.03 in the 200 butterfly and 2:11.30 in the 200 IM are career bests.
• Caroline Petrone posted a career-best time of 52.50 in the 100 freestyle.
• Taylor Vincent’s time of 51.87 in the 100 freestyle is a personal record.
• Megu Siedenberger’s time of 53.80 in the 100 freestyle is a personal record.
• Tierney Shimansky posted a career-best time of 2:02.67 in the 200 backstroke.
• Jordyn Barham posted a career-best time of 2:00.79 in the 200 backstroke.
QUOTABLE
Head Diving Coach Todd Sherritt
“We did really well today. I was impressed with Marissa Roth’s performance, she did some great things today. Julia (Vincent) and Patricia (Kranz) did some great dives and Lauren (Lamendola) had some moments of brilliance. This is just really good and I’m very happy with them.”
UP NEXT
The meet continues tomorrow at 10 a.m., with senior day festivities slated to begin at 9:45 a.m.
