Feb. 18, 2015
AUBURN, Ala. – After two days of competition at the SEC Championships, the Gamecock men are in seventh place with 249 points while the women are in ninth place with 224.
Georgia is currently leading the Championship with 421 points on the men’s side and 526 on the women’s.
Freshman Akram Mahmoud put his name atop the Gamecock record book for the second time this season with his time of 4:15.11 in the men’s 500 freestyle, which earned him a fourth place finish. He advanced to the championship final with his fourth-place performance (4:15.38) in the preliminary. Freshman Tomas Peribonio also qualified for the A final after taking sixth in the preliminary with a personal record of 4:16.84. Junior Marwan El Kamash earned a spot in the B final with his preliminary time of 4:17.71, he finished 11th overall with a time 4:17.72. Freshman Travis Morrin placed 48th overall in the preliminary with a personal record of 4:31.48.
In the women’s preliminary race, freshman Taylor Worrell led the Gamecocks with a 30th place finish after recording a career-best time of 4:49.91. Senior Annika Jonsson finished in 32nd place (4:50.94) and sophomore Cooper Brown in 36th place with personal record of 4:53.59. Junior Ashleigh Ferguson, senior Charlotte Ward and freshman Sarah Smith placed 40th, 41st and 42nd, respectively.
Freshman Nils Wich-Glasen raced in the C final of the men’s 200 IM, finishing 20th overall (1:47.13). His preliminary time of 1:46.58 is a personal record and ranks second in school history. Freshman Bryce Kananowicz, senior Jared Kauffman and freshman Thomas Hang also swam in the preliminary and placed 30th, 37th and 41st, respectively.
Freshman Heather Merritt’s personal record time of 2:00.41 in the women’s 200 IM preliminary, earned her a 30th-place overall finish. Juniors Ellen Johnson and Elise Weisert both posted career-best times and placed 48th and 55th overall, respectively.
In the preliminary of the men’s 50 freestyle, sophomore Joshua Clothier led the Gamecocks with his 35th place finish (20.56). Freshman Patrick McCrillis placed 38th overall with a personal record of 20.64. Sophomore Robert Gilchrist (20.87) and Evan Mahoney (21.04) both recorded career-best times and finished in 40th and 47th place, respectively.
The Gamecocks were represented by freshman Meredith Vay in the finals of the women’s 50 freestyle. Swimming in the C final, Vay’s finished 20th overall with a time of 22.73, which is a personal record and ties for third in school history. Senior Rachel Elliott and Freshman Mairyn Branaman placed 38th and 47th overall, respectively.
In the women’s 1-meter diving final junior Lauren Lamendola medaled for the Gamecocks with her third-place finish (328.15). Senior Patricia Kranz advanced to finals in her second-straight event and finished in 6th place with a score of 318.75.
The Gamecocks wrapped up the second night of finals with a ninth-place finish in the men’s 200 freestyle relay and an 11-place finish in the women’s race.
NOTABLES
- Akram Mahmoud now holds two school records at South Carolina, the 500 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle.
- In the men’s 500 freestyle, Akram Mahmoud, Tomas Peribonio and Marwan El Kamash all recorded NCAA B cut times.
- Tomas Peribonio’s preliminary time of 4:16.84 is personal record and ranks third in school history.
- Nils Wich-Glasen’s time in the 200 IM (1:46.58) is an NCAA B cut, his preliminary time is a career-best and ranks second in school history.
- Thomas Hang’s time of 1:56.52 in the 200 IM is a personal record.
- Meredith Vay recorded an NCAA B cut time of 22.73 in the 50 freestyle, which ties for third in school history.
- The men’s 200 free relay time of 1:20.68 ranks 10th in school history.
- Mairyn Branaman’s time of 23.81 in the 50 free is a personal record.
QUOTABLE Head Swimming Coach McGee Moody
“We had good parts and we had bad parts (today). The men’s 500 freestyle was really, really good. We put two up in the A final (Akram Mahmoud and Tomas Peribonio). Marwan (El Kamash) was one of the faster guys in the B final, which was good. Akram was a little faster tonight and broke our team record, so that was really special swim. Meredith Vay had a very good day, she went a lifetime best her 50 freestyle. Our two relays at the end were solid but not great. These are probably two of our weakest relays the whole week, so getting them out of the way and moving forward with the other relays is good. The divers did great again tonight. Every one of our divers scored today and essentially kept our women in the mix for the second day. We have our strongest days coming up so we’re going to try to be better tomorrow.
Head Diving Coach Todd Sherritt
“Really, everyone is diving great. Marissa (Roth) and Julia (Vincent), they didn’t get in the finals but they did really well. Patti (Patricia Kranz) had a phenomenal preliminary and really did a good job (in finals), she just missed one dive. Coming off her third-place finish from last night, she was a little tired but I was pretty pleased with her performance. Lauren (Lamendola) was just lights out. She’s never, as long as I’ve been working with her, put together a (dive) list like that. I didn’t know how she was going to handle finals because she’s never been in before. What I saw today was when she gets to finals, gets the crowd and has the lights on her, she steps it up.”
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks continue with day three of the SEC Championships on Wednesday, beginning with preliminaries at 10 a.m. CT.
