Gamecock Women Defeat Arkansas to Give Moody 100th Win at South Carolina
Nov. 4, 2016
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – The University of South Carolina women’s swimming and diving program defeated Arkansas 177-123 on Friday at the Arkansas Natatorium, giving head coach McGee Moody his 100th victory at South Carolina.
The Carolina women collected a total of 11 event victories. Emma Barksdale earned three wins for the Gamecocks in the 1000-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and the 400-yard IM. Emily Cornell earned her first collegiate victories with wins in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard backstroke.
Christina Lappin and Edith Lingmann also took home titles, Lappin in the 50-yard freestyle and Lingmann in the 100-yard freestyle. Kersten Dirrane picked up her first win of the season with a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. For the second meet in a row, Julia Vincent won both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
With the win, Carolina’s women’s team is now 1-2 on the season. Arkansas falls to 1-2 overall.
QUOTING HEAD SWIMMING COACH McGee Moody
“This was a great win over a very talented SEC opponent. It is always difficult to go on the road and race. It is even more difficult to do that with a team like Arkansas. I am very proud of our women and their effort today.”
QUOTING HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt
“We did some great dives today. We are still working on solving some issues we have been having with our basics, specifically our hurdles. Some had breakthroughs, some didn’t. Julia Vincent turned in another outstanding performance winning both boards and setting a new Arkansas pool record on the 1-meter. She remains undefeated on the 3-meter and greatly contributed to keeping the diving team undefeated.
“Mikaela Lujan turned in a solid performance on the 1-meter. Allyson Nied, our platform specialist, was able to put together a series of great hurdles on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Even though the springboard has not been her strongest event, she will be someone to watch out for in the next couple of meets. Overall, I am pleased. We continue to be undefeated in the diving events and hope to repeat that against Clemson on Wednesday.”
WOMEN’S RECAP
After taking second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.90, the Gamecocks took first, third and fourth in the 1000-yard freestyle. Emma Barksdale came in first with a time of 9:59.71. Sarah Smith finished third with a time of 10:17.41, while Megan Carlson took fourth after swimming a time of 10:18.65.
Heather Merritt led the Gamecocks in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:51.23, followed by Edith Lingman in third after finishing in 1:51.99.
Emily Cornell took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.19, and Maggie Langdale finished fourth after a time of 57.92. Marissa DelGado had the highest finish for Carolina in the 200-yard butterfly at second with a time of 2:04. 86.
Kersten Dirrane and Ana Menendez Nava secured second and third for the Gamecocks in the 100-yard breaststroke. Dirrane finished with a time of 1:02.80, only .07 seconds behind the first place winner, while Menendez Nava came in at 1:05.54.
Christina Lappin swam into first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.77, while McKenna Keith finished in third with a time of 24.11.
Carolina took two podium spots in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, with Julia Vincent finishing first in both events. Vincent posted a score of 344.70 in the 1-meter and 351.30 in the 3-meter.
The Gamecocks swept the 100-yard freestyle with Edith Lingmann, Lappin and Meredith Vay earning the top three spots. Lingmann finished first with a time of 51.33, while Lappin came in second after a swim of 51.68 and Vay took third after she finished in 52.14.
Emily Cornell finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.88, while Heather Merritt took third after a time of 2:03.02.
Kersten Dirrane, with her first victory of the season, won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.01. Barksdale picked up her second win of the meet in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:52.17.
Lappin took second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.81, followed by Jordan MacDonald in third with a time of 57.42 and Katie Shannahan in fourth after swimming a time of 57.66.
Barksdale earned her final victory of the meet with a first place finish in the 400-yard IM after a time of 4:16.77, which was fast enough to earn her B cut for the NCAA qualifying standards. Dirrane took second place with a time of 4:24.35
Closing out the day, the Gamecock women earned the top two spots in the 400-yard freestyle with times of 3:28.09 and 3:30.83.
UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA
The Gamecock women are back in action on November 17 when they join the men for the Georgia Tech Invite in Atlanta.