South Carolina Wraps Up Competition At VT Invite
Feb. 4, 2018
BLACKSBURG, Va. –
South Carolina swimming and diving tallied 11 spots in event A-finals on the final day of the Virginia Tech ‘Technotational’ for a total of 29 A-final appearances in the three-day competition.
Two Gamecock men took home their second first-place finishes at the meet on the final day of competition. Brandonn Almeida took home the day’s first event win for South Carolina with first in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 15:02.90. He previously won the men’s 400 IM in the day two with a time of 3:51.58. Jack Smith also recorded his second win of the competition with a first-place finish in the men’s 200 breaststroke A-final with a time of 1:59.29. The junior earned his first win of the competition on day one in the 200 IM A-final with a time of 1:48.77.
South Carolina’s men earned two more spots in Sunday night’s A-finals with two representatives in the 100 freestyle. Alex Overton tied for second in the final race with a time of 45.97, and Jack Best finished fifth with a time of 46.24.
The women also had a strong final day of competition with seven Gamecocks making A-finals and two top-five finishes in the 400 freestyle relay.
Freshman Rebecca Cohen earned the highest individual finish for the women on day three with third place in the 200 backstroke A-final with a time of 2:03.16. Savannah Hillmeyer recorded a time of 2:07.47 to place eighth.
The Gamecocks also earned a top-three finish in the women’s 400 freestyle relay, placing third with a time of 3:30.88. Another South Carolina relay team finished fifth in the event with a time of 3:35.81.
South Carolina earned another top-five finish with Allison Wade, who took fifth in the women’s 200 breaststroke A-final with a time of 2:25.83.
Two Gamecocks earned a spot in the women’s 100 freestyle A-final. Danielle Donnebrink swam a time of 52.93 to take seventh while Katherine Malinski swam a time of 53.24 to place eighth.
Caroline Spence earned her first spot in an event A-final at the competition in the women’s 200 butterfly. She swam a time of 2:08.11 to take eighth place in the race. Megan Jones also earned an eighth-place finish in the final day of competition with a time of 17:29.40 in the 1650 freestyle.
QUOTABLE: HEAD SWIMMING COACH McGee Moody
“Our athletes who competed this week in Virginia are the tip of the spear as our team heads into our championship season. They set the tone for the rest of our team. They did a great job this weekend. Megu Seidenberger had the best meet of her career, and Jack Smith was very strong for the men’s team. Jack is just hitting his stride again after a severe ankle injury last spring that kept him off his feet for almost four months. I am very proud of all our athletes that competed and represented the Gamecocks this weekend.”
UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA
South Carolina swimming and diving will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Southeastern Conference Championships February 14-18.
