South Carolina’s Men and Women Finish 10th at SECs
Knoxville, Tenn. – Both the South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished 10th through five days of competition at the SEC Championships.
The Gamecock men finished 10th in the conference with 417.5 points, nearly doubling their score from the previous year’s championship.
The women also placed 10th, jumping up one spot from their 2021 finish. The women finished with 460 points, ahead of both Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
Senior Mari Kraus was the top performer of the final day of competition for the Gamecocks. She placed fifth in the prelims of the 200 back to make the A-final. In the finals, she swam a 1:53.11 to jump up to fourth place overall. Her finals time was a new personal best and was nearly two full seconds faster than her personal best before the day started.
Three other Gamecocks qualified for B-finals on the day. Junior Patrick Groters qualified in the men’s 200 back where he placed 13th overall with a time of 1:43.24. His preliminary time of 1:42.65 made him the second-fastest swimmer in program history in that event.
In the men’s 100 free, junior Mark Shperkin qualified for the B-final. He swam a 42.97 to place 12th overall.
Sophomore Laura Goettler also competed in the B-finals. She swam a 2:12.40 in the 200 breast to place 14th overall. Her time made her the sixth-fastest swimmer in program history for that event.
In the SEC Championships overall the Gamecocks earned three medals, all from the dive team. Two gold medals came from graduate diver Brooke Schultz sweeping the springboards, and one bronze came from Manny Vazquez Bas in the platform dive. Schultz was named SEC Diver of the Meet for her performances which included a new school record and new pool record in the 3-meter dive.
The Gamecock swimmers totaled three A-finalists, nine B-finalists, and 22 C-finalists through the five days of competition.
The Gamecock divers will be in action next March 7-9 for NCAA Zone B diving. The swimmers await inviations to NCAA Championships that will take place in Atlanta, Ga. The women’s championships will be March 16-19 ,and the men’s will be March 23-26.
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).
Results
Women’s 200 Back
Prelims
5. Kraus – 1:53.44
17. Pantano – 1:56.34
34. Parker – 2:00.99
Finals
4. Kraus – 1:53.11
21. Pantano – 1:56.06
Men’s 200 Back
Prelims
13. Groters – 1:42.65
32. Hanke – 1:46.77
Finals
13. Groters – 1:43.24
Women’s 200 Free
Prelims
22. Smith – 49.12
47. Doennebrink – 50.40
54. Alexander – 50.59
55. Shanks – 50.97
Finals
22. Smith – 49.12
Men’s 100 Free
Prelims
11. Shperkin – 42.81
21. Costin – 43.46
25. Ross – 43.72
37. Martin – 44.28
Finals
12. Shperkin – 42.97
24. Costin – 44.23
Women’s 200 Breast
Prelims
11. Goettler – 2:10.75
21. Johnson – 2:12.82
28. Masterson – 2:15.30
31. Steele – 2:15.88
Finals
14. Goettler – 2:12.40
24. Johnson – 2:13.53
Men’s 200 Breast
Prelims
24. Massey – 1:58.13
25. Yip – 1:58.21
28. Kerns – 1:58.86
33. West – 2:01.00
34. Allison – 2:01.18
36. Wade – 2:03.47
Finals
23. Massey – 1:57.34
Women’s Platform
Prelims
16. Gray – 216.75
26. Isenhour – 181.25
30. Verzyl – 147.60
Women’s 1650 Free
17. Arner – 16:21.93
20. Mason – 16:24.77
32. M. Novoszath – 17:03.21
Men’s 1650 Free
12. Davila – 15:04.88
30. T. Novoszath – 15:37.41
31. Faber – 15:43.85
Women’s 400 Free Relay
11. South Carolina (Smith, Kraus, Doennebrink, Shanks) – 3:18.14
Men’s 400 Free Relay
10. South Carolina (Shperkin, Ross, Martin, Costin) – 2:53.78
