Bella Pantano Sets Team Record, South Carolina Men Upset Missouri in Split
A program record by Bella Pantano highlighted a pair of meets between Missouri and South Carolina that came down to the final event on Saturday. The 18th-ranked Missouri women were on the right side of a 152-148 decision, while the Gamecocks upset Missouri’s No. 10 men’s squad, 150-144.
Pantano went 53.33 in the women’s 100 backstroke. That takes down the Gamecocks program record, set in 2020 by Emily Cornell at 53.47. But as befitted a back-and-forth meet, it was good only for third in the event, thanks to Missouri’s Sarah Thompson (52.45) and Meredith Rees. Pantano won the 200 back, in a 1-2 with Mari Kraus, in 1:55.59.
Missouri went 1-3 in the concluding 400 freestyle relay to get the win. Thompson, Megan Keil, Amy Feddersen and Sierra Smith clocked in at 3:16.33 to seal the victory.
It was the final salvo in a series of haymakers. Thompson also won the 100 butterfly. Rees claimed the 200 individual medley. Keil swept the 50 and 100 free, with Smith third in the latter. Distance was Missouri’s territory, with Allison Bloebaum winning the 1,000 and Molly Gowans claiming the 500. Missouri won the opening 200 medley relay courtesy of Rees, Kayla Jones (the 200 breast winner), Thompson and Keil.
But South Carolina made it very interesting thanks to a pair of massive mid-meet point hauls. Sammie Ai led the 1-2-3 finish in the 100 breast with her time of 1:02.51, one of three Gamecocks sub-1:03. In the next event, SC swept the podium again in the 200 fly, Melinda Novoszath leading the Gamecock trio to the wall.
Keil recovered to win the next two sprint events around the diving break, though, to stabilize things for the Tigers, then after Pantano’s 200 back win, the Tigers won the final four individual swimming events.
Riley Parker edged Gowans to the win in the 200 free for SC. Brooke Schultz edged Sarah Rousseau in both diving events for valuable points for South Carolina.
Distance did the job for the South Carolina men, with 1-2-3 finishes in both the 500 free and 1,000, plus a 1-2 in the 200. Rafael Davila – 9:03.17 in the 1,000; 4:23.89 in the 500 – got to the wall first in both, with Tamas Novoszath second each time. Phil Costin won the 200 free in 1:36.00 with AJ Ross trailing him.
Costin also anchored the Gamecocks’ winning 200 medley relay, with Michael Laitarovsky, Luke Massey and Guy Gropper for a win in 1:25.49. Costin would win the 100 free in 43.96. Jordan Yip provided SC’s only other swimming win in the 200 breast.
Mizzou got a steady supply of wins. Jack Dahlgren won the 100 back and 200 back. Ben Patton claimed the 100 breast, was second to Costin in the 100 free then won the 200 IM. Danny Kovac was second to Kevin Hammer in a Mizzou 1-2 in the 50, then led Daniel Wilson to a similar finish in the 100 fly.
South Carolina’s Alex Claus (in 1-meter) and Missouri’s Carlo Lopez (3-meter) split diving, with Lopez second on the lower board.
