Breaststroke, Timely Wins Help Arkansas Topple LSU
A pair of 1-2 finishes in breaststroke and a late win by Maddy Hartley in the 100 fly led Arkansas to a 151-149 win over SEC rival LSU Thursday night.
The visiting Razorbacks came up with a pair of crucial wins in the back half of the meet to seal the result. Hartley won the 100 butterfly in 54.03 seconds, a 1-2 finish with Betsy Wizard. After LSU commanded diving, Adela Vavrinova won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.22 to win the points battle in the event despite LSU going 2-3-4.
That made LSU’s win in the 400 freestyle relay academic, Arkansas easily claiming second and third to have enough points to get past 150.
Breaststroke was the real source of points for the Razorbacks. Alessia Ferraguti and Bradi Jones went 1-2 in both event. Ferraguti won the 100 in 1:01.33, and Jones outtouched LSU’s Tatum Detwiler by .27 seconds for second. In the 200, Ferraguti’s 2:12.93 bested Jones by 3.5 seconds.
Hartley won the 200 free in 1:48.42, and Wizard claimed the 200 fly in 1:59.87, with Vavrinova second. Bella Cothern won the 50 free, outsprinting LSU’s Michaela De Villiers by .15 in 23.01. She finished second in the 100 free. Sydney Craft won the 1,000 free. Gracie Colvin, Ferraguti, Wizard and Cothern went 1:40.78 to claim the 200 medley relay.
LSU kept the pressure on thanks to Katarina Milutinovich. She went 55.15 to win the 100 bacskstroke and 50.58 to edge Cothern by .14 seconds in the 100 free. Jenna Bridges won the 500 free, with Allison Tomsuden (also second in the 1,000 free) a spot behind in the Tigers mounting a late rally. Sofia Sartori won the 200 back.
LSU expectedly scored major points in diving. Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant won 1-meter with a score of 300.23 and 3-meter 342.60. Helle Tuxen was second on the shorter board, and Maggie Buckley was second and third in the two events, but Malea Martinez jumping up to get third in the 3-meter represented a decisive swing for Arkansas.
Congratulations! (Especially to my Grand-Niece, Maddy Hartley!)