USC Women, Louisville Men Win Tight Team Competition at SMU Classic

Kaitlyn Dobler -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

USC Women, Louisville Men Win Tight Team Competition at SMU Classic

The races for team titles at the annual SMU Classic came down to the wire Saturday, with the University of Southern California women and Louisville men coming out on top. The Trojans, fueled by victories from Claire Tuggle and Kaitlyn Dobler, scored 345 points to beat out the 334 of a Gabi Albiero-led Louisville squad. The men’s race was even tighter, as Louisville beat Auburn by a mere one point, 313 to 312, with USC just behind at 305.

Day two of women’s racing began with USC holding off a charging Albiero to win the 200 medley relay. Justina Kozan, Dobler, Anicka Delgado and Vasilissa Buinaia finished in 1:37.02, 27-hundredths clear of Louisville, with Albiero closing in 21.15. Next up, Tuggle was dominant with a five-second victory in the 500 freestyle (4:42.81), and Dobler went 2:08.59 to win the 200 breast by almost one-and-a-half seconds.

Louisville got on the board courtesy of Paige Hetrick’s swift 1:54.13 effort in the 200 butterfly, and Albiero followed up her two individual wins from Friday with a 47.67 triumph in the 100 free. Missouri got a pair of wins from Taylor Williams in the 200 fly (1:56.65, just holding off Kozan’s 1:56.65) and Kayla Wilson in 1-meter diving (269.00).

USC’s Minna Abraham won the 200 IM in 1:57.51, allowing the Trojans to hold on despite Louisville’s 200 free relay win to close the meet. Albiero, Christiana Regenauer, Tristen Ulett and Ella Welch combined for a time of 1:29.12, 21-hundredths ahead of USC.

The Louisville men, meanwhile, had only one individual win on day two, with Denis Petrashov hitting the wall in 1:55.88 to win the 200 breast, but the Cardinals’ other swimmers did enough to get their team into first-place positioning.

Auburn got wins from the 200 medley relay team of Nate Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Aidan Stoffle and Kalle Makinen, a group that clocked 1:24.49 to win by almost two seconds. The elder Stoffle brother, Aidan, added a 200 back win in 1:43.37. Nate Stoffle, Makinen, Benjamin Chateigner and Aidan Stoffle won the 200 medley relay in 1:18.56.

The individual star of the day was USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski, the 19-year-old from Poland who burst onto the scene with a World Championships silver medal in the 200-meter fly this summer. Chmielewski dominated the 500 free with a time of 4:15.18, and he later won the 200 fly in a time of 1:41.60.

USC’s Artem Selin claimed first in the 100 free (43.04), and Texas freshman Nate Germonprez clocked 1:45.27 to win the 200 IM. Another Longhorn, Nicholas Harris, won 3-meter diving (386.00).

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Rene Labre

7 months ago

Great