The Commodores of Vanderbilt traveled west to face the likes of the University of Arkansas – Little Rock Trojans and the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. The competition featured only twelve events, including a 300 yd freestyle and an ISL-style Skins race.
SCORES
Vanderbilt – 174, UALR – 50
Vanderbilt – 181, Ouachita Baptist – 43
UALR – 166, Ouachita Baptist – 58
Vanderbilt Recap
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Vanderbilt swimming team finished the regular season by sweeping Ouachita Baptist (181-43) and Little Rock (174-50) on Saturday at the Donaghey Aquatic Center.
Opening with the 200-yard medley relay, the Dores claimed first and second place with Vanderbilt A relay touching the wall at 1:47.86 followed by Vanderbilt B relay finishing in 1:48.43.
In the 300 free, the Commodores collected first through third with sophomore Lizzy Colwell leading the Dores in first (2:56.54) followed by senior Nemo Sanchez in second (3:00.56) and junior Lara Hernandez-Tome in third (3:03.26).
In the 50 fly, senior Paige Hamilton secured first place by touching the wall at 25.72 followed by sophomore Tonner DeBeer in second with a time of 25.81.
Sophomore Abby Burke took first place in the 50 back finishing in 26.91 followed by freshman Kristen Nutter in second (27.56) and junior Lauren Bergmann in third (27.72).
Collecting the Dores’ fifth victory of the meet, DeBeer touched in at 57.91 to take first in the 100 back. Bergmann tabbed second (59.26) followed by sophomore Whitney Brown in third (1:00.67).
Junior Lindsey Gordon tabbed her first victory of the season with a 1:05.31 race in the 100 breast followed by freshman Alina Jones tabbing third (1:06.99).
In the 100 IM, sophomore Burke notched a first-place finish to lead the Dores at 1:00.19 followed by junior Kaley Buchanan in second 1:00.66 and sophomore Lauren Thomas in third (1:01.64).
In the 50-yard shootouts, Vanderbilt rallied to sweep three of the events.
DeBeer secured first in the 50 fly (25.85) followed by Burke taking first in the 50 back (26.85) and Colwell touching the wall at 29.76 in the 50 breast to claim first.
Vanderbilt now holds an even 6-6 record to close out the regular season.
The Dores will return to action Feb. 18 to compete in the SEC Championships in Auburn, Alabama.
Stay updated with the Commodores as they prepare by following @VandySwimming on Twitter and Instagram.
UALR Recap
LITTLE ROCK – It was an exciting day for the Little Rock swimming and diving team as they celebrated the Senior Class of 2020 as well as the final meet of the regular season. The Trojans hosted Vanderbilt and Ouachita Baptist in a quick, 12-event lineup that included the unique International Swimming League-style skins races.
“It was a special day honoring a very special group of seniors,” said head coach Amy Burgess. “The team stepped up, raced, and we saw some really good things to end the regular season. It is now time to focus on the good and ride the wave into the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.”
For fans that are unfamiliar with skins races, these are shootouts where top swimmers advance after each round until the last one from each team are left standing. In today’s case, the top two swimmers from each team moved onto the second round, then the fastest swimmer from each team in that second race competed in a final heat to determine the overall winner.
Relays
The meet opened with its usual 200 medley relay, where the A relay of junior Regan Lawrence, junior Palmer Ristroph, freshman Asmalia Redzuan, and sophomore Carolyn Godwin teamed up to post a final time of 1:49.56, good for third overall. Redzuan put up the fastest 50 fly split in the whole pool, 25.36.
The other relay as well as final race of the day was the 100 free relay, which is an event that does not typically show up in a NCAA session. The A team of freshman Khadijah Brown, Lawrence, Godwin, and Redzuan turned in a collective time of 45.49, approximately four tenths of a second behind the Vanderbilt winners.
Freestyle
The distance race of the day was the 300 freestyle, which is non-sanctioned. Emma Bleasdell showed up with a strong fourth-place performance, touching the wall at 3:04.51 with a quick front half that will pay off once taper hits.
The 100 free saw Redzuan and classmate Brown round out the top six, as the pair touched the wall at 54.64 and 55.57, respectively. Junior Lexi Carr was not far off, finishing at 56.06 for seventh in the 18-woman field.
The 50 freestyle race was swum as a skins race. In the first round, Godwin and senior Charis Won posted times of 25.01 and 25.44 to advance. For the next shootout, Godwin touched the wall at 25.45, just ahead of Won’s 25.86 to move on. Godwin finished third in the final race with a time of 25.56.
Backstroke
Won was a star on her Senior Day as the top Trojan in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 1:02.32. Freshman Fernanda Gamez was right behind, touching at 1:02.55, while classmate Brianna Riding collected a season-best 1:03.52 for eighth.
Lawrence and senior Jessie Baldwin were the Little Rock swimmers that advanced to the second round after the first shootout, where they posted respective times of 28.72 and 28.83. Lawrence shaved off a couple tenths in the next round, clocking in at 28.43 while Baldwin touched at 29.28. Lawrence finished second in the final race with a time of 29.19.
Breaststroke
Ristroph’s second-place finish in the 100 breast was one of two impressive races in this event for the Trojans. The 1:06.46 was her fastest non-rested time of the season. Freshman Annya Grom was the other to have herself a strong breaststroke day, recording a personal best 1:07.20 for fourth.
Grom continued to show off her sprint breaststroke talents in the skins race, placing second overall in the first round with a 50 breast time of 30.39. She advanced along with Ristroph, who came in at 31.01. In the second heat, Grom dropped to a 30.27 to advance once more over Ristroph’s 30.60, which was also an improvement. Grom finished second for the Trojans in the final race with a time of 31.15.
Butterfly
Freshman Fer Moussier won the 100 butterfly as the top Little Rock finisher on the afternoon, stopping the clock at 57.80, just a tenth over a Vanderbilt competitor. Classmate Ashleigh Green also squeezed into the top six with a 1:00.66.
For the 50 fly skins race, Moussier was joined by Redzuan in advancing to the next round, with times of 26.48 and 26.00, respectively. The next portion of the shootout was close between the freshmen, but Redzuan prevailed with a 26.33 over Moussier’s 26.85. Redzuan took third in the final round, touching the wall at 28.01.
100 IM
In another event that is not usually seen in an NCAA lineup, the shortest individual medley rounded out the 100s. Green had a quick front half to finish fifth for the Trojans with a 1:03.09 while Baldwin was six hundredths off her teammate in 1:03.15 for sixth.
The Little Rock swimming and diving team will now use the next two and a half weeks to gear up for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Columbia, Missouri. The four-day meet, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 19 and concluding Saturday, Feb. 22, will be the final test for the Trojans after a long, six month season.
For the latest information on Little Rock Swimming and Diving, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSwim on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
#LittleRocksTeam
Ouachita Baptist Highlights
- The 200 medley relay team of Kaitlyn Montgomery, Ariana Rizo, Christina Berger, and Rachel Sansano started the meet off with a seventh place finish
- Berger and Sydney Parker raced to sixth and seventh in the 50 fly
- Montgomery touched seventh in the 50 backstroke
- Parker also claimed fourth in the 100 back
- Rizo secured seventh in her 100 breaststroke
- Lilia Clark captured first place in the 100 freestyle
- Courtney Myers grabbed a seventh place in the 100 IM
- Jade Ashley, Clark, Anastasiia Ulianova, and Parker ended the day with a third place finish in the 100 freestyle relay