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."
RESULTS
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
