TOPEKA, Kan. – The Trojan sprinters have shone all season, so there was only a matter of time before the school record in the 200 freestyle relay would be shattered. On night one of Little Rock's mid-season meet, the Kansas Classic, the team of
Jaelle Carlson,
Carolyn Godwin,
Cheryl Poulsen and
Annya Grom did just that.
The squad touched the wall with a time of 1:33.59, nearly half a second faster than the previous mark, also beating out Iowa State, North Texas, and conference opponents Northern Iowa and Indiana State in the process.
It was a great way to kick off an evening that saw 10 Little Rock swimmers in the finals, not to mention the 24 season-bests that were set on day one of the three-day invitational.
"It was phenomenal," said head coach
Amy Burgess on the new school record. "It was not just the girls on the relay, but it was the whole team behind them. They all wanted it, the relay went out after it, and they got it."
"The energy is what we need going into the meet," added Coach Burgess. "It's just fun. Everyone's having fun, and that's what's needed at this point in the season, when everyone's a little tired and has been putting in the work."
500 Free
Mid-distance leader
Lea Zengerling highlighted the longest event of the first day, shaving nearly nine seconds off her previous mark of the season. She posted a time of 5:03.26 in the morning to advance to the scoring B final and stayed consistent in the evening, stopping the clock at 5:03.93 for 14th.
Fernanda Gamez also had another opportunity to swim, dropping another second and a half from morning to night to earn a time of 5:06.61, her best mark at Little Rock and just three hundredths off of her lifetime best.
200 IM
Gillian Boggs and
Carolyn Godwin raced in the finals of the 200 individual medley, the former coming in at 2:08.12 while the latter touched the wall at 2:09.27. The freshman had a strong front half of her race, enough to help lower her time from the morning down another second. Senior Godwin had the better back half, showing her reliability from prelims to finals with a near-exact time.
50 Freestyle
In a loaded event for Little Rock, Grom returned after a blistering anchor leg in the earlier freestyle relay to touch second overall. She out-touched third by one one-hundredth of a second and fourth by just two one-hundredths of a second. Freshman Carlson also scored big points for the Trojans in the A final, finishing seventh with a time of 23.55.
Poulsen rounded out the C final with a time of 24.37, just a slight add from her lifetime best mark of 24.12 in prelims, while graduate student
Lauren Gray dropped more time to post a solid 24.20 in the D final.
Aubry Matthews and
Caitlin Romprey also made finals appearances, clocking in at 24.40 and 24.71, respectively. Notably, that was the sophomore's fourth 50 free of the day, competing in prelims, a swim-off, the relay, and then finals.
400 Medley Relay
The Trojans showed depth in the last race of the evening, finishing less than a second apart from one another. The A relay of Romprey, Grom,
Fer Moussier, and Carlson took off ten seconds from their seed to finish with a time of 3:50.35, while the team of
Olivia Henderson,
Karina Harr, Gray, and Poulsen came in at 3:51.19, a huge drop from their entry time of 4:08.
Up Next
Little Rock is currently in fourth place, just five points behind conference rivals Indiana State and one point ahead of fellow conference team Northern Iowa. Tomorrow, Little Rock will look to jump ahead with the help of a full slate of events: the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back, plus the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay at night.
Team Scores
1. Kansas – 350
2. Iowa State - 230
3. Indiana State – 127
4. Little Rock – 122
5. Northern Iowa – 121
6. North Texas – 95
Additional Day Two Season-Best Times
500 Freestyle
Lara Alsader (5:10.18),
Maci McCullough (5:12.71),
Asmalia Redzuan (5:12.78)
200 IM
Lexie Shelton (2:10.41),
Fer Moussier (2:12.71),
Taylor Floyd (2:15.36),
Karina Harr (2:16.17),
Kasey Dunn (2:21.40)
50 Freestyle
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz (24.59),
Lucy Jahn (24.78),
Olivia Henderson (24.87),
Rylie Discenza (25.46),
Katelyn White (25.71),
Brianna Ridings (27.51)
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
