CARBONDALE, Ill. – Not one, but two school records fell for
Annya Grom at the Little Rock-SIU-Valparaiso tri-meet this afternoon, and it's not even taper season yet for the Trojans. The Eilat, Israel native continues to make leaps and bounds in her sophomore year, breaking the 50 freestyle record with a first-place finishing time of 23.29 before claiming the 100 free record in 50.60.
The entire Little Rock squad showed up today, however. The word of the day is 'season-best,' as an striking 78% of the afternoon's swims were the best marks of the year.
"The team stepped up in a big way today!" said proud head coach
Amy Burgess. "The high energy was contagious and everyone worked hard for every race. Annya setting two school records and the winning 400 free relay were highlights of the day, and well deserved. Today was just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come from this team in four and a half weeks!"
Relays
Along with the new records, the day also concluded on a high note for Little Rock in the 400 freestyle relay, where the A team of
Regan Lawrence,
Fer Moussier,
Gabriella O'Neil, and Grom brought home gold with a season-best 3:28.53. The first three stayed within range of SIU for Grom to anchor a blistering 50.14 and beat out the Salukis by just over two tenths.
In the 400 medley relay, the Trojan A and B relays finished third and fourth, right behind the top two Salukis but with a sizeable gap ahead of the Valparaiso teams. The A squad of Lawrence,
Palmer Ristroph, Moussier, and Grom turned in a time of 3:53.88, a drop of over five seconds from the last time Little Rock raced in the event. Grom's final leg of 52.52 was the fastest freestyle split in the pool. The B team of
Fernanda Gamez,
Karina Harr,
Asmalia Redzuan, and O'Neil were not far off, coming in at 3:54.86 in a nod to the Trojans' growing depth.
Freestyle
An afternoon of impressive individual swimming kicked off with a strong distance event in the 1000. Freshmen
Lexie Shelton and
Clare Sprinkle both recorded season best times, taking second and third place respectively. Shelton's 10:38.59 was a 20 second drop from her previous time this year, while Sprinkle shaved off nearly 15 for a 10:47.17, only five seconds away from her lifetime best. Senior
Ashley Hornbuckle also had a great race, posting a personal best 10:56.07 by 40 seconds.
Next up was the 200 free, where O'Neil went out quick and hung on for a gutsy second place finishing time of 1:53.46, two tenths ahead of a Saluki. Her performance was a season-best by over three seconds and the freshman was also just half a second off her personal best. Sophomore
Ashleigh Green did notch a lifetime best by over two seconds, stopping the clock at 1:56.49.
Five additional Trojans also posted impressive season-bests in the 200:
Lea Zengerling touched at 1:54.33 for a three-second drop. Redzuan took off four seconds for a 1:55.47 while freshman
Maci McCullough crushed her earlier swim this season by almost six seconds to finish at 1:57.13. Classmate
Cheryl Poulsen recorded a 1:58.45 and Gamez touched the wall at 1:58.53.
Along with the school records, several sprinters posted quick season bests in the pool. In the 50, Lawrence took fifth with a time of 24.52 to score points while Poulsen's 25.23,
Katelyn White's 26.07, and Gibson's 26.73 were new top marks for them this year. O'Neil returned in the 100 to place fourth in 53.30, while fellow freshmen
Kasey Dunn and
Rylie Discenza collected season-bests of 55.11 and 58.38, respectively.
Finally, the 500 wrapped up a successful meet for freestyle, led by McCullough's second-place finish at 5:08.72, a season best by nearly 20 seconds. Sprinkle touched fifth at 5:13.44, taking off nine seconds over the past month to also score. Redzuan's 5:19.49, senior
Lily Kerr's 5:19.56, and Hornbuckle's 5:27.27 were all strong season-bests as well.
Backstroke
Zengerling was the highest-finishing backstroker today, earning third in the 200 backstroke in 2:07.72 with a season-best by over two seconds. Freshman
Taylor Floyd was not far off, taking fourth at 2:08.29 thanks to a six-second drop of her own. Gamez and
Mia Gibson also notched season-bests, as the sophomore posted a 2:09.96 and the senior touched the wall at 2:14.14.
In the 100 back, Lawrence took fourth place with a time of 59.06, going under a minute for the third time this season. Earlier in the meet, she split a 58.51 leading off the medley relay. Floyd joined her under a minute at 59.92 for a season-best, while Discenza also took home a season-best at 1:03.24.
Breaststroke
Ristroph dominated the breaststroke races for the Trojans today. The senior finished second in the 100 breast at 1:05.40, her fastest in-season time ever by a second and a half. Later, she took third in the 200 in 2:23.11, dropping over four seconds to put her in a great position ahead of the conference championships.
Ristroph was joined by a fourth-place, 1:06.33 finish from Harr in the 100, the freshman's first time swimming the race this year. Junior White also claimed a nice two-second drop in the race to post a 1:09.49. Meanwhile, sophomore
Nicole Burek made season-best marks in both breaststroke races.
Butterfly
Moussier came away with two second-place finishes in the fly events. Her time of 2:04.33 in the 200 was just four tenths away from her own school record as a freshman last year. Later, she made another drop in the 100 fly to post a 56.75.
Sophomore
Brianna Ridings touched the wall at 2:13.45 in the 200 butterfly for fourth place and valuable team points. In the shorter fly race, Harr showed her short axis skills by taking off two and a half seconds to finish third at 57.58. White and Floyd also had nice drops, as the junior touched at 1:00.41 and the freshman finished at 1:00.55.
200 IM
Ristroph led the way in the individual medley with a well-rounded repertoire to bring home bronze in 2:10.23. The Trojans finished one after the other, as Green placed fourth at 2:10.53 and Shelton took fifth just six one-hundredths behind. Additional season-bests included Harr's 2:13.93, a time of 2:15.02 for Ridings, and Dunn's 2:15.46.
Little Rock will have another two weeks to train before their final racing of the regular season. The Trojans will have a virtual meet against conference opponents Illinois State on March 27, with each team competing at their home pools and comparing times after in a final preparation for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships next month.
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
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