CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Little Rock swimming and diving team capped off a successful conference meet by placing six Trojans on the podium throughout the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, twice as many as in 2020, as well as scoring over 100 more points than the year previous.
Annya Grom earned MVC All-Conference honors for claiming two top-three finishes over the week while
Fer Moussier,
Regan Lawrence,
Palmer Ristroph,
Gabriella O'Neil, and
Lea Zengerling each earned MVC All-Conference Honorable Mentions for their performances throughout the championships.
"It's hard to put into words how proud we are of this team," said head coach
Amy Burgess. "The non-stop energy and support for one another was contagious and could be felt even through the live stream. With an outstanding group of seniors leading the way, our young program showed what Little Rock is the all about and where we are headed."
DAY THREE PHOTOS |
FULL RESULTS
400 Freestyle Relay
To put a cherry on top of a thrilling week, the 400 free relay team of
Regan Lawrence,
Gabriella O'Neil,
Asmalia Redzuan, and
Annya Grom wrapped up the meet with a third-place, podium finish, taking home the bronze with a time of 3:26.51 – one one-hundredth of a second ahead of fourth. Their time is the
third-fastest in program history.
1650 Freestyle
Lexie Shelton,
Clare Sprinkle, and
Lily Kerr raced in the longest race of the weekend, with all three Trojans posting faster times than the quickest Little Rock swimmer from last year. Shelton scored points with her 17:47.69, while Sprinkle was not far off with a finishing time of 17:56.65. Kerr hung up her cap and goggles with a time of 17:58.93, her best mark since her freshman year.
200 Backstroke
Sneaking into the B final with a time of 2:04.54,
Lea Zengerling claimed points for the Trojans by rounding out the heat. Joining her at night was
Taylor Floyd and
Fernanda Gamez in the C final, with the freshman moving up to 21st overall with a time of 2:06.55 while the sophomore notched a lifetime best 2:05.91.
100 Freestyle
The most successful event of the evening in terms of scoring was led by the duo of Grom and Lawrence, who finished third and sixth in the 100 free, respectively. The sophomore lowered her own record-holding time down to a 50.46 to earn a third-place spot on the podium, while the senior held seed after posting a lifetime best 51.80 to make her first-ever A final appearance.
O'Neil also scored points for the Trojans, touching the wall at 52.49 in the B final for 15th overall, while Redzuan represented Little Rock in the C final with a time of 53.52, good for 22nd.
200 Breaststroke
Once again,
Palmer Ristroph and
Karina Harr were the only Trojans in the 200 breast, both qualifying for the scoring B final. The duo went 1-2 in the heat, each dropping nearly a full second from prelims to finals. Ristroph finished ninth with a dominant 2:21.49 while Harr moved up to tenth in 2:24.32.
200 Butterfly
Fer Moussier made her second trip to the podium in her signature event, moving up a spot to place fifth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:05.49. Classmates
Ashleigh Green and
Brianna Ridings both had strong swims in the C final as well. Green took off half a second for a lifetime best 2:11.14, while Ridings dropped an impressive five seconds down to 2:11.49.
Final Team Scores
1. Missouri State – 929.5
2. Southern Illinois – 548.5
3. Indiana State – 475.5
4. Illinois State – 444
5. Northern Iowa – 344
6. Evansville – 328.5
7. Little Rock – 318
8. Valparaiso – 117
Additional Day Three Season-Best Times
100 Free
Delaney Crowder (54.13),
Maci McCullough (54.17),
Cheryl Poulsen (54.34),
Aubry Matthews (54.42),
Kasey Dunn (54.62)
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
