LITTLE ROCK – After the first of two days, Little Rock swimming and diving team is ahead of Evansville by nearly 100 points, sitting third behind Missouri State and hosts Southern Illinois at the southern site of the dual-location MVC Showcase.
The meet is scored as virtual A and B finals, meaning that the swimmers from each school seeded in the A heat will take first through eighth place. The swimmers racing in the B heat, regardless of where they finish overall, even if they win the entire race from the B heat, will still fall into 9th through 16th place, making this weekend's competition a strategic one for coaches.
DAY ONE RESULTS
Relays
The Trojans kicked off the first day of competition with the 400 medley relay, placing third with a time of 3:56.37. The team of
Caitlin Romprey, Lauren Pieniazkiewciz,
Jaelle Carlson and
Cheryl Poulsen finished one-hundredth of a second ahead of the top Evansville relay. A big 100 fly split from Carlson, a 56.80, was good to help Poulsen out-touch the anchor for the Aces.
The 200 free relay also took third, finishing with a time of 1:37.06, a season-best for Little Rock. The squad was made up of Pieniazkiewicz, Poulsen,
Aubry Matthews, and Carlson, with big sub-24 splits from Poulsen and Carlson.
Freestyle Highlights
Gabriella O'Neil turned in a fourth-place finish in the 200 free, coming in at a season-best 1:57.36 to beat out two foes also under 1:58. Also in the A heat with a season-best was
Avery Spencer, clocking in at 1:58.19, nearly five seconds faster than her last swim in the event.
In the 50 freestyle, Poulsen stepped up for third place overall, touching the wall at 24.49, ahead of every Southern Illinois and Evansville swimmer. Her time was a season-best as well.
The 1000 was the final individual freestyle event of the day, and
Avery Spencer led the way for the Trojans with a time of 10:51.68, taking off two seconds from two weeks ago. O'Neil also raced in the long event, her first thousand of the season, posting a time of 11:03.98. In the B heat,
Clare Sprinkle took off nearly 10 seconds to post a time of 11:04.90, and
Lara Alsader swam her first 1000 since first semester of last year.
Backstroke Highlights
Lauren Gray hit a season-best time of 58.70 to lead the Trojans from the B heat, her first time under a minute in the event this year. In the A heat,
Caitlin Romprey took fifth place with a time of 59.28.
Butterfly Highlights
For the second meet in a row, Carlson was the top finisher for the Trojans in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall at 57.70 for fourth.
Fer Moussier rounded out the A heat with a time of 59.17 for eight place, dropping seven tenths of a second for a season-best time.
Breaststroke Highlights
The 100 breaststroke was full of season-bests for Little Rock.
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz led the pack, taking fifth place in 1:07.07, over a second faster than her swim two weeks ago. Rounding out the A heat was
Karina Harr, shaving off a few tenths for a season-best 1:09.50. In the B heat,
Lexie Shelton did the same, posting a time of 1:10.31, while freshman
Nikki Sterchele raced the event for the first time this season and put up a time of 1:10.50.
IM Highlights
Both
Gillian Boggs and
Duru Sibik posted season-best times in the 400 IM. The former took sixth place with a time of 4:42.72, taking off seven seconds from her time earlier this season, while the latter finished seventh at 4:46.92, shaving off a little over a second from her seed. In the B heat, Shelton and
Ashleigh Green rounded it out with season-bests as well, as Shelton dropped three seconds down to 4:50.04 and Green raced her first 400 IM since conference of 2021.
Diving Highlights
Izzy Ragsdale returned to the boards this weekend after a month off, flipping her way to a score of 126.95 on the 3-meter board, good for sixth.
Up Next
Day two of the MVC Showcase begins tomorrow, with the following events on tap:
200 Medley Relay
500 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Backstroke
1 Meter Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Butterfly
200 IM
400 Freestyle Relay
View the full 2022-23 Little Rock Swimming and Diving schedule here.
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
