LITTLE ROCK – At the conclusion of the dual-site Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Showcase, the Little Rock swimming and diving team finished third at the south location of the conference, besting Evansville by nearly 150 points. It marks the first time the Trojans have topped the Aces mid-season since 2016 and the first in a multi-day meet since the 2019 MVC Championships.
"I'm really proud of how the team stepped up this weekend," added head coach
Amy Burgess. "Our racing continues to improve and this team has only begun to show the MVC what they can do."
The meet was scored featuring 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.
FULL RESULTS
Relays
The Trojans finished third in the 400 freestyle relay at the end of the long meet, gutting out a 3:35.55. The squad of
Cheryl Poulsen,
Gabriella O'Neil,
Lauren Gray, and
Jaelle Carlson beat out the A relay from Evansville by nearly five seconds.
Earlier in the meet, the 200 medley relay, although dropping a second and a half from their seed time, was disqualified in the A heat.
Freestyle Highlights
Today, the longest event was first, and 500 swimmers O'Neil and
Avery Spencer both posted season-bests in the A heat. O'Neil touched the wall sixth, just a second behind fifth in 5:17.28, and the freshman took seventh, right behind in 5:18.62.
The 100 free saw strong sprint duo Carlson and Poulsen return, as the sophomore led the Trojans with a fourth-place finish and time of 53.05. Junior Poulsen grabbed a season-best time for fifth place by over half a second, coming in at 53.45. In the B heat, Gray and
Aubry Matthews each put up their fastest swims this season, with the super senior going under 54 seconds to clock in at 53.92, cutting off over a second, and the junior sliding under 55 seconds off a flat start with a 54.90.
Backstroke Highlights
Once again leading the Trojan backstrokers,
Caitlin Romprey finished fourth, stopping the clock at 2:07.41.
Fernanda Gamez and
Taylor Floyd each notched season-bests in the B heat, with the senior touching the wall at 2:13.08 for a two-second drop while junior Floyd cut off a second and a half down to 2:14.21.
Butterfly Highlights
The 200 butterfly was full of season-bests times, with the gritty group led by
Fer Moussier once again. The senior stopped the clock at 2:09.61 for sixth place, almost a three-second drop. Spencer posted another seventh-place finish, coming in at 2:10.80. In the B heat,
Devin Trammell raced in the event for the first time this season, touching the wall at 2:16.89, while
Brianna Ridings cut off over two seconds to post a time of 2:21.10.
Breaststroke Highlights
In the 200 breaststroke,
Lexie Shelton was the top Trojan with a seventh place finish and a season-best 2:30.18, only tenths away from sixth. Also popping a season-best, dropping a second from her time last month, was freshman
Duru Sibik with a time of 2:32.16.
IM Highlights
Gillian Boggs took home another best time in her second IM event of the weekend. This time in the 200 IM, the sophomore clocked in at 2:13.63, dropping almost two full seconds. Classmate
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz raced the event for the first time this season, finishing as the second Trojan overall with a time of 2:14.00 thanks to a strong back half swim.
Diving Highlights
Izzy Ragsdale claimed sixth in the 1-meter diving competition, collecting 169.30 points, nearly the same amount that she was awarded at her last appearance on the shorter board.
Up Next
The Trojans will travel to Denton, Texas for their first away dual of the season in two weeks, racing North Texas on Friday, November 4 with a 10 a.m. start.
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
