IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The Trojans had a big finals session on the second day of the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Championships, from new school records, podium finishes, and the program's first-ever NCAA B time standard reached.
Annya Grom broke her own school record in the 50 freestyle in prelims, matching her time to the hundredth in the evening. She is the first Trojan under 23 seconds in the 50 free as well as the first to achieve an NCAA B cut, meaning that her time is fast enough to potentially be invited to this year's NCAA Championships in March. The junior's mark of 22.71 was good for second place overall.
The Trojans ended the evening with a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle relay, as Grom was joined by
Jaelle Carlson,
Carolyn Godwin and
Cheryl Poulsen to stand on the podium. The upperclassmen each posted sub-23 splits to help the team to their highest relay finish yet. The group also broke another school record, lowering their time by approximately half a second down to 1:33.05 from their previous mark from earlier this year.
"Today was a testament to the progress that our team is making," said head coach
Amy Burgess. "It's pretty freaking amazing to see their hard work pay off. The Trojans are on the war path!"
Continue to stay up to the date with the Little Rock swim team all week by watching
live on YouTube, finding results on
the MeetMobile app and keeping an eye out for daily recaps of the event right here. Get additional behind-the-scenes action by following Little Rock swimming and diving on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
DAY TWO PHOTOS |
DAY TWO RESULTS
500 Freestyle
The evening kicked off with a fourth-place, podium finish from
Lea Zengerling, pacing her way to a quick 4:58.55 to shave off just under a second from her morning. The junior moved up from sixth place to fourth, the highest individual finish of her career after taking sixth as a freshman and eighth as a junior in the event.
200 IM
A trio of Trojans raced in the C final, all lowering their times from prelims as well as finishing 1-2-4 in the heat to boot.
Gillian Boggs led the way with a season-best time of 2:06.96, checking in at number five on
the Little Rock top times list. The freshman was followed by
Carolyn Godwin's lifetime-best 2:07.38, as the senior dropped a whopping second and a half in her last 200 IM of her career. In addition,
Lexie Shelton turned in a personal best as well, touching the wall at 2:09.34.
50 Freestyle
Big points were earned in the 50 free, thanks to Grom's big performance. She was joined by
Jaelle Carlson on the podium, as the freshman clocked in at 23.42 for a lifetime-best time, moving up from eighth in prelims to sixth overall in finals. Meanwhile, making this the most loaded event of the evening for the Trojans, Little Rock also saw
Asmalia Redzuan and
Cheryl Poulsen represent in the C final. The pair earned 22nd and 24th place in the race, with the former posting a personal best 24.15 in the morning.
Up Next
The Trojans are seventh in the team standings currently, just six points away from sixth and less than 20 points behind fourth. Tomorrow, Little Rock has an even bigger schedule, competing in the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay.
Team Scores
1. Missouri State – 321
2. Northern Iowa – 181
3. Illinois State – 62
4. Evansville – 150
5. Southern Illinois – 141
6. Indiana State – 137
7. Little Rock – 131
8. Valparaiso – 46
Additional Day Two Season-Best Times
500 Free
Clare Sprinkle (5:18.94)
200 IM
Devin Trammell (2:11.04),
Brianna Ridings (2:17.00),
Kasey Dunn (2:20.97)
50 Free
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz (24.57), Delaney Crower (24.31),
Khadijah Brown (24.66),
Lucy Jahn (24.75),
Rylie Discenza (25.09),
Lara Alsader (25.16), Katie White (25.67)
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
