LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock swimming and diving program opened the season at home this Saturday, hosting the annual All-Arkansas Invite and coming away with a second-place finish. Although several Trojans posted impressive individual times this early in the year, the highlight of the meet were the relays, each of which were exceptionally faster than what the squad had turned in at the same home opener last season.
"Today was a great day to kick off the competition season," said head coach
Amy Burgess. "There were a lot of good things to take away and build from. This is a very special team and today showed there are big things to come!"
RESULTS (PDF)
Relays
The Trojans rolled to a second-place finish in their signature relay event, the 200 free relay. The team of sophomore
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz, junior
Cheryl Poulsen, junior
Aubry Matthews, and senior
Annya Grom turned in a time of 1:37.38, as Grom popped a 23.38 as the anchor. The A relay's time was three and a half seconds faster than what the squad posted at the season opener last year.
The 400 free relay finished fourth, as sophomore
Jaelle Carlson, senior
Lauren Gray, Poulsen, and Grom touched the wall at 3:36.01. Again, the Trojans were two seconds faster than what the team turned in last year.
Meanwhile, the A relay of sophomore
Caitlin Romprey, freshman
Ally DeSordi, Carlson, and Poulsen placed fifth in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:51 flat. Once more, Little Rock was about half a second faster than last season's opening meet.
Freestyle Events
Grom picked up an individual silver in the 50 free, touching the wall at 23.77 as one of three competitors under the 24-second mark. A trio of Trojan were under the 25-second mark, finishing in sixth through eighth: Matthews, Carlson, and Pieniazkiewicz with times of 24.69, 24.91, and 24.99, respectively. Notably, Matthews was less than four tenths off her lifetime best.
The Israeli senior added another second-place finish in the 100 free, as Grom stopped the clock at 51.89. Joining her to score team points this time was junior
Gabriella O'Neil in her debut race for the Trojans after sitting the previous year out due to injury. O'Neil finished with a time of 54.60, out-touching a Razorback by less than a tenth to grab fifth place.
O'Neil also led the Trojans in the 200 free, collecting fifth place again with a time of 1:59.13. Freshman
Avery Spencer was not too far off, competing in her first collegiate race and taking seventh with a time of 2:02.76.
The longest event of the day was the 500 freestyle, where Spencer returned to earn fourth place overall in 5:24.67. Senior
Fernanda Gamez joined her under the 5:30 mark, touching the wall at 5:29.43 for seventh overall.
Non-Free Events
The 200 IM kicked off the non-free events, as DeSordi led the Trojans in her first individual collegiate event. The freshman posted a time of 2:16.42, while junior
Lexie Shelton was close behind, stopping the clock at 2:17.68.
Loaded with more Little Rock swimmers than any other event, the 100 butterfly also saw a freshman leading the way. This time, it was
Olivia Maddux, touching the wall at 58.68 for sixth place. Carlson was just hundredths behind with a time of 58.71.
The 100 backstroke saw strong depth from the Trojans, including Romprey and Gray's fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. The sophomore was just off breaking a minute, posting a 1:00.09, while the fifth year senior turned in a time of 1:00.55.
Rounding out the individual events was the 100 breaststroke, where six Trojans showed off their training partners by finishing six in a row. Pieniazkiewicz was the sole Little Rock swimmer to go under 1:10, clocking in at 1:09.73, while junior
Karina Harr, Shelton, and DeSordi were close by with times of 1:10.08, 1:10.62 and 1:10.97, respectively.
Diving
As the sole competitor on the squad under Coach
Chris Pape's efforts to revitalize the Trojan diving team,
Izzy Ragsdale kicked off her Little Rock career taking on the 1 meter and 3 meter boards. The freshman finished third on the 1 meter with a score of 170.20, while Ragsdale placed fourth on the 3 meter with 147.25 points.
Up Next
Little Rock will return to the Donaghey Aquatic Center next weekend, as the Trojans host North Florida in the second of four straight home events.
View the full Trojan schedule here.
Final Team Scores
Women
1. Arkansas - 674
2. Little Rock - 502
3. Henderson State - 437
4. Ouachita Baptist - 357
5. Hendrix - 161
6. Ozarks – 92
7. Harding – 12
8. Williams Baptist - 8
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
