CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Little Rock swimming and diving team collected 13 season-best times at the first of two away tri-meets this weekend, an incredibly remarkable feat since the team is in the phase of hard training right before taper. The Trojans also claimed a pair of individual wins thanks to sophomore stud
Jaelle Carlson, as well as solid second-place finishes from
Gillian Boggs and
Lauren Gray.
"We saw some very impressive swims today," said head coach
Amy Burgess. "It's great that we're seeing these races come together, from going out fast to finishing all the way into the wall. Can't wait to see how this team will respond at the end of the season, with conference just a few weeks away!"
Relays
Today's relays included the 400 medley relay to get the meet started and the 200 freestyle relay to conclude the day.
As usual, the Trojans closed on a high note thanks to a squad of strong sprinters. The team of
Lauren Gray,
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz,
Delaney Crowder and
Jaelle Carlson turned in a time of 1:35.95, the squad's fastest un-rested time by over a second. Both sophomores Pieniazkiewicz and Carlson punched in solid 23 splits, while the former split a faster 50 than she did at the Kansas Classic, the midseason rest meet where the relay's season-best 1:34.36 was set.
The 400 medley relay team posted a time of 3:52.28, another unrested best time, this time by two seconds. The group of
Caitlin Romprey, Pieniazkiewicz, Carlson, and Gray is likely to be the same lineup at conference, as they look to lower their season-best mark of 3:48.68. However, it doesn't get much better than Carlson's 55.81 100 fly split at this point in the year.
Freestyle Highlights
Distance standout
Avery Spencer was the first Trojan to snatch a season-best time, clocking in at 10:41.88, an almost eight second drop from earlier in the year thanks to the her most evenly-split race, holding mid-1:04s like clockwork almost the entire swim.
Other Little Rock swimmers in the distance group followed suit in the 500 later in the meet, as
Lara Alsader and
Clare Sprinkle both grabbed season-best times. The former touched the wall at 5:17.13 while the latter came in at 5:22.12. Notably,
Fernanda Gamez popped a 5:12.71 to lead the team, only a few tenths off her rested time from the Kansas Classic.
Despite the distance success, that's not to say that there weren't a few solid sprints in the group:
Olivia Henderson checked off a season-best in the 100 free, coming in at 55.21, while newcomer
Salina Damas was welcomed to the Trojans with a time of 25.50, a mark less than two tenths off her lifetime best.
To highlight the short free events,
Jaelle Carlson came out on top in the race with a time of 51.44, the fastest time in the pool by over two tenths of a second as well as nearly a second and a half quicker than the closest Missouri Valley Conference foe from Southern Illinois.
Butterfly Highlights
A pair of 200 butterfliers recorded impressive swims today, as
Ashleigh Green and
Devin Trammell both set season-best times. Green's 2:10.92 was an improvement of nearly two seconds from the Kansas Classic, while Trammell's 2:14.36 shaved off another two seconds from just last weekend. The pair was not too far from team-leading
Fer Moussier, who came in fourth overall at 2:08.85, an unrested season best.
Lauren Gray swam a lifetime best time in the 100 butterfly, storming into the wall at 56.33 to claim second in the event. Teammate
Jaelle Carlson was the only swimmer ahead of her, placing first with a time of 56.24, her fastest unrested mark this season.
Backstroke Highlights
Freshman
Nikki Sterchele was the sole backstroker to earn a season-best time this afternoon, stopping the clock at 1:01.37 in the 100 back. However,
Taylor Floyd was just tenths away from one of her own, posting a 58.72 to claim fifth and lead the Trojans.
The 200 backstroke was led by
Gillian Boggs, who collected a time of 2:06.22 for third place overall. Classmate
Caitlin Romprey was close behind, clocking in at 2:07.36 to claim fourth place.
Breaststroke Highlights
Ally DeSordi posted a big season-best in the 200 breaststroke, dropping almost five seconds to earn a final time of 2:27.65. The only other Trojan in the event was
Lexie Shelton, who touched the wall at 2:26.02, her best unrested time by four seconds and only half a second off her season-best from the Kansas Classic.
Another season-best was claimed by
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz in the 100 breast, leading the Trojans with a time of 1:05.53. Her mark was over a tenth faster than her time in Kansas.
Karina Harr's 1:08.66 was her top unrested time this year by a few tenths as well.
IM Highlights
The 200 IM rounded off the individual swimming events for the day, ending with a some great races from the Trojans.
Gillian Boggs led the way with a second-place finish, while her time of 2:07.44 was over five second faster than her unrested best mark this season.
Both
Maci McCullough and
Devin Trammell turned in season bests at the end of the meet, with the former coming into the wall at 2:13.93, almost five seconds better than her rested time at the Kansas Classic. Likewise, Trammell clocked in at 2:16.29, cutting off a few tenths from Kansas to become the only Little Rock swimmers to go home with two season-best times today.
Up Next
Tomorrow, Little Rock will race Saint Louis and Valparaiso in their final tri-meet of the season, a 2 p.m. competition at St. Louis.
View the full 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,
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Twitter.
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