LITTLE ROCK – The Trojans celebrated Senior Day in style today, defeating North Texas for the first time in program history, scaring an SEC team in Vanderbilt, and setting a new school record unrested for the cherry on top. This also is the first year that Little Rock has put together a winning dual record since the 2016-17 season.
Although several Trojans recorded personal best times and season-best times in the final meet of the regular season,
Gillian Boggs highlighted the day by lowering her own school record in the 200 IM down to 2:03.09. It's a full second drop from the time she set at the midseason invitational in November.
"What a great way to send our seniors off!" said head coach
Nathan Townsend. "The environment at the DSC was amazing today. A big thank you to all our fans for coming out to support the Trojans."
"I'm really proud of this group and all their accomplishments this dual meet season. Our results today show that we are more than ready to do something really special at MVCs in about 3 weeks."
Relays
The Trojans finished third in the 400 freestyle relay, besting the North Texas A relay by over four seconds but getting touched out by Vanderbilt's two relays.
Cheryl Poulsen,
Jaelle Carlson,
Delaney Crowder and
Olivia Elgin turned in a time of 3:28.40.
Little Rock took third in the 200 medley relay, finishing with a time of 1:44.11, just two one-hundredths of a second behind North Texas. The relay of
Caitlin Romprey,
Karina Harr,
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz, and Poulsen threw together a time less than a second off the school record set in November.
Freestyle
Olivia Elgin was the first place finisher in the 200 freestyle, throwing down a blistering 1:50.46, a personal best time and less than four tenths away from the school record.
Gillian Boggs also had a monster swim to take second place with a time of 1:51.44, a nine-second drop from her previous best to move into third on
the Little Rock Top Times list.
Gabriella O'Neil was right in the mix, touching the wall at 1:53.41, just a second off her best time.
The senior came back in the 500 free to win it all, as O'Neil put up a 5:05.60, only three tenths off of her season best in November. Fellow senior
Lexie Shelton was the next Trojan to finish, clocking in at 5:12.45 for a time that was also less than a second off of her season best.
The Trojans also took home a win in the 100 free as
Jaelle Carlson was the only swimmer under 51 seconds. Her time of 50.94 was a season-best as well as less than half a second off her personal best.
The 1000 saw
Duru Sibik lead the way, posting a new personal best time of 10:38.41 that places her into fourth all-time on
the Trojans Top Times list.
Lara Alsader wasn't too far off, clocking in at 10:43.61, just six seconds off her previous mark.
Cheryl Poulsen collected third in the 50 free with a time of 23.78 to lead the Trojans, while fellow senior
Delaney Crowder came in fifth with a time of 24.37.
Backstroke
Another gold came from
Gillian Boggs in the 50 back as the junior clocked in at 26.02.
Caitlin Romprey touched the wall at 26.38 for third while
Anna Hess tied the fastest Vanderbilt swimmer for fourth with a time of 26.65.
Senior
Taylor Floyd was the top finisher in the 100 back, touching the wall at 58.50, less than a second off of her best time.
Breaststroke
The Trojans went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke, as senior
Karina Harr took home first in the event with a time of 1:04.25, less than a second off her best time.
Lauren Pieniazkiewicz was also under the 1:05 mark, touching the wall at 1:04.95 for a new lifetime best.
Coming back in the 50 breast, Pieniazkiewicz claimed third with a time of 29.84, while Harr finished fifth in 29.86.
Butterfly
A time of 24.90 in the 50 butterfly gave
Jaelle Carlson a new NIC cut and a second place finish to boot. It's the first non-relay A cut for the meet that takes place in March.
Anna Hess placed fourth once again with a time of 25.89 to round up the swimmers under the 26 barrier.
Carlson collected another silver in the 100 fly, touching the wall at 56.18, a half second off of her season best. Pieniazkiewicz earned a personal best in the event, clocking in at 57.45.
Individual Medley
Aside from the school record from Boggs,
Olivia Elgin threw down a personal best in the 200 IM, touching at 2:05.01 for a four-second drop. It moves her into second on
the Little Rock Top Times list behind Boggs.
Caitlin Romprey collected a massive best time in the event as well, dropping nine seconds from her previous mark down a 2:10.64.
Diving
Kyra Apodaca took third place on both boards, scoring 251.03 points on the 1 meter before collecting 245.18 points in the 3 meter event.
Julia Banister returned to the boards, taking fifth in both competitions.
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.
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