Records Fall as Swimming and Diving Post Strong Results at Houston Diving Invitational, Rice Fall Splash

HOUSTON, TX – The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Swimming and Diving team collected two event wins on Day 2 at the Rice Fall Splash, where they finished third overall, as well as at the Houston Diving Invitational where they set a new team record, held at the CRWC Natatorium (diving) and the Rice Competition Pool (swimming).


HOUSTON DIVING INVITATIONAL

The Trojan diving squad got the ball rolling with a new team record in the team event. The team, consisting of Kyra Apodaca, Tatum Malatin and Delaney Nickles had a total overall score of 193.85 to take 5th overall in the event. Apodaca carried this momentum into the Platform event where she went on to take 12th position out of 16 with a total score of 169.05.

"I'd say the meet was a really good one for us overall. It was our first full diving meet of the season and it was really competitive. This was my first season at Little Rock where I was able to have teammates on the boards with me, so we were able to compete in team event for the first time. The team event was definitely a little more chaotic than the traditional set up for diving, but I really liked it because it felt faster and we were able to score together rather than against each other." said senior diver Kyra Apadoca.

Overall the team performed really well in their first away meet of the season and will continue this momentum going forward into the remainder of the 2024-25 season.


FALL RICE SPLASH

Across town the Trojan swim team was getting warmed up for another exciting day in the pool.They opened up the meet with a huge win in the 400 freestyle in a time of 3:26.46, anchored by Captain Jaelle Carlson in an incredible time of 50.88 to start off the morning. 

Freshman Anna Nishizaki started the morning off in the 200 breast to go a season best and take 5th overall in 2:22.88 with Adara Stoddard following in 2:23.83 with a season best as well.

5th year Gabriella O'Neil had another successful day in the water taking second in the 200 freestyle and swimming a personal best in a time of 1:50.71. Her performance puts her first in this event in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) rankings.

Senior Carlson swam to 1st place in the 50 freestyle(23.63) to claim the Trojans first individual title of the meet. Carlson currently sits first overall in the event in the MVC top times so far this season along with her 100 butterfly that puts her 3rd in the conference as well.

To wrap up the meet, the women A relay consisting of Caitlin Romprey, Lauren Pieniazkiewics, Carlson and Cheryl Poulsen swam to 2nd place in the 200 medley relay in 1:45.06.

The Trojans finished in third position overall with 576.4 points to end of the exciting two day meet in Houston, Texas.

"We had a fantastic start to the Saturday session staying off with a win in the 400 Free Relay. I'm super excited for how are relays look this early in the season and they always help us create some momentum. Felt like we made some nice adjustments from yesterday and put ourselves in a much better position to succeed. The energy from our team on the sideline was contagious as well. Really loved how we responded to a tough training week." said Head Coach Nathan Townsend.

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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