OCALA, FL. - Little Rock opened competition at the National Invitational Championships with several strong performances on night one, highlighted by a new entry into the program's all-time record book and multiple relay improvements during finals.
During the afternoon session, Ginny time-trialed the 100 breaststroke and posted a 1:03.68, moving into fifth all-time on the Little Rock Trojans' Top 10 list in the event.
Finals began with the 200 freestyle relay where the Trojans finished 27th overall in a time of 1:34.86. Gabriella O'Nell led off the relay before Lena delivered a strong 22.9 split in the second leg.
Nelanee Fulton followed in the third position, and
Anna Nishizaki anchored the relay to close out the event.
Megan Stewart was the lone Trojan to qualify for an individual final on the night, competing in the 200 individual medley. Entered into the meet as the 24th seed, Stewart moved up the standings during finals to finish 15th overall with a time of 2:02.63.
"Megan came back in the 200 IM and put together another strong performance. She brought the race home in the fastest closing split she's ever had, which is really encouraging. I'm excited to see how she continues to grow in that event, because the 200 IM is a race that really rewards experience and learning how to manage each leg," said head coach
Nathan Townsend.
The Trojans also saw success in the relay events throughout the evening.
"On the relay side, we put two of our non-sprinters on the relay and were still able to hold our seed at 27th, which I thought was awesome. Nelanee put together a really solid split for us," said Townsend.
Little Rock closed the night in the 400 medley relay, improving six positions to finish 12th overall with a time of 3:43.81. Freshman
Amara Addison led off the relay, followed by
Adara Stoddard on breaststroke and
Megan Stewart on butterfly before
Olivia Elgin anchored the relay.
"We closed out the night with a great swim in the 400 medley relay, moving up six spots.
Olivia Elgin anchored us with the fastest 100 free split in the field to bring it home which was also her fastest time ever," said Townsend.
"We've got some exciting swims coming up tomorrow, and we're looking forward to getting back out there and continuing to compete," Townsend added.
Competition continues tomorrow with preliminary events beginning at 9:30 a.m. following a 7:00 a.m. warm-up session. Events scheduled for the morning include the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke before the 800 freestyle relay concludes the session.
Finals will begin at 6:00 p.m. with the 200 medley relay followed by the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and the 800 freestyle relay to close out the evening.
Fans can follow the action throughout the weekend as the meet will be
live streamed, and tickets for spectators are available for purchase online
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, Instagram and Twitter.
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