Courtesy: Little Rock Athletics
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock swimming and diving program opened the season with a win over Ouachita Baptist this afternoon while honoring the senior class of 2021 in their final home dual meet as Trojans. Little Rock won every race to dominate the Tigers in a 173-72 landslide victory.
“As we have come to know and love, the seniors stepped up and raced on Senior Day!” said head coach Amy Burgess. “Lily starting off with her first win and lifetime best set the tone for others to follow. This amazing group of seniors always gives everything they have to racing as well as their teammates, and today they inspired all those around with every stroke.”
After picking up today’s win, Little Rock swimming and diving team will next travel to North Texas on Saturday, Feb. 6 for a rescheduled dual in the second straight week of competition.
“With all the unknowns ahead, every meet is an opportunity and chance to race, and we are looking forward to building off this great start,” added Coach Burgess.
Relays
The meet began with the 200 medley relay, where the Little Rock A & B relays went 1-2. The team of seniors Regan Lawrence and Palmer Ristroph along with sophomores Fer Moussier and Annya Grom stopped the clock at 1:48.03 to win it all while the younger squad of freshmen Taylor Floyd, Karina Harr, Gabriella O’Neil, and sophomore Asmalia Redzuan were just over two seconds behind at 1:50.28.
The final race of the day was the 400 freestyle relay, where Grom, Lawrence, Redzuan, and O’Neil teamed up to post a 3:33.97, an impressive four seconds faster than the quickest non-rested, non-tapered relay time from last season.
Freestyle
As Coach Burgess mentioned, the individual events were kicked off by Lily Kerr, who touched the wall in the 1000 free at 10:50.85, over 30 seconds better than her in-season best last year. The senior was followed by freshmen distance duo Lexie Shelton and Clare Sprinkle, posting times of 10:59.27 and 11:06.99, respectively.
The 200 free followed the distance race, where the Trojans placed first through fifth for an impressively deep Little Rock performance. Junior Lea Zengerling collected gold with a 1:57.31 while O’Neil was close behind at 1:57.85. Sophomore Fernanda Gamez and Asmalia Redzuan both made it under the two-minute mark at 1:59.42 for the former and 1:59.84 for the latter. Freshman Cheryl Poulsen rounded up the group with a 2:00.17, just a second off her lifetime best.
Later in the meet, Grom commanded the quickest sprint of the day, recording a 23.82 in the 50 free, winning by nearly a full second and finishing approximately two tenths off of her best time from last season. Freshman Aubry Matthews placed third with a lifetime best 25.04.
Lawrence was the top Trojan in the 100 freestyle, throwing down a speedy 52.75 that is less than a second away from her personal best. Sophomore Khadijah Brown finished third with a solid 55.53 while freshman Kasey Dunn touched the wall exactly one one-hundredth of a second behind her.
The last freestyle event of the meet was the 500 free, where O’Neil claimed her first career win for Little Rock at 5:18.27, showing a nice descend in the fourth 100. Sprinkle finished with a time of 5:21.40, showing great consistency throughout the race.
Backstroke
Lawrence claimed victory in the 100 backstroke as well as the only swimmer under a minute at 59.73. The senior finished her perfect day taking home top honors in each of her four events. Floyd collected second place in the sprint backstroke race, stopping the clock at 1:00.43.
The 200 back was led by Zengerling for her second win of the day, touching the wall at 2:10.11. Gamez and Floyd took second and third with times of 2:13.25 and 2:14.54, respectively, with the next competitor over 10 seconds behind.
Breaststroke
Grom continued to put on a show in the 100 breaststroke, where the sophomore put together a strong 1:03.95, a time that is only two tenths off of the school record that she set at last year’s Missouri Valley Championships. Senior Ristroph collected silver in another impressive in-season time, touching at 1:07.06. Junior Katelyn White and sophomores Aly Grider and Nicole Burek completed the first through fifth place sweep of the event.
The longer breaststroke race saw Harr pick up her first collegiate win, stopping the clock at 2:27.32 with an excellent back-half finish. She was pushed by Ristroph, who came in second with a time of 2:27.90, her best non-rested time in her Trojan career.
Butterfly
Moussier swept both the 100 and 200 races of her signature stroke. In the 100 butterfly, the sophomore touched the wall at 57.52, nearly a second faster than her season-opening time as a freshman. Classmate Brianna Ridings was the other competitor under a minute, only half a second off of her lifetime best at last year’s championships for an impressive start of her second season.
Moussier and Ridings went 1-2 in the 200 fly as well, with the former cruising to a 2:08.42 and the latter coming in at 2:13.43. Harr placed third in the 1-2-3 sweep, tenths behind at 2:13.78.
200 IM
The 200 individual medley wrapped up the day’s individual events, where sophomore Ashleigh Green tallied a win with a 2:14.45 finish and strong back half. Ridings was not far off in this race as well, taking second at 2:15.72, again only about a second off her personal best. Shelton was exactly two tenths behind for third.
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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Courtesy: Ouachita Baptist Athletics
Women
The Ouachita Baptist women’s swimming team fell 173-72 at Little Rock in the final meet of the regular season on Saturday. Junior Lilia Clark picked up a pair of second-place finishes to lead the TigerSharks.
Clark took second in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle Saturday. She remains unbeaten against non-Division I competition on the season. Erin Russo added a third-place finish in the 100 yard freestyle.
Williams Baptist was also scheduled to compete in Saturday’s meet but was forced to pull out due to COVID-19 testing protocols.
The New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championships are scheduled for February 24-27.
Men
The Ouachita Baptist men’s swim team concluded it regular season Saturday at Little Rock. The TigerSharks were originally scheduled to take on Williams Baptist, who was unable to compete due to COVID-19 protocols. Trent Reeder and Noah Smith each picked up a pair of first-place finishes on the day.
Reeder took first in both the 100 yard freestyle and the 200 yard individual medley. Smith won the 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard butterfly.
Lucas Riley won the 100 yard backstroke. Jack Conner finished first in the 100 yard breaststroke, Keith Matthews won the 50 yard freestyle and Jeff McCoy won the 200 yard backstroke.
The New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championships are scheduled for Feburary 24-27.