Maggie MacNeil Takes Down Two LSU Records in Dual Meet Debut – 51.10 BK, 47.43 FR

LSU vs VANDERBILT vs TULANE (WOMEN’S DOUBLE DUAL)

• Friday, September 23, 2022
• LSU Natatorium, Baton Rouge, LA
• SCY (25 yards)
• PDF RESULTS

TEAM SCORES

• LSU – 214, Tulane – 48
• LSU – 201, Vanderbilt – 61
• Vanderbilt – 148, Tulane – 114

LSU hosted Vanderbilt and Tulane for a women’s dual yesterday, kicking all three teams’ 2022-23 regular seasons off. The Tigers won handily against both Vanderbilt and Tulane, while Vanderbilt downed Tulane by 34 points.

The meet marked the greatly anticipated regular season debut of NCAA, World, and Olympic Champion Maggie MacNeil for LSU. Swimming in her fifth year of eligibility after completing her undergraduate degree at Michigan, MacNeil has rejoined her former coach at Michigan, Rick Bishop, who is now serving in his second year as the head coach of LSU.

After a summer in which MacNeil swam in a limited capacity at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games due to a mix of physical and mental health reasons, she looked as good as ever racing yesterday. MacNeil has already started breaking LSU program records, taking down the 100 back and 100 free marks yesterday. She clocked a 51.10 to win the 100 back by 5.37 seconds, also blowing away the previous LSU program mark of 52.67, which was held by Caley Oquist from 2014. MacNeil then went on to post a dominant win in the 100 free, touching in 47.43. That swim came in half-a-second under the previous LSU record, which was held by Amanda Kendall at 47.90 from 2011. Adding to the impressiveness of her swims, MacNeil reportedly raced in a practice suit and did an AM practice/lift before the meet.

MacNeil only swam on one relay for LSU yesterday, but she sure made the most of it. The fifth year anchored the LSU 200 medley relay in a blistering 21.24, marking the fastest free split in the field by 1.42 seconds. That relay included Jade Hannah, who was a Pac-12 ‘A’ finalist last season while competing for USC but has transferred to LSU for this season. Hannah didn’t compete at LSU’s intrasquad meet last week due to an injury but was good to go yesterday, leading off LSU’s 200 medley in 26.02. It was notably Hannah’s only race of the day. LSU ‘B’ relay backstroker Michaela De Villiers was slightly faster, leading off her relay in 25.93.

LSU freshman Sofia Sartori was a double event winner on the day, taking the 200 fly and 200 back. Sartori, who grew up in Italy, is still new to yards racing, but was able to pull out a victory in the 200 fly, swimming a 2:01.19. It was a very tight race between LSU teammates Sartori, Jenna Bridges (2:01.98), and Hannah Bellina (2:02.08). Bellina got out to the lead, swimming a 58.31 on the first 100, followed closely by Sartori (58.42) and Bridges (59.05). Bellina was also great on the third 50, swimming a 30.95, expanding her lead over Sartori, who split 31.28 and Bridges, who split 31.41. She hit the wall coming home, however, swimming a 32.82 on the final 50, while Sartori and Bridges were excellent, splitting 31.49 and 31.52 respectively. The last 50 put Sartori in first, Bridges in second, and Bellina in third. One final note on the race: Sartori and Bridges are freshmen, while Bellina is just a sophomore, meaning this 200 fly group is young for LSU.

Sartori went on to win the 200 back, swimming a 2:01.13. Tulane’s Danielle Titus got out ahead of Sartori, splitting 1:00.45 on the first 100, with Sartori flipping in 1:00.94. Sartori was incredible on the back half of the race, however, throwing down a negative split with a 1:00.19 on the final 100, stamped by a sizzling 29.44 on the last 50. Titus ended up in second, touching the wall in 2:01.90.

Jenna Bridges went on to win the 100 fly, swimming a 56.04. LSU’s freshmen class continues to look strong, with fellow freshman Chloe Song finishing right behind Bridges in 56.34. Emily Pawlaski, also an LSU freshman, finished fourth, touching in 56.99. She displayed some great speed on the opening 50, leading the field with a 25.95 on the first 50 of the race.

Hannah Womer, a fifth year who transferred to LSU from Florida State, got off to a great start with the Tigers, winning two races yesterday. Womer first won the 200 breast convincingly, touching the wall in 2:18.50, three seconds ahead of anyone else. She then went on to take the 200 IM in 2:05.09, narrowly beating out Vanderbilt freshman Ellen Taliaferro (2:05.29), who was rapidly closing the gap on the final 50. Womer swam a good race all around, splitting 27.32 on fly, 32.59 on back, 25.32 on breast, and 29.86 on free.

LSU freshman Abby Maoz is looking to be a name to keep an eye on. She won the 100 breast handily yesterday, tearing to a 1:02.43. She was great on both 50s, swimming 29.36 on the first 50, then came home in 33.07. Vanderbilt’s Faith Knelson, who joined the team late in the season last year, competed yesterday, taking second in the 100 breast with a 1:03.67. Knelson swam an incredibly tight race for a 100 breast, splitting 30.72 on the first 50, then roaring home in 32.95, for a difference of just 2.23 seconds between her 50s.

The Tigers put up a solid 400 free relay without MacNeil competing on it yesterday, winning the event in 3:25.18. Katarina Milutinovich led the team off in 51.09, then was followed by Michaela de Villiers (51.46), Chloe Cheng (51.94), and Reagan Osborne with a speedy anchor split of 50.69. If we were to project what the relay would have gone with MacNeil on it, let’s replace Cheng’s 51.94 with MacNeil’s 47.43 in the individual 100 free, which would have taken 4.51 seconds off the final time, making it 3:20.67.

PRESS RELEASE – LSU:

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s swimming team took to the pool for its first regular-season meet of the season and nabbed two victories against Tulane and Vanderbilt Friday afternoon inside the LSU Natatorium.

The final score of the LSU-Tulane dual meet was 214-48 in the Tigers’ favor, while LSU topped Vanderbilt 201-61.

“It was a great day for the Tigers,” LSU head swimming coach Rick Bishop said. “Coming off the Purple and Gold meet, we have a lot of performances that are improving. That is what we’re looking for at this time in the season: constant improvement. We’re working on the details and our racing skills. I thought they did a great job today.

“We’re getting ready to move forward into some SEC competition, and I think we’re in a good spot,” Bishop continued. “We’re getting stronger, working hard and building confidence. We saw some nice swims from Maggie MacNeil with two school records and some of our freshmen are starting to step and show they can do some great things.”

LSU senior Maggie MacNeil, who has been a driving force on any team she’s been a part of, continued her impressive string of performances Friday with the Tigers. Competing in three total events, her times in individual races for the 100-back and 100-free earned her two school records. In the 100-yard back, she surpassed Caley Oquist’s time, clocking a 51.10. For the 100-yard free, she broke Amanda Kendall’s record, swimming a time of 47.43.

Behind MacNeil’s strong outing for her first meet in the purple and gold, LSU won 12 of the 14 events. To start out the season, the Tigers took the top two spots in the 4×50 medley relay.

In the individual events, Jolee Liles opened the distance event slate with a win in the 100-yard free, finishing with a time of 10:06.85. Allison Tomsuden rounded out the top-3 on the event with a time of 10:17.89.

For the 200-yard free, Reagan Osborne nabbed first place with a time of 1:50.08, while Chloe Cheng and Peyton Curry finished in second and third, respectively, with times of 1:51.93 and 1:52.33. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Abby Maoz won with a time of 1:02.43 and Jadyn Jannasch claimed third place with a time of 1:04.21.

Sofia Sartori, a highly touted athlete from Italy, claimed first place in the 200-yard fly with Jenna Bridges and Hannah Bellina closing out the top three places in the event. Similarly, in the 50-yard free, three Tigers touched the wall in succession. Katarina Milutinovich claimed first place, while Michaela de Villiers and Emily Pawlaski touched second and third, respectively.

Sartori grabbed her second win of the meet in the 200-back, finishing with a time of 2:01.13. In the 200-yard breaststroke, Hannah Womer and Jannasch claimed first and second with times of 2:18.50 and 2:21.66, respectively.

To close out the meet, Bridges snagged first place in the 100-yard fly and Womer claimed first in the 200-yard IM.

PRESS RELEASE – VANDERBILT:

BATON ROUGE, La. – Mercedes Traba won one race and finished second in another to lead the Vanderbilt swimming team to a split in its dual meet season debut Friday at the LSU Natatorium.

The Commodores began the campaign by defeating Tulane 148-114 while falling 201-61 to the host Tigers.

“I’m happy with what we saw from the team today,” Vandy head coach Jeremy Organ said. “I was really pleased for Mercedes and the day that she had competing, she has done a great job the last couple of weeks in practice. We could see the fruits of that labor in her results today.”

Traba claimed Vandy’s lone win in the 500 freestyle in the first individual race of the meet, adding a runner-up finish in the 1,000 freestyle. Faith Knelson placed second in the 100 breaststroke and Ellie Taliaferro was runner-up in the 200 individual medley, with fellow freshmen Ryen Bosuro and Taylor Carey adding top-five performances in their collegiate debuts.

“Some of the freshmen made an impact in their respective races like Ellie and Ryen, there are a lot of good things to come for this group,” said Organ. “Now we’ll get back to work in order to prepare for a really good Auburn team in two weeks.”

Meet Highlights
-In addition to her result in the individual medley, Taliaferro finished fourth in the 100 freestyle as well.
-Kailia Utley contributed top-five performances after placing third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 and 200 butterfly.
-Carey ended up third in the 200 breaststroke and was also fourth in the 100 breaststroke.
-Gabriela Pierobon Mays earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
-Maddie Smith was fifth in the 200 individual medley in her Vandy debut.

Notes
-This was the Dores’ first visit to Baton Rouge since November 1989.
-It’s the second straight season that Vanderbilt has defeated the Green Wave, as the Commdores have claimed four of the last five meetings in the series.
-Traba’s 10:13.34 time in the 1,000 freestyle shaved nearly 20 seconds off her previous best mark while moving her into third on the school’s all-time performer list in the event
-Bosuro touched the wall in 1:52.65 in the 200 freestyle, less than a second from moving into the top 10 in the race in the Dores’ record book.
-Taliaferro and Knelson just missed entering the top 10 all-time at Vandy in the 200 individual medley after posting marks of 2:05.29 and 2:05.85, respectively.

The Commodores will return to action with a home meet against Auburn at the Centennial Sportsplex on Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. CT. 

PRESS RELEASE – TULANE:

BATON ROUGE, LA.– The Tulane swimming and diving team began its 2022-23 season Friday in Baton Rouge at the LSU Natatorium where it competed in a dual meet against Vanderbilt and hosts LSU.

The Green Wave showed its talents with some great finishes, highlighted by second-place Danielle Titus finishes in the 100 (56.47 seconds) and 200 Backstrokes (2:01.90).

“It was good to see the team get up and race for the first time this season,” said head coach Amanda Caldwell. “Collectively we agree there are some details that need cleaned up to help our races get stronger, and celebrated the energy and effort they brought to the pool today. I am looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow on those details as we get ready to head to Jacksonville next week.”

The Green Wave’s 4 x 100 free relay team of Isabella Lojewski, Olcaytu Hatipoglu, Samantha Krew and Grace Dale finished on the podium with a time of 3:33.67.

In the team standings, Vanderbilt downed Tulane 148-114 and LSU did the same by a 214-48 count.

Tulane is back in action Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m.) in Jacksonville, Florida against North Florida.

RESULTS:
4×50 Yard Medley Relay
6. 1:48.91 (Danielle Titus, Sara Keats-O’Connor, Isabella Lojewski, Olcaytu Hatipoglu)
8. 1:49.35 (Reese Dunkenberger, Liv Davidson, Kate Amar, Grace Dale)

1000 Yard Freestyle
4. Elena Gingras, 10:34.10
5. Sydney Mullin, 10:39.64
8. Jennifer Gougelmann, 11:07.10

200 Yard Freestyle
4. Isablella Lojewski, 1:52.52
7. Samantha Krew, 1:54.44

100 Yard Backstroke
2. Danielle Titus, 56.47
4. Riley Hendrix, 57.20
9. Quinlan Hinerfeld, 58.72
11. Reese Dunkenberger, 59.60

100 Yard Backstroke
6. Sara Keats-O’Connor, 1:08.03
8. Gianna Spremullo, 1:08.28
9. Liv Davidson, 1:10.62

200 Yard Butterfly
6. Mya Drost-Parra, 2:06.00
7. Samantha Krew, 2:06.61
8. Kate Amar, 2:07.17

50 Yard Freestyle
4. Grace Dale, 24.34
5. Riley Hendrix, 24.59
9. Eleanor McMeen, 24.86
12. Olcaytu Hatipoglu, 25.12

100 Yard Freestyle
6. Samantha Krew, 52.83
7. Riley Hendrix, 53.50
9. Grace Dale, 53.70
11. Eleanor McMeen, 54.48

200 Yard Backstroke
2. Danielle Titus, 2:01.90
5. Mya Drost-Parra, 2:04.70
6. Gianna Spremullo, 2:06.14
8. Quinlan Hinerfeld, 2:08.91

200 Yard Breaststroke
6. Sara Keats-O’Connor, 2:26.58
8. Liv Davidson, 2:33.22

500 Freestyle
5. Elena Gingras, 5:07.91
6. Sydney Mullin, 5:11.26
11. Jennifer Gougelmann, 5:27.57

100 Yard Butterfly
5. Isabella Lojewski, 57.19
9. Eleanor McMeen, 59.46
11. Olcaytu Hatipoglu, 1:02.33

200 Yard IM
7. Gianna Spremullo, 2:08.74
8. Mya Drost-Parra, 2:10.65
9. Kate Amar, 2:11.47
10. Quinlan Hinerfeld, 2:12.58

4 x 100 Yard Freestyle Relay
3. 3:33.67 (Isabella Lojewski, Olcaytu Hatipoglu, Samantha Krew, Grace Dale)
8. 3:39.56 (Riley Hendrix, Elena Gingras, Sydney Mullin, Reese Dunkenberger)