No. 18 Arkansas Picks Up Two More Wins

DAVIDSON, North Carolina, January 19. THE 18th-ranked University of Arkansas swimming and diving team (9-1, 3-1 SEC) walked away with three Davidson pool records and picking up two more wins to go along with their two from yesterday. The Razorbacks defeated Davidson (194-96) and Queens College (191-85) in a double-dual meet in Davidson, N.C.

“This whole weekend is just about championship preparation,” head coach Sean Schimmel said. “Just being on the road and doing things right and handling things well to maximize our performances. I think if we look at today after last night we had an opportunity to change things up and move some people around into different events and we don't usually get that opportunity.”

The Razorback victories are a result of a total team effort as eight different Razorbacks recorded a win out of the 14 individual events. Arkansas won 14 of the 16 events, including both relays. The Razorbacks also had an impressive nine one-two finishes on the day.

Arkansas started off the meet with a bang, recording a Davidson pool record in the 400 medley relay as the relay team of sophomore Shana Lim, sophomore Nikki Daniels, sophomore Susanna White and freshman Nina Drolc nabbed the record with a time of 3:50.00.

Arkansas followed their relay win with a first-place finish in the 1,000 freestyle as freshman Anna Mayfield swam a 10.11.51 for the victory. Mayfield held a solid lead throughout the entire race and was able to extend it into a 17 second victory margin.

Freshman Nina Drolc went out of her element to swim the 200 freestyle, picking up a big win for Arkansas with a time of 1:51.57. Drolc out-touched Caroline Arakelian at the wall by .39 seconds. Drolc was trailing Arekelian after the final turn but was able to track her down for the win in the final 50 when she recorded a 28,15 split. The event win put Arkansas up over Queens College (41-11) and Davidson (44-10).

Mayfield returned to the pool in the 100 backstroke clocking a big win with a pool record 55.59. The previous record was 56.37.

In the 200 fly freshman Rebekah Harvey recorded a big win as she clocked a 2:07.74 with freshman Rachel Kessler coming in second with a time of 2:08.00.

On the three-meter board Kesha Naylor took top honors with a score of 323.77 with freshman Shelby Bartlett coming in second with a score of 276.67.

Swimming out of her element, White took a stab at the 100 breaststroke and was able to clinch a victory with a time of 1:05.65. The sophomore took first-place in the event. With her win, Arkansas soared, grabbing a 54-point lead over Queens College and a 48-point lead over host Davidson.

At the first swimming break, Arkansas went one-two in the 50 freestyle as junior Alex Sutton picked up the win with a time of 24.68. Freshman Rachel Stoehr came in second with .11 behind Sutton to take second-place, igniting several 'Hog Calls' from the Razorback crowd.

On the one-meter board the Razorbacks put on a show, with Naylor picking up the win with a score of 303.68. Freshman Hannah Bortnick had a solid performance scoring a 287.10 overall. Bortnick nearly perfected a 1 ? somersault in pike position that scored 8.0's across the board giving off a cheer from the Razorback fans attending the meet. The Razorback divers went 1-2-3-4 on the one-meter board as Bartlett (282.60) came in third and junior Meaghan Clark (268.58).

“It was another solid performance by Kesha sweeping both boards,” head diving coach Dale Schultz said. “All four ladies dove well on the one-meter, and I'm looking forward to diving against Kansas and in the SEC Championships.”

All four Arkansas divers have now qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships on both the one-meter and three-meter boards.

Arkansas cleaned house on the 100 freestyle with White leading the way with a time of 51.21. White led out of the gate as she was the only swimmer under 25 seconds on the first 50. Mayfield (52.54), Monroe (52.79) and Stoehr (54.49) rounded out the top-four.

Arkansas nabbed another one-two finish as sophomore Julia Banach (2:19.90) and freshman Tera Bradham (2:26.17) grabbed the top spots in the 200 breast stroke. The wins put the Razorbacks ahead 144-38 against Queens and 149-38 against Davidson.

Arkansas would grab a one-two-three finish in the 500 freestyle led by Sigrun Sverrisdottir (5:01.97), Lauren Jordan (5:03.44) and Stoehr (5:06.67).

In the final event of the meet the Razorbacks didn't let up as they sought to take another pool record with them, downing the 200 freestyle relay record with a blistering 1:35.83. Drolc, Monroe, Lim and White combined to take down the record. Drolc opened up the race, giving Arkansas the lead with a blistering 23.63 split, which was the fastest split of the race.

“One of our goals today coming off of yesterday was to come in and be competitive and be tough throughout all the races,” Schimmel said.

Arkansas returns to the pool on Feb. 2nd, as they face Kansas at 10 a.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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