S.C. College Invitational Day 2: Gamecocks Dominate

South Carolina head coach McGee Moody guided his teams to victory over Queens and UNCW.

The South Carolina College Invite, hosted by the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, concluded Saturday in Columbia. The host Gamecocks dominated the visiting teams of Queens and University of North Carolina – Wilmington in their last competition before SEC championships in February.

Day 1 Recap

FINAL SCORES

South Carolina men – 246,UNCW – 107
South Carolina men – 193, Queens – 154
Queens men – 196, UNCW – 151
South Carolina women – 279, UNCW – 73
South Carolina women – 175, Queens – 166
Queens women – 252, UNCW – 166

Full Results

South Carolina Recap

COLUMBIA, S.C– South Carolina swimming and diving wrapped up its regular season Sunday, finishing the S.C. College Invitational. The Gamecocks emerged 4-0 after two days of strong swimming with the men and the women both defeating Queens and UNC Wilmington.

Gamecock Notables

Carolina continued its fast start, winning the men’s 200 medley relay to open the meet. The team of seniors Kevin Liu, Itay Goldfaden, Justin Rose and sophomore Lewis Burras beat the rest of the field by two seconds.
Sophomore Ellie Masterson and freshman Jordan Yip Zhu Ern continued the Gamecocks’ breaststroke dominance, winning the 200.
Lewis Burras took home his second 50 freestyle win of the year with a 20.21.
The Gamecocks swept all four diving events, with sophomore Anton Down-Jenkins winning both boards for the men and freshman Mathilda Roxne and sophomore Yu Qian Goh winning the one-meter and three-meter, respectively, for the women.
Freshman Chase Allison took home his first win of the season in the 400 IM with a time of 3:56.65, a new personal record.

Final Scores
Men

South Carolina def. UNCW 246-107
South Carolina def. Queens 193-154
Queens def. UNCW 196-151

Women

South Carolina def. UNCW 279-73
South Carolina def. Queens 175-166
Queens def. UNCW 252-166

QUOATABLE HEAD COACH MCGEE MOODY
“I was really interested to see how we would respond this morning after racing last night, and we took care of ourselves pretty well. We swam kind of an off lineup; we got so people into different events especially on the women’s side. We fought – Queens and UNCW are two good programs that gave us races all the way to the end. Our kids stepped up big. Now the focus shifts 100 percent to the SEC Championships.”

QUOATBLE HEAD DIVING COACH TODD SHERRIT
“I thought we did really well. Yu Qian was outstanding on the three-meter today; she really showed up at the right time, and I think we got some breakthroughs there. Mathilda (Roxne) had a solid meet. The guys did well. Alex Claus had a solid meet, and Grant came off being sick all week long; so I was really happy with how he did. Overall, I’m happy; we’re right where we should be going into SECs.”

Up Next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks will lock in for the next two weeks before heading to Auburn for the 2020 SEC Championships starting on Feb. 18.

For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.

Queens Recap – men

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men’s swimming team turned in a dominant performance on the final day of competition in the 2020 South Carolina Winter Invitational on Saturday morning winning five of nine events.

Competing against NCAA Division I institutions South Carolina and UNC Wilmington, the Royals collected one relay victory and four wins in individual competition.

Sophomore Luke Erwee earned Queens’ first win of the day in the 1,000-Yard Freestyle with a time of 9:09.72, followed by a second place finish from teammate Mohamed Hegazy. Fellow sophomore Alex Kunert won his third event of the weekend by taking the top spot in the 100-Yard Butterfly.

In the 100-Yard Backstroke, Finn Howard and Alen Mosic finished first and second, respectively, while Skyler Cook-Weeksand Kunert picked up the Royals’ third 1-2 finish of the day in the 200-Yard Freestyle.

The 400-Freestyle Relay Team of Kunert, Cook-Weeks, Dmytro Sydorchenko, and Mosic edged the relay from South Carolina by .03 to end the weekend on a high note.

The Royals now turn their attention to the postseason as they prepare to compete in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships on Feb. 13-16 at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in Charlotte.

women

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women’s swimming team turned in a dominant performance on the final day of competition in the 2020 South Carolina Winter Invitational on Saturday morning winning six of nine events.

Competing against NCAA Division I institutions South Carolina and UNC Wilmington, the Royals collected two relay victories and four wins in individual competition.

Queens’ first relay win came in the 200-Yard Medley Relay as the team of Rachel Massaro, Mikaela Fullerton, Georgia DaCruz, and Wanda Dollmayer reached the wall in 1:43.40.

Junior Francesca Bains was a two-time winner on the day beginning with a first place finish in the 1,000-Yard Freestyle with a time of 10:11.55, almost 10 seconds faster than the runner-up finisher from South Carolina. Bains second win of the day came in the 400-Yard I.M. race.

Senior Polina Lapshina also won two races, beginning with the 100-Yard Butterfly where she and teammate Natalie Van Noyfinished first and second, respectively. Lapshina also won the 100-Yard Backstroke. Freshman Yuliia Stadnyk collected her second win of the weekend, finishing first in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:51.57.

The 400-Yard Freestyle Relay Team of Lapshina, Dollmayer, Hannah Foster, and Lexie Baker ended the meet with a win as Queens took two of the race’s top three spots.

UNCW Recap

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Evan Arsenault won the women’s 50-yard Freestyle to lead UNCW on Saturday at the South Carolina Collegiate Invitational.

The Seahawks were swept by Queens and South Carolina in their season finale.

Arsenault, who is ranked 51st nationally in the 50 Free, clocked in at 23.62 seconds to win the event.

Josh Rigsbee added a second-place finish in the 200 Breaststroke for the UNCW men.

The Seahawks posted a trio of fourth-place finishes behind Connor Forsythe in the 100 Butterfly, Will Countie in the 100 Backstroke and Sean Cannon in the 50 Free.

In diving, Courtney Klausen placed third in the 3-meter board and Trent Igoe finished fourth in the men’s 1-meter.

Next up for the Seahawks is the Colonial Athletic Association Championships on Feb. 19-22, in Christiansburg, Va.

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