Hurricanes Storm Past Vanderbilt in Swimming
Dec. 4, 2010
Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami secured 15 wins in 16 events on Saturday, defeating visiting Vanderbilt University, 180-82, in swimming action at the Norman A. Whitten University Center Pool on the UM campus in Coral Gables, Fla.
Miami (5-1) continues to roll at home over the course of the last two years, picking up its fourth consecutive win – and earning the sixth home win in the last seven head-to-head meets.
After turning in seven school records at the Georgia Tech Invitational two weeks ago, the Hurricanes were facing their first Southeastern Conference (SEC) foe in a dual meet since they last met Vanderbilt back on Jan. 11, 2008 – the second year at the helm for current fifth-year head coach Christie Shefchunas.
UM began the day claiming first place performances in the first 10 events.
The 200 medley relay squad kicked off the meet with a win in a time of 1:46.32, using the team of Hannah Kling (leadoff), Dana Hatic (second), Deidre Novotny (third) and Lauren Jacoby (anchor) in the victory. UM’s Christine Anderson (Chattanooga, Tenn.) then claimed her third 1000 freestyle win of the year, touching the wall at 10:26.71. Vanderbilt’s Erika Deardorf was second (10:30.68), while Miami’s Alicia Casillas (Merida, Spain) rounded out the top three with a time of 10:34.41.
Lauren Jacoby (Vienna, Va.) picked up her first 200 freestyle win of the year in a time of 1:55.48 in the next event.
Meanwhile, Miami went 1-2-3 in the 100 backstroke, using the strength of Hannah Kling (Miami, Fla.) to earn the win at 58.59 – her first 100 back win of the season. In second place was senior Deidre Novotny (Palm Harbor, Fla.) with a mark of 59.50, and Roxanne Meyer (Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa) was third with a time of 1:00.05. The `Canes followed that event with Sofia Johansson (Ramlösa, Sweden) touching the pad first in the 100 breaststroke, putting together a performance of 1:05.39. Vanderbilt’s Sarah Ellen Lynch, Chloe Ott and Rebecca Young gathered the second through fourth place marks.
Haley Nicholson (Pensacola, Fla.) and Erin Simpson (Lookout Mountain, Tenn.) went first and third, respectively, in the 200 butterfly, seeing Nicholson post a team season-best time of 2:07.56 in a winning fashion. Simpson recorded a time of 2:12.00. The win went to Miami’s Kelsi Hall (Yorktown, Ind.) in the 50 freestyle, using a time of 24.18 to power past teammate Annika Saarnak (Pühalepa, Estonia) who finished at 25.41.
It was the `Canes going first-, second-, third again in the 100 freestyle as Jacoby led all swimmers with a 54.15 performance. Susan Smiddy (Miami, Fla.) followed at 54.62, and Kayla Smith (Madison, Wis.) rounded out the order finishing in a time of 55.49. The only Hurricane swimmer in the 200 backstroke went against four Commodores, seeing the Hurricanes’ Kling came out on top in a winning mark of 2:07.15.
Anderson and Casillas were first and third in the 500 freestyle, seeing Anderson score the win in a time of 5:07.59, and Casillas roll in a mark of 5:13.78. Vanderbilt’s lone victory of the day came in the 200 breaststroke, using Laura Dillon defeat Johansson (2:27.10) and Hatic (2:28.82) who followed in order after Dillon’s winning time of 2:25.02.
Miami captured the first four finishing spots in the 100 butterfly. It was Saarnak coming in first (56.49), followed up by Novotny (59.05), Haley Nicholson (1:00.26) and Simpson (1:00.94). The `Canes then went first through third in the 200 IM, as USC transfer Whitney Stephenson (Grass Valley, Calif.) scored the win in a 2:09.43 fashion. She was followed closely by Novotny (2:09.71) in second, while Kling (2:10.42) was third.
UM finished the day grabbing the victory in the 400 free relay, seeing the team of Katherine Nicholson (leadoff), Alexis Fee (second), Smith (third) and Jacoby (anchor) push past three relay squads of the Commodores in a winning time of 3:40.00.
“I’m very happy with the effort of the team today,” said Shefchunas. “We have a huge goal at the end of the year, and today was another stepping stone for us in getting there.”
The `Canes will not break for the winter before returning to the pool on Jan. 15, 2011, traveling across town to FIU to meet the Golden Panthers at 11 a.m. Miami defeated FIU earlier this year by a count of 188-54.
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