Carr Shatters School Record on Day Two
February 26, 2015 09:30 PM | General
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| Ross Glegg, left, Tim Squires, middle, and Frank Csonka pose with their medals on Thursday night.
Photo by Conrad Stoll |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Led by Nate Carr’s school record in the men’s 200-yard IM, the West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished the second day of competition at the 2015 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships earlier tonight at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
After two nights of competition, the men sit in third place while the women sit in fifth place.
“It was a really strong day for us. I’m really proud of how both teams swam today, but especially the men,” said coach Vic Riggs. “Tonight, we had a lot of great swims. Emma (Skelley) had a really good 500 free and seniors Nathan (Cobbe) and Daeton (Davenport) had strong swims as well.
“Overall, both teams did a great job today, and we’ve put ourselves in a position to make up more ground tomorrow.”
Carr raced to a third-place finish in the A Final of the men’s 200 yard IM in a school record 1:44.70. Carr, a sophomore from Charleston, West Virginia, broke the previous WVU record of 1:46.04 set by Michael Walker in 2009. For his efforts, Carr claimed First Team All-Big 12 accolades.
The men’s 200 IM also saw Chris Brill place fifth in 1:48.24 to earn Second Team All-Big 12 recognition and Chase Williams finish seventh in 1:49.60.
In the B Final of the women’s 200-yard IM, Sammie Guay hit the pad in a season-best 2:03.95 to place fourth. Taylor Gill also swam a season-best in the B final to finish sixth in 2:05.84.
“Our 200 IMs today was probably our best event,” Riggs said. “Sammie and Taylor both had solid swims. Having Chase, Chris and Nate in the finals really helped make up some points. Nate’s swim broke the school record by over a second and was an NCAA invite time from last year.”
In the women’s 50-yard freestyle A Final, Jaimee Gillmore snagged All-Big 12 Honors with a fourth-place result. Gillmore’s time of 22.86 in the event was a season-best mark. In the B Final, Courtney Parenti finished fourth (12th overall) in 23.54.
Tim Squires just missed out on winning the league’s men’s 50-yard freestyle for a second straight season. Squires placed second overall, claiming All-Big 12 First Team honors, in 19.59. His time was just two hundredths of a second behind the first-place finisher.
Also in the men’s 50 free A final, Ross Glegg earned All-Big 12 recognition in fifth place (20.03) and Frank Csonka placed seventh in 20.49.
“The 50s were right behind our 200 IMs as far as best events of the day. Jaimee had just a great prelims swim and followed it up tonight by dropping another .10,” Riggs said. “Tim, Ross and Frank in the finals also helped eat away at some points.”
In the men’s 400-yard medley relay, the Mountaineer team of Andrew Marsh, Max Spencer, Chase Williams and Squires placed second overall in 3:11.12. The women’s 200-yard medley relay suffered a disqualification.
“Both relays were really good tonight. Unfortunately, the DQ bug hit us in the women, which cost us being third in the team standings,” Riggs said. “The men’s relay missed the team record by .01 and Andrew’s lead also was an NCAA invite time from last year.”
Emma Skelley garnered All-Big 12 honors with a fourth-place finish in the A final of the women’s 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in a season-best 4:50.04. In the B Final of the event, Mackenzie Braden finished in sixth place and 14th overall in 5:00.10.
The men’s 500-yard freestyle A Final saw Daeton Davenport race to an eighth-place finish in a season-best time of 4:28.92. Nathan Cobbe won the B Final (ninth overall) in 4:27.83, Nathan Howells finished fourth (12th overall) in 4:34.40, James Koval finished fifth (13th overall) in 4:32.67 and Pierce Bradshaw placed sixth (14th overall) in 4:34.68.
The lone diving event held on Thursday night was the women’s 1-meter. Haily VandePoel placed seventh in the event with a score of 264.80. Jennifer Rey followed close behind in seventh place with a 263.95 score.
“Today’s diving event for the women was a great event with small errors that cost us some points we needed to finish in the top,” said diving coach Michael Grapner. “I’m happy for Jennifer Rey and Haily VandePoel. They have had a great season and it was nice to see them on the podium tonight.”
The Mountaineers will return to action for day three of the Big 12 Championships tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET. The four-day championships will run through the weekend and conclude with the Saturday night finals session scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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