LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alina Stout won two races, with two other individuals adding victories as Vanderbilt swimming swept a tri-meet at the Donaghey Aquatic Center on Saturday.
In addition to claiming two distances in the fly, Mercedes Traba and Faith Knelson were also victorious to help the Commodores defeat North Texas 167-126 and host Little Rock by a 147.5-139.5 margin.
“It was a nice day for Alina, it was exciting to see her have some success today. She executed her races well—she really likes those sprint events—which was fun to watch,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “As a team, there were some really good performances but there were some times we saw the effects of the grind that we’ve been in. We’re starting to come out of it and see some good pop out of the ladies, they came together as a team to go one-two in that last relay.
“Now we have to get ready for Senior Day next week and to make a final push this year.”
Vanderbilt will recognize eight members of the program as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to taking on Tulane on Friday. The competition is set to begin at 2 p.m.
Meet Highlights
-The Commodores won the 200 medley relay to begin the competition as well as the 400 free relay to conclude the meet.
-Traba and Madelyn Porter recorded a one-two finish for the Dores in the 1,000 free.
-Stout won the 50 and 100 fly, with Karsyn Cook also coming in third in the former race as well.
-Knelson and Abby Francis claimed the top two spots in the 50 breast, and Francis also finished second in the 200 IM.
-Vandy took four of the top five spots in the 100 back, with Emily Carpenter coming in second followed by Hannah Weissman, Grace Ciaramitaro and Meredith DiPasquale.
-Megan Ciezczak was runner-up in the 50 free, then finished third in the 100 free that followed.
Notes
-In the 1,000 free, Traba broke her own school record in the event with a time of 10:03.16 while Porter’s mark of 10:24.05 moved her into ninth place on Vandy’s all-time performer list.
-Francis (29.24) and Liv Gooding (29.85) moved into second and fourth place, respectively, on the program’s all-time performer list in the 50 breast.
-Stout improved on her previous career-low time with a 24.87 mark in the 50 fly, as she became the second Commodore ever to post a sub-25 second time in the event.
-The victories were the second and third of her career, with all three coming in the same venue; the senior won the 100 fly at Little Rock on Jan. 29, 2022.
-Vandy’s 400 free relay team of Ciezczak, Francis, Weissman and Ellie Taliaferro posted the seventh-fastest mark in the event in school history after finishing in 3:24.63.
-Knelson (29.22) and Francis (29.24) both achieved the CSCAA National Invitational Championship A Standard in the 50 breast, with Stout accomplishing the same feat in the 50 fly.
-Knelson picked up her fourth individual victory of the season in the event—tied for most on the team—and has now won 12 races as a member of the program.
-Kate Heintz (1:52.01) posted the fastest mark of her career in the 200 free, with Ryen Bosuro (1:53.15) touching the wall in a season-best time.
-Gooding also led the Dores with a career-low 1:05.10 mark in the 100 breast, and Ella Platek added a season-best time of 1:05.94 in the race.
