COLUMBIA, S.C. — Reagan Mathieson became the third member of the Vanderbilt swimming program to break a school record over the last three days, while Aubrey Hull and Megan Ciezczak claimed individual victories as the Gamecock Invitational concluded Friday at the USC Natatorium.
Kailia Utley and Mercedes Traba also advanced to A Finals along with Mathieson on the final day of the meet.
“I think there are a lot of good things we can take from the last three days as we look at the rest of the season. But this week also gave us a lot of things we know we can work on and get better at,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “It was important for our upperclassmen to lead the way us today, especially on the third day which is the toughest in the meet to get up and go. Getting that leadership from the group went a long way.
“I feel like we’re in a really good place, now we have to continue this and keep it going. We’re looking forward to 2025.”
The Commodores scored a total of 412 points over the last three days to come in sixth place in a field of 10 teams at the competition.
Meet Highlights
-The duo of Utley and Traba both qualified for the A Final of the 200 fly.
-Mathieson advanced to compete in the 100 free A Final.
-Hull won the B Final of the 200 back, which Quinlan Hinerfeld qualified for also.
-Emily Constable placed second while Taylor Carey also swam in the 200 breast B Final.
-Kate Heintz earned a third-place finish in the B Final of the 200 fly.
Notes
-After touching the wall in 49.84 in the prelims of the 100 free Mathieson broke the school record set last spring by Ellie Taliaferro.
-With a 1:57.43 mark in the 200 back final, Hull reset the program’s freshman record in the event she had previously set at South Carolina just over a month ago.
-It was her sixth individual victory of the semester, and her second in the 200 back.
-Mathieson and Hull were joined by Megan Ciezczak and Ryen Bosuro in the 400 free relay, with the group finishing the race in 3:24.01 to move into fourth on the Dores’ all-time record list in the event.
-Hinerfeld’s prelim time of 2:00.10 moved her into seventh place on Vandy’s all-time performer list in the 200 back.
-Kendall Hall recorded a career-low mark of 53.21 in prelims of the 100 free.
-Utley and Traba had times of 1:59.92 and 2:01.52, respectively, in the 200 fly final, their best of the season; the latter also moved up to seventh on the school’s all-time list in the event while meeting the CSCAA NIC B standard with her performance.
-With a 2:01.43 mark in finals of the 200 back, Grace Ciaramitaro achieved the NIC B standard while recording her fastest time of the campaign.
-Ciezczak touched the wall in 51.38—her lowest of the season—in the C Final of the 100 free to pick up her second individual win as a Commodore.
-With a mark of 2:16.03 in the final, Constable improved on her best time of that season that already ranked seventh on the Dores’ all-time performer list.
-Carey touched the wall in 2:19.96 in the 200 breast prelims, her fastest time of 2024-25, while Amelia Harper had a personal-best 2:21.39 mark in the event in the morning.
-Vandy had six other individuals post season-best times in the 100 free as well: Hull (51.96), Bosuro (52.13), Hannah Weissman (52.66), Jenna Ravarino (52.84), Karsyn Cook (52.95) and Olivia Solimine (52.99).
-Libby Gilbert (2:02.38), Emily Carpenter (2:02.95), and Cole Liffmann (2:03.88) had their fastest marks of the season in final heats of the 200 back as well.
