COLUMBIA, S.C. — Faith Knelson claimed the A Final of the 100 breaststroke Thursday to lead the efforts of Vanderbilt swimming on the second day of the Gamecock Invitational.
The senior was one of seven Commodores to qualify for the A Final of an event at the USC Natatorium. She was joined by Kailia Utley—who competed in two finals at the night session of the meet—along with Megan Ciezczak, Abby Francis, Liv Gooding, Sophia Kosturos and Ellie Taliaferro.
The Gamecock Invitational wraps up on Friday, with preliminary schedule for a 9 a.m. CT start and finals beginning at 3 p.m.
Meet Highlights
-The Dores finished third in the 200 medley relay to open the night session.
-Knelson won the A Final of the 100 breast, with Francis placing fourth in the race.
-Taliaferro touched the wall third in the A Final of the 200 free.
-Utley finished fourth in the 100 back A Final, adding a fifth-place result in the A Final of the 100 fly.
-Ciezczak was seventh in the A Final of the 100 back, with Kosturos ending up eighth in the 100 fly A Final.
-Gooding placed ninth in the A Final of the 400 IM, with fellow freshmen Grace Ciaramitaro and Bailey Ratzburg posting top-five results in the B Final.
-In the final event of the night, the Commodores were fourth in the 800 free relay.
Notes
-The foursome of Kosturos, Knelson, Alina Stout and Ciezczak recorded the second-fastest time in program history in the 200 medley relay after finishing the race in 1:31.87.
-The 800 free relay team of Francis, Mercedes Traba, Madelyn Porter and Taliaferro also posted a mark among the top 10 in school history, with their time of 7:28.08 ranking eighth.
-Knelson’s 1:01.26 time in the 100 breast prelims met the NCAA B Standard.
-Utley had a career-best time of 54.80 in the 100 back prelims, moving into third place on the Commodores’ all-time performer list while also meeting the CSCAA NIC B Standard.
-The junior leads the team having qualified for the CSCAA national championship in three different events thus far this season.
-Kosturos now stands tied for sixth on Vandy’s all-time performer list in the 100 fly, and she also achieved the NIC B Standard after touching the wall in 54.64 in the final of the event.
-Francis entered the top-10 all-time at Vandy with a 1:02.45 mark in the 100 breast, as she also met the NIC B Standard in an event for the second straight day.
-Ciaramitaro (4:27.21 in the 400 IM), Ciezczak (55.18 in the 100 back) and Taliaferro (1:49.30 in the 200 free) also recorded times below the NIC B Standard on the second day of the meet.
-Ciezczak posted a career-best mark in an event for the second day in a row.
-Traba’s time of 1:51.35 in 200 free was the fastest of her career, with Stout adding a career-low 56.78 mark in the 100 back.
