NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ellie Taliaferro set a school record and Mercedes Traba won another race to highlight the final day of the regular season for the Vanderbilt swimming program Saturday.
The former broke the old mark in the 100 IM and the latter finished first in the 300 free to help the Commodores (5-4-1) defeat Little Rock 170.5-72.5 while dropping a 181-62 decision to Arkansas at the Centennial Sportsplex.
“There was good energy, we had a lot of fun today. It was a great way to send off a fabulous group of seniors,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “There were some good races we can build off of as me go forward to the SEC Championships.”
Maddie Smith joined Taliaferro and Traba in posting multiple top-three results.
“Those three have been great all season long,” said Organ. “They were competing in events we don’t get to swim that often, it has a different feel but it was just good racing by them today. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do in a couple of weeks.”
Meet Highlights
-In addition to her victory, Traba earned a second-place finish in the 300 IM (3:16.20).
-Taliaferro finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 IM and 100 free (51.80).
-Smith placed second in the 50 back and was third in the 100 IM.
-Hannah Weissman touched the wall third to lead the Dores in the 100 back (58.12).
-Alina Stout posted a third-place result in the 50 fly (25.58).
Notes
-Vandy has now recorded a win in its final regular-season meet in five of the last six years.
-It was the 11th victory in as many meetings in the series with Little Rock for the Commodores.
-Prior to the meet a group including Allison Bauer, Eleanor Beers, Chantal Jordan, Kristen Nutter, Alixandra Roy, Natalie Van Noy and Taylor Ward were recognized as members of the program who will be graduating in the spring or competing in their final regular-season meet for the Dores.
-Taliaferro became the first member of the program to post a sub-58 second time in the 100 IM after touching the wall in 57.40.
-The win was the sixth of the season and 12th of her career for Traba, both the most on the team.
-Smith’s 58.97 mark in the 100 IM now stands fourth on Vandy’s all-time performance list, and she also moved into eighth in the school’s record books in the 50 back (26.53).
-The junior added a season-best 1:08.48 performance in the 100 breast.
-Van Noy now ranks sixth on the program’s all-time list in the 50 fly after touching the wall in 25.87, with Nutter posting a career-best 26.08 mark to move into seventh place in the event.
-Leigh Farah had a career-low time of 1:07.47 in the 100 breast to move into fourth in the event on Vandy’s season performance list.
-Ryen Bosuro touched the wall in a career-best 52.97 seconds in the 100 free.
The Commodores will open competition at the SEC Championships in College Station, Texas, on Feb. 14.
