Jan. 23, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore Laura Dillon and freshman Jess Eccher swam to first-place finishes but it wasn’t enough as the Commodores fell to South Carolina (192-94) and UNC-Wilmington (204-89) at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia on Saturday. Despite the losses, VU (1-5 overall, 0-3 SEC) swam to a handful of season high performances.
Erika Deardorf, the school record holder in the 1650-yard freestyle, posted a season-best mark of 5:02.62 to place third in the 500-yard freestyle. Fellow freshman, Amy Salce finished one spot and one second behind Deardorf with a 5:03.67.
Junior Jennifer Molchan and sophomore Zoe Cooper-Surma finished one and two among VU’s top placewinners in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle while Salce and Ellen Kilgore registered team and season-high times in the 1000 free. Salce’s time of 10:25.88 topped her previous high mark by 16 seconds while Kilgore trimmed 39 seconds off her previous best.
The freshmen duo of Chelsea Morey and Rose Cornelson posted the top two times among VU’s fleet in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke while sophomore Allie Voss came in third place in the 100 breaststroke.
Dillon once again took home top-honors in the 200-yard breaststroke, winning the event by eight-tenths of a second after swimming a 2:21.82. The Reston, Va., native already holds the school record in the 200 breast. Two events later, Dillon clocked a new career-high time of 2:07.73 to place third in the 200-yard butterfly. Dillon’s mark Saturday was nearly three seconds faster than her previous career best.
Eccher took home first-place honors in the 200-yard IM after clocking a season-best 2:07.88, nearly missing the school record of 2:06.02 (Leslie Holt, ’90). Eccher’s 200 IM time was the fastest mark a Commodore has swam in the event this season. The former Bolles (Fla.) School standout, also posted a team-high and personal best 58.45 to lead Vanderbilt in the 100-yard butterfly. Eccher’s previous high in the 100 fly came when she clocked a 59:37 in VU’s dual with Arkansas on Nov. 6, 2009.
The VU swimming and diving team will be in action next Friday when they travel to Huntington, W.Va., to swim against the Thundering Herd of Marshall. The meet between the Commodores and Herd will begin at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29.
For complete results of today’s triangular meet with Vanderbilt, South Carolina and UNC-Wilmington, click the “complete results” link at the top of the page.
