Jan. 8, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s swim team posted season-best times in three events but it was not enough to stop the Kansas Jayhawks from taking the dual meet 182-75 at the Centennial Sportsplex Saturday.
“I think overall they did well,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “We had been off for a month so we were a little rusty but we had two solid weeks of training and it showed.”
Sophomore Erika Deardorf opened the spring season with a second-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:17.43) that fell three seconds short of the school record that she set last season. The Texas native broke her previous season-best time of 2:30.68 set against the University of Miami on December 4, 2010.
“I think it went well today,” Deardorf said. “I had a positive attitude going into the race and it showed out there. I need to work on my pace-work and flip-turns to improve before the next meet.”
A team-best time was set in the 200-yard breaststroke by freshman Chloe Ott who finished third in a time of 2:22.13. Ott also finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:06.13, a personal best for the season. Jess Eccher set the team-best time for the year in the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 2:07.42 on her way to a fourth-place finish. Eccher was able to shave three seconds off the previous season-best time set by Laura Dillon.
Margaux Georgiadis set a personal-best time for the season in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.11, three seconds faster than her previous best.
Sophomores Rose Cornelson and Amy Salce set personal-bests for the season in their respective events. Cornelson finished the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.02 while Salce swam the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 54.62.
This was the first meet for the Commodores since traveling to Florida to take on the University of Miami in early December and the third home meet of the year. Vanderbilt has never held more than two home meets since the program resurrected in 2006.
“This gives us a new starting point for the spring,” Organ said. “We have two meets left and it gives us something to work on before the SEC Championships.”
Vanderbilt travels to Huntington, W.Va. to face Marshall on January 29 before hosting Tulane on February 5 in Nashville.
