Three Top-20 Finishes on Day 3

Commodores close season at CSCAA National Invitational Championship

ELKHART, Ind. — A trio of Vanderbilt swimmers posted top-20 results as the CSCAA National Invitational Championship concluded Saturday at the Beacon Health Aquatic Center.

The duo of Faith Knelson and Ellie Taliaferro advanced to the B Final in the 100 IM, while Kailia Utley was among the top 10 finishers in the 200 fly in preliminary heats in the morning of the final day of the meet.

The Commodores scored 109 points over three days to place 28th among 58 schools in the final team standings.

“Tonight was a great finish to a really successful season for us,” said head coach Jeremy Organ. “We’re looking forward to a little break and then get stated on preparing for next season!”

Meet Highlights
-Knelson and Taliaferro each qualified for the B Final in the 100 IM in the opening prelim of the morning session.
-Utley tied for eighth in qualifying in the 200 fly with a time of 2:00.84.
-Megan Ciezczak posted a 51.28 mark in prelims of the 100 free.
-Mercedes Traba was just over a second away from making finals in the 200 fly also after touching the wall in 2:04.53.
-Gabriela Pierobon Mays was the third Dore to compete in the 100 IM in the morning.
-Knelson would return to win the B Final of the 100 IM in the evening, with Taliaferro placing sixth in the race.

Notes
-Both Knelson (56.60) and Taliaferro (56.96) beat the latter’s school record in the 100 IM set in the final meet of the regular season against Arkansas and Little Rock on Jan. 28.
-Knelson would break the record again, touching the wall in 55.90 to claim her sixth victory of the season.
-It was the third final that Knelson qualified for at the meet after also moving on in the 50 and 100 breast the previous two days.
-Taliaferro lowered her personal-best time in the 100 IM by .06 seconds in the final.
-In all, the Commodores broke records in seven individual events during the 2022-23 season, with Taliaferro also posting three freshman marks.