200 Free Relay Set School Record - Finish 3rd
Eagles Enjoy Record Setting Day At CCSA Championships
2/19/2015 9:18:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
Parsons, Cortazzo, Lanson, and 200 Free Relay Set School Records On Day Two
Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Swimming and Diving team took to the Gabrielsen Natatorium pool Thursday for Day Two of the Coastal Carolina Swimming Association Championships and came up big. Day Two featured preliminaries and finals in the 500 Free, 200 Individual Medley, 50 Free, 1 Meter Diving, and 200 Free Relay.
After Day Two, the Eagles sit in 4th place with 383 points. Florida Gulf Coast leads with 626, Liberty is 2nd with 461, and Incarnate Word is 3rd with 407 points
"It was a really good day," said Head Coach Nate Kellogg. "We set ourselves up well with how we did during the morning and really put in the work there to be able to enjoy tonight and have fun and race."
Kylee Parsons opened the finals in the 500 Free and set a new school record with a time of 4:54.29 and a 6th place finish. In the "B" Final, Amber Juncker was 9th touching in 4:58.79, and Mae McWhorter finished 14th with a time of 5:05.40 Lani Cabrera from Florida Gulf Coast won the event with a time of 4:51.50.
"Kylee got us fired up with her performance in the 500 free and bettered her previous school record that she set last year by over half a second," commented Kellogg.
In the 200 IM, Amber Cortazzo set a school record during the preliminaries with a time of 2:05.30 to qualify 14th. In the finals, Cortazzo swam the same event in 2:05.49 to finish 13th. Teammates Madison Lichtefeld and Becca Alves finished in 14th and 16th respectively with times of 2:06.97 and 2:08.12. Incarnate Word's Alona Kyselova won the event in 2:00.28.
Elaina Lanson set a school record in the 50 free preliminaries touching in 22.95 to qualify for the finals in 3rd. It was a school record that stood for exactly 8 hours, as Lanson bettered the mark to finish 2nd in the 50 Free Finals with a time of 22.88. Teammate, Christina Moran was 12th with a time of 23.44. Emma Svensson of Florida Gulf Coast edged Lanson to finish 1st in 21.98.
Continued Kellogg, "Elaina has been waiting a long time for this. It's been a topic of conversation for 3 years and it's nice to see it finally start to happen for her."
"It was an amazing feeling," said Lanson. "I didn't think about anything during that race, I just got out there and swam and did whatever I needed to do. It's what I've been training for all year so looking up at the scoreboard after the race was just an incredible feeling."
The 200 Free Relay team of Parsons, Moran, Kaylyn Thomas and Lanson finished 3rd and set a school record with a time of 1:32.11 The record is a full 2.5 seconds better than the previous mark set in 2013.
Continued Lanson, "Swimming relays are my favorite events. You get to go up there with 3 other girls and the excitement and momentum that builds with your teammates – there is no other feeling like it. Those girls swam an amazing race, I was happy to be a part of it."
"That relay was just awesome with two girls going sub 23," added Kellogg. "We are really starting to put the pieces together for some truly great relays."
Diver Erin Hembree qualified for the 1 meter finals by finishing 7th in the preliminaries with 208.85 points. In the finals, Hembree scored 234.55 points to finish 7th. Kali Lents of Incarnate Word won the event with a score of 291.05. Chloe Cotter scored 180.7 points in the preliminaries but missed the finals by one spot.
"We are really proud of Erin for holding her spot and finishing 7th. The 1-meter event is her favorite and her best event, and she truly exceeded expectations. She's fired up and she has good reason," concluded Kellogg.
The Eagles will return for Day Three action Friday beginning at 10 a.m. with the preliminaries in the 400 Individual Medley, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back and 400 Medley Relay "B." Finals of those same events will begin at 6 p.m. from the Gabrielsen Nataorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.
The CCSA is comprised of 11 schools on the women's side - Campbell, Florida Gulf Coast, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, Howard, Incarnate Word, Liberty, North Carolina A&T, North Florida, UNC-Asheville and VMI.
Live meet results are available by visiting theccsa.com or by downloading the Meet Mobile app. In addition, fans are encouraged to Follow @gsathletics_SD for updates and pictures.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.
After Day Two, the Eagles sit in 4th place with 383 points. Florida Gulf Coast leads with 626, Liberty is 2nd with 461, and Incarnate Word is 3rd with 407 points
"It was a really good day," said Head Coach Nate Kellogg. "We set ourselves up well with how we did during the morning and really put in the work there to be able to enjoy tonight and have fun and race."
Kylee Parsons opened the finals in the 500 Free and set a new school record with a time of 4:54.29 and a 6th place finish. In the "B" Final, Amber Juncker was 9th touching in 4:58.79, and Mae McWhorter finished 14th with a time of 5:05.40 Lani Cabrera from Florida Gulf Coast won the event with a time of 4:51.50.
"Kylee got us fired up with her performance in the 500 free and bettered her previous school record that she set last year by over half a second," commented Kellogg.
In the 200 IM, Amber Cortazzo set a school record during the preliminaries with a time of 2:05.30 to qualify 14th. In the finals, Cortazzo swam the same event in 2:05.49 to finish 13th. Teammates Madison Lichtefeld and Becca Alves finished in 14th and 16th respectively with times of 2:06.97 and 2:08.12. Incarnate Word's Alona Kyselova won the event in 2:00.28.
Elaina Lanson set a school record in the 50 free preliminaries touching in 22.95 to qualify for the finals in 3rd. It was a school record that stood for exactly 8 hours, as Lanson bettered the mark to finish 2nd in the 50 Free Finals with a time of 22.88. Teammate, Christina Moran was 12th with a time of 23.44. Emma Svensson of Florida Gulf Coast edged Lanson to finish 1st in 21.98.
Continued Kellogg, "Elaina has been waiting a long time for this. It's been a topic of conversation for 3 years and it's nice to see it finally start to happen for her."
"It was an amazing feeling," said Lanson. "I didn't think about anything during that race, I just got out there and swam and did whatever I needed to do. It's what I've been training for all year so looking up at the scoreboard after the race was just an incredible feeling."
The 200 Free Relay team of Parsons, Moran, Kaylyn Thomas and Lanson finished 3rd and set a school record with a time of 1:32.11 The record is a full 2.5 seconds better than the previous mark set in 2013.
Continued Lanson, "Swimming relays are my favorite events. You get to go up there with 3 other girls and the excitement and momentum that builds with your teammates – there is no other feeling like it. Those girls swam an amazing race, I was happy to be a part of it."
"That relay was just awesome with two girls going sub 23," added Kellogg. "We are really starting to put the pieces together for some truly great relays."
Diver Erin Hembree qualified for the 1 meter finals by finishing 7th in the preliminaries with 208.85 points. In the finals, Hembree scored 234.55 points to finish 7th. Kali Lents of Incarnate Word won the event with a score of 291.05. Chloe Cotter scored 180.7 points in the preliminaries but missed the finals by one spot.
"We are really proud of Erin for holding her spot and finishing 7th. The 1-meter event is her favorite and her best event, and she truly exceeded expectations. She's fired up and she has good reason," concluded Kellogg.
The Eagles will return for Day Three action Friday beginning at 10 a.m. with the preliminaries in the 400 Individual Medley, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back and 400 Medley Relay "B." Finals of those same events will begin at 6 p.m. from the Gabrielsen Nataorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.
The CCSA is comprised of 11 schools on the women's side - Campbell, Florida Gulf Coast, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, Howard, Incarnate Word, Liberty, North Carolina A&T, North Florida, UNC-Asheville and VMI.
Live meet results are available by visiting theccsa.com or by downloading the Meet Mobile app. In addition, fans are encouraged to Follow @gsathletics_SD for updates and pictures.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.
Players Mentioned
Free/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Free/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Breast/Free/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Free/Back
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Free/Back
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Free
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Free
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