Razorbacks set five personal bests on fourth day at SEC Championships

ATHENS, Ga. — In the fourth day of the SEC Championships, Arkansas swimming and diving set five personal bests and sent four swimmers to the finals.

In the 200 yard butterfly, senior Cris Roberts earned a 41st place finish with a time of 2:05. 96. Senior Marlena Pigliacampi set a personal best time (1:57.51) on her way to a 16th place finish. Her time earned her an NCAA ‘B’ cut and allowed her to advance to the B-finals, where earned a 15th place overall finish (1:58.70).

The second event of the day was the 100 yard backstroke, with three swimmers representing the Razorbacks. Molly Moore set a personal best time of 55.34 for a 44th place. Andrea Sansores also set a personal best, taking 35th place with a time of 54.67 while Kobie Melton earned a 33rd place finish with a time of 54.38.

The final individual swimming event of the day was the 100 yard breaststroke, with three swimmers advancing to the finals. Emma Garfield earned a 35th place finish with a season-best time of 1:03.31. Annah Carney set a personal best (1:01.91) to tie for 22nd place and advanced to the C-finals, where she finished in 24th place (1:02.21).

Sydney Angell also advanced to the C-finals after finishing the preliminary round in 20th place (1:01.83). In the finals, she earned a 23rd place finish with a time of 1:01.93. Vanessa Herrmann earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut with a personal-best time of 1:00.73 to advance to the B-finals, where she took 14th place (1:00.67).

Maha Amer and Carline Welch both competed in the final diving event of the championships, with Welch taking 27th place with a score of 155.90 and Amer taking 15th place with 223.95 points.

The 400 yard medley relay team was led by an all-freshman group, with Sansores, Herrmann, Melton, and Moore earning a 10th place finish with a time of 3:38.18.

“Today was tough for many reasons,” coach Neil Harper said. “But Sydney, Marlena, and Annah provided us with senior leadership and earned swims in the finals. As our lone freshman, Vanessa stepped and also performed beautifully in the finals.

“The future of our program was entrusted to our medley relay quartet and I think they performed very well and gained valuable experience for the future. We are in a battle with some other teams and need some great performances in the morning to set up a successful last finals session.”

After four days of competition, the Hogs sit in eighth place with 420 points. The final day of the SEC Championships will begin tomorrow, with the preliminary round beginning with the 200 yard backstroke at 10 a.m.