WELLESLEY, Mass. – The 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay from the Plymouth State University women's swim team boasted significant season-best times as the Panthers competed in day one of the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships at the Boston Sports Institute on Friday.
PSU opened the evening portion of the day by trimming more than five full seconds off the season-best performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Not to be outdone, the Panthers' 400-yard medley relay was even more impressive, chopping more than 14 seconds off its best time of the year.
Sophomore
Emma Seward (Los Angeles, Calif.), freshman
Ollie Kramer (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and sophomore
Liv Bailey (Wrentham, Mass.) had the top individual performances on the day, as all three posted top-three finishes in the B finals of their respective events.
Plymouth State garnered 75 points on the opening day to sit in seventh.
Individual Event Top Finishes:
How it Happened:
- The Panthers kicked off the evening with an outstanding showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Kramer and Bailey teamed up with sophomores Jackie Gaigals (Rochester, N.H.) and Paige Lee (Stratham, N.H.) to post a season-best time of 1:50.38. The foursome sliced 5.05 seconds off the seed time.
- Seward kicked off the individual events with a season best performance in the 500-yard freestyle. She posted a time of 5:47.82 to take second in the B finals.
- Kramer boasted a huge PR in the same event, cutting nearly 20 full seconds off her previous best time, to finish right behind Seward in 5:48.39 for third place in the B finals.
- Bailey swam her fastest time of the season in the prelims of the 100-yard butterfly to lead a threesome of Panthers into the B finals. Gaigals also posted her best time of the year in the prelims, while freshman Gabby Gladu (Lewiston, Maine) rounded out the three finalists in the event.
- Bailey took third in the B finals with a time of 1:08.70, while Gaigals was sixth in 1:11.11, with Gladu taking eighth with a PR of 1:12.83.
- Lee and senior Heather Callanan (Winthrop, Mass.) qualified for the B finals of the 50-yard freestyle. Both swam season bests in the finals, with Lee posting a 27.59 to finish fourth, and Callanan taking eighth in 33.45.
- PSU closed out day one with a remarkable performance in the 400-yard medley relay. Gladu and Callanan joined up with juniors Liana Gobin (Belfast, Maine) and Sam Morales-Barszcz (Meriden, Conn.) to obliterate the previous season best by more than 14 seconds to finish in 5:16.99.
- Morales-Barszcz was the Panthers' lone entry in the 50-yard breaststroke, swimming the event for the first time this season. She touched the wall in 42.42.
- Sophomore Baillie Mako (Newport, N.H.) swam a season-best in the prelims of the 500-yard freestyle, while Gobin did the same in the prelims of the 100-yard butterfly.
- Freshman Vickie Ni (Lebanon, N.H.) posted her fastest 50-yard freestyle time of the season during prelims as well.
Up Next:
- The meet continues with day two on Saturday (Feb. 17). Prelims begin at 10:00 a.m., with finals set for a 6:30 p.m. start.
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