WELLESLEY, Mass. – Every entrant from the Plymouth State University women's swim team posted a season-best time in every individual event as the Panthers competed in day two of the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships at the Boston Sports Institute on Saturday.
Sophomore
Jackie Gaigals (Rochester, N.H.) and classmate
Liv Bailey (Wrentham, Mass.) were dynamic in the 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke, respectively. Both swam personal best times in the prelims to qualify for the A finals, before topping those marks once again in the evening finals.
Perhaps the most impressive marks came from sophomores
Emma Seward (Los Angeles, Calif.) and
Baillie Mako (Newport, N.H.), who destroyed their previous bests in the grueling 1,000-yard freestyle. Seward shaved nearly 40 seconds off her time, while Mako demolished her previous mark by nearly a minute and 30 seconds.
Freshman
Ollie Kramer (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added a second place finish in the B finals of the 200-yard freestyle.
Plymouth State finished day two with 171 team points to remain in seventh.
Individual Event Top Finishes:
How it Happened:
- Bailey and Seward teamed up with freshman Gabby Gladu (Lewiston, Maine) and sophomore Paige Lee (Stratham, N.H.) to finish seventh in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:05.86.
- Gaigals posted a season best in the prelims of the 50-yard butterfly to reach the A finals. In the evening session she shaved another 0.28 seconds off her time to finish sixth in 29.03.
- Junior Liana Gobin (Belfast, Maine) also doubled up on season best times, posting a 32.37 in the prelims to advance to the B final, where she took eighth in 32.62 seconds.
- Kramer diced nearly two seconds off her time in the prelims of the 200-yard freestyle to reach the B finals, where she was second to touch the wall in 2:11.01.
- Freshman Vickie Ni (Lebanon, N.H.) blew past her PR in the same event, cutting more than 22 seconds off her time in the prelims. She ended up seventh in the B finals with a time of 3:07.27.
- Bailey continued her impressive day with a new personal best in the prelims of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:05.93. She was even faster in the A finals, swimming a 1:05.18 to finish seventh.
- Lee also posted a pair of season best times in the 100-yard backstroke, ultimately finishing eighth in the B finals with a mark of 1:09.26.
- Junior Sam Morales-Barszcz (Meriden, Conn.) and senior Heather Callanan (Winthrop, Mass.) also posted season bests in the 100-yard backstroke, though neither qualified for the finals.
- Gladu was the Panthers' lone entry in the 100-yard breaststroke where she finished sixth in the B finals with a PR of 1:22.51.
- The Panthers' 800-yard freestyle relay team of Kramer, Gladu, Gaigals and Seward joined forces to finish sixth in 9:21.44.
- Seward took tenth with a huge PR in the 1,000-yard freestyle, knocking 39.61 seconds off her previous best time to finish tenth in 12:06.76.
- Mako's performance was even more impressive as she knocked 1:28.83 off her time to finish 17th in 13:56.18.
Up Next:
- The Panthers return to the pool on Sunday (Feb. 18) for the final day of competition.
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