Alabama Swimming and Diving Splits with South Carolina
2/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
The Alabama swimming and diving teams split with South Carolina today in Tuscaloosa, with the Crimson Tide men coming out on top 149-94 while the women fell in a nail biter 126-117.
"We had some good swims throughout the lineup," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "On the women's side, it was just a matter of a place here and there. We just need to learn from this and move on. I think this puts us in a good place leading into the conference championships."
Alabama's men opened up with a win in the 200 medley relay and closed the day out with a win in the 400 freestyle relay. In between the Tide won eight individual events to effectively dominate the meet.
Senior Franck Southon made the most of his final home meet, leading off the Tide's winning 200 medley relay, taking second in the 200 IM behind teammate Vlad Polyakov and finishing off the meet with a win in the 200 backstroke. Southon combined with Polyakov, junior Chris Flamion and junior Spiros Bitsakis to pick up the relay win with a 1:33.92. In the IM, Polyakov touched at 1:53.45 followed closely by Southon at 1:53.80 Southon then finished more than three seconds ahead of the field in the 200 backstroke, going 1:51.30.
In addition to the relay and IM, Polyakov also won the 200 breaststroke, turning in a 1:57.10, just off is season best time. Sophomore Hunor Mate made it a one-two sweep for the Tide in the 200 breaststroke, taking second with a 2:03.61.
Junior J.T. Jones won the 1000 freestyle with a 9:33.93, holding a body length lead on the field from the early goings through to the end. Sophomore Apostolis Tsagkarakis and junior Darren Erasmus went one-two in the 50 freestyle. Tsagkarakis touched at 20.54 with Erasmus just a hair behind, touching with a season best 20.60. Erasmus came back later in the meet to win the 100 freestyle with a 46.28.
Junior Aaron Ashworth and senior Stewart Smith finished one-two off the three-meter board, scoring 372.76 and 352.20 respectively. Junior Chris Flamion won the 200 butterfly with a season best 1:52.32.
The Tide men closed out the meet with a run-away win in the 400 freestyle relay where freshman Ryan Latone, Erasmus, Bitsakis and Tsagkarakis combined for a 3:02.89.
The women's meet went down the very last event with most every race hotly contested. On senior day, Anne Poleska and Arlene Semeco did as much as they could to make sure their final home meet was special, turning in four individual wins. Poleska also picked up a victory as part of the Tide's 200 medley relay.
Poleska won the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke. She won the 200 IM with a 2:02.92, more than three seconds ahead of the field. As has been her habit this season, she decimated the field in the 200 breaststroke, touching nine seconds ahead of anyone else with a 2:11.54. She combined junior Kathryn Hallquist, sophomore Victoria Genova and junior Alison Lafevers to win the 200 medley relay with a 1:44.82.
Semeco became on the third swimmer in Alabama history to break the 23 second mark in the 50 freestyle, winning by nearly a second with a 22.97. She also won the 100 freestyle handily, touching the wall at 50.96, more than a second ahead of the field.
Perhaps one of the most exciting races on the women's side of slate came early in the day when freshman Hannah Miluska, who joined the Tide for the Spring semester, out-dueled USC's Heather Roffey over the course of the 40-lap 1000 freestyle. The two matched each other stroke for stroke for the entire race with Miluska eventually out touching the Gamecock swimmer by eight-tenths of a second at 10:11.10.
Junior Kathryn Hallquist won the 200 backstroke with a 2:04.58 while classmate Anna Grant was third with a season best 2:07.08.
Sophomore Melina Bassino and junior Anna Grant turned in season best times in the 200 freestyle, taking second and third with a 1:51.71 and 1:52.14 respectively. In the 200 IM freshman Erin Sparks took second behind Poleska with a season best 2:05.86. Sparks also posted a season best in the 100 freestyle, taking third with a 52.41.
With the regular season behind them, Alabama now gears up for the Southeastern Conference Championships which get underway with the diving events Feb. 11 in Gainesville, Fla. The swimming portion of the championships, also in Gainesville, start Feb. 16.
