Relay 1-2 Finish Leads Arkansas to 4-Point Win over Vanderbilt
Arkansas went into the concluding 200 freestyle relay Friday needing points to climb out of a hole. A 1-2 result did just that, leading the Razorbacks to a 133-129 win over Vanderbilt at Centennial SportsPlex.
The Arkansas A squad of Delaney Harrison, Eleonora Camisa, Allie Thome and Bella Cothern won the race in 1:35.91. The B squad of Bara Matsokova, Rebecca Simpson, Sydney Craft and Gracie Colvin rallied to the wall for second place in 1:36.52, .36 seconds ahead of Vandy’s A squad. Colvin did the work, splitting 23.52 off the end to recoup the 0.35-second deficit she inherited.
The Razorbacks required a rescue job in Little Rock, in a meet that didn’t contest diving and replaced the 100-yard strokes with 50s (and the 200 individual medley with a 100). Arkansas reprised its distance dominance in the 500 free, with Reka Rohacs and Craft going 1-2 as they did in the 1,000 free. Cothern followed with a win in the 50fly with teammate Alma Dahl second. Cothern was second in the 100 IM with Holly Robinson third before the relay 1-2.
Matsokova won the 200 free and Harrison claimed the 50 free, but those and Rohacs in the 1,000 were the only wins by the Razorbacks in the first 10 events.
Vanderbilt will feel hard done by the result after a raft of early wins. The Commodores on the opening 200 medley relay by .17 seconds with the quartet of Aubrey Hull, Emily Constable, Karsyn Cook and Reagan Mathieson. Hull claimed the 50 back ahead of teammate Hannah Weissman. Constable claimed the 50 breast and 200 breast. Mathieson swept the 100 free and 100 IM. Kailia Utley (200 fly) and Quinlan Hinerfeld (200 back) added victories.
