Booth Leads Duke on Day 2 of Gamecock Invitational

Friday, November 20

Columbia, S.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two (Swimming Only)

400 Freestyle Relay Record Falls, Caps Off ACCs

Booth Leads Duke on Day 2 of Gamecock Invitational

11/21/2009 10:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – By the conclusion of Day 2 of the Gamecock Invitational, the Blue Devil men and women strengthened their holds on third and second places, respectively. The men have earned 341 points which ranks behind the 578.5 points of host South Carolina and the 795.5 points of North Carolina. The women have amassed 526 points which trails only North Carolina (824); the next closest squad is East Carolina with 355.5 points.

On Day 2, the women carried out the Colella game plan to perfection; qualify as many swimmers for finals as possible. Of the 35 Duke women who competed in individual qualifiers on Friday morning, 24 earned berths in the evening finals session (a 69% qualifying rate).

To begin the evening, the Blue Devil women took second and fourth place in the 200 yard medley relay, earning 64 points toward the team score. The first individual event was the 400 IM which saw two Duke swimmers, Jessica Perry and Kaitlin Ray, finish in the top eight. Perry took third place in a time of 4:26.36 while Ray stopped the clock in 4:34.90, giving her rights to eighth place.

The 100 butterfly was an extremely productive event for the women. Senior Shannon Beall set the top qualifying mark at prelims and then held off all challengers again at finals. She claimed first place in a time of 55.00. Following close behind was sophomore Steffi Niessl who took second place in a time of 55.67.

Ashley Twichell was the only Blue Devil to qualify for the top heat in the 200 freestyle finals where she notched a fourth-place finish. However, Katie Magee and Jackie Fasano both earned a spot in the top 16, contributing five and one points, respectively.

The 100 breaststroke is quickly becoming one of the strongest events for the Duke women. Emily Barber, Meredith Bannon, and Jessica Perry were all honored with a spot in the top finals heat. Just a freshman, Barber finished in third place (1:04.19), while Bannon secured a sixth-place finish (1:04.68), and Perry registered seventh place (1:05.95).

Niessl was Duke's lone representative in the top heat of the 100 backstroke. Her time of 57.21 was good enough for fifth place. Freshman Cara Vogel (four points) and sophomore Meghan Dwyer (three points) also scored in the event.

On the men's side, a balanced scoring effort was the key to success. In the 400 medley relay the men notched both fourth and sixth places to earn 56 points. In the 100 butterfly, Spencer Booth, Ben Tuben, and Nick Garvy all went under the previous meet record of 51.90 but in what was a particularly fast finals, the three men took third, sixth, and tenth place, respectively. Senior Sean Smith got in on the scoring action with a 12th-place finish in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:42.07.

Depth was crucial for the men in the 100 breaststroke. While the Blue Devil men lack a standout performer in the event, Jim Zuponeck, Tim McDowell, David Carlson, and David Hahn more than made up the difference by scoring a combined 16 points.

To wrap up the individual events on Day 2, Booth recorded a time of 51.07 in the 100 backstroke, nestling his way into fifth place. Freshman Chris Cirillo and senior Murillo Adrados took 11th and 12th place, respectively, in augmentation of Booth's top-five finish.

Saturday will be the third and final day of competition at the 2009 Gamecock Invitational. Live stats can once again be found at http://tiny.cc/LiveStats.