Payne Leads the Way as Blue Tops Crimson in KU Swimming & Diving Exhibition

Sept. 30, 2011

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Coach Campbell after the meet | Former swimmers reflect on alumni weekend
Intrasquad Highlights

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Senior captain Stephanie Payne led her team to victory at the annual Crimson and Blue intrasquad meet Friday inside Robinson Natatorium. Payne’s Blue squad defeated senior captains Shannon Garlie and Sarah Hettenbach’s Crimson team by a score of 144-123.

The Blue team got out to an early lead, taking four of the first six events, including the 200-yard medley relay, the 1000 freestyle, the 100 backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly. Blue team captain Stephanie Payne scored some points of her own in the 200 IM, coming in first place with a time of 2:07.29.

“The Blue team was just a little bit deeper,” said head coach Clark Campbell after the meet. “When you have Stephanie Payne, Deanna Marks and Brooke Brull all step up the way they did, they are going to be hard to beat.”

Both Marks and Brull won events on Friday. Marks, a freshman from Plano, Texas took first in the 100 fly (58.15), while Brull was the fastest in the 200 back (2:05.26).

Leading the way for the Crimson team was Vanessa Hanbury who swam away with first place honors in two events; the 50-yard freestyle (24.47) and the 100 free (52.90). The junior transfer from British Columbia edged out her Crimson counterpart, Kara Stranski in both events.

“We have a lot of rust to work off, but that’s okay” said Coach Campbell, who is entering his tenth season as head of the program. “We have not done much specific work in the water, as we have worked out a lot on land, but that is where we should be in September.”

The Intrasquad meet also served as an opportunity for Kansas swimming and diving alumni to come back and try their luck in a few events at the pool. One of the former KU swimmers back in the Robinson waters was Troy Reynolds, who swam for the Jayhawks from 1989-93.

“A part of me feels like I never left,” Reynolds said, who made the trip back to Lawrence with his wife Kelly, who also swam at KU. “When I got into the pool today, there was a part of me that felt like we had practice here last week.”

For some of the alumni and fans, the meet gave them their first glance at the new remodeled locker room, which was completed over the summer.

“A lot of people were excited to see the new locker room and some of the changes that we have done to the pool,” Campbell said. “Events like these really help our current athletes appreciate the history of our program.”

The Jayhawks will not have long to reflect on the exhibition as they shift their focus to the Arizona Wildcats, who they will travel to take on next Saturday. Only 18 of KU’s 25 total swimmers will be making the trip to Tucson and Coach Campbell will be choosing who goes and who stays behind based on their performance Friday afternoon.

“This is a process that is leading us up to the end but with that said, we have a meet next week against a top five team in Arizona, so we are going to have to shake even more rust off,” Campbell said.”

That meet will take place next Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in Tucson. Kansas will be looking to avenge their 178-84 quad-dual loss at Arizona from a year ago. Log on to kuathletics.com for the recap and results following the meet.