Kuzhil, Proehl Lead Kansas Swimming at Arkansas
Oct. 24, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –
Despite a pair of event victories for Kansas junior Iuliia Kuzhil and senior captain Meg Proehl, the Jayhawks dropped their first two dual meets of the year to Arkansas (196-112) and Florida (205-103) Saturday at Arkansas Natatorium.
“We’re very happy with our performance today,” Kansas Head Coach Clark Campbell said. “We stepped up and raced two talented teams from the SEC. Iuliia and Meg’s victories were great as well as winning the final relay. We still have a long way to go, but we took a big leap forward.”
Kuzhil, a junior from Cherkasy, Ukraine, won the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events to lead Kansas scorers. Her time of 55.10 seconds in the 100-yard event was good enough to meet an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying standard. She also captured first in the 200-yard backstroke, outracing Arkansas’ Jillienne Schilling by 1.57 seconds with a time of 2:01.37.
Kuzhil also swam the second leg of the Kansas 200-yard freestyle relay, which won the final event of the day with a time of 1:35.26. She was joined on the winner’s stand by teammates Monica Johannessen, Erin Goetz and Emily Lanteigne.
Proehl, a senior from San Diego, Calif., also had an exceptional meet, capturing first-place finishes in the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Her scores in both events met NCAA qualifying standards. The senior captain won the one-meter competition with a score of 279.23, and the three-meter event with a score of 277.50.
Johannessen, a Kansas freshman from Haugesund, Norway, placed third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.22. The Jayhawk 400-yard medley relay team of Kuzhil, Joy Bunting, Abigail Anderson and Johannessen also captured third in their event.
Other notable KU finishers included Brittany Potter, who placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly and Amanda Maez and Lanteigne, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 50-yard freestyle.
Kansas will return home next weekend when it hosts Missouri on Friday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. and Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 12 p.m., at Robinson Natatorium.
