Kansas Swimming and Diving Rolls Past Drury, North Dakota
Nov. 13, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Senior Iuliia Kuzhil set a new pool record in the 200-yard backstroke, as Kansas swimming and diving defeated Drury (189-108) and North Dakota (195-119) Saturday in Robinson Natatorium. Kuzhil won with a time of 1:58.44, beating her own record of 1:59.42 set last season. Kansas rose to 2-4 in dual competition.
“Iuliia had made a goal to try and get a really good swim in before the Georgia Invitational,” Kansas head coach Clark Campbell said. “That’s going to put her as one of the top 10 or 15 backstrokers in the country in the 200 backstroke, which is good. It will be great competition for her and the rest of the team at Georgia, who will be every bit as fast as the Big 12 Championships.”
KU won 10 of 16 events during the meet, with freshman Morgan Sharp and Kuzhil both winning two events. Along with the 200 backstroke, Kuzhil, a senior from Cherkasy, Ukraine, also took the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.69. Sharp, a freshman from Houston, Texas, won the 1000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle events with times of 10:11.45 and 1:51.92, respectively.
“This was a really good meet to go into the Georgia Invitational,” Campbell said. “It seems like we are gaining more momentum every week. We’ve improved since the Missouri dual. It’s kind of tough to come off a rivalry meet and then do well two weeks later, so I’m really pleased about where we are. We are really excited about Georgia in three weeks.”
Saturday’s other winners include senior Joy Bunting in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.87), senior Brittany Potter in the 200-yard butterfly (2:03.93), sophomore Monica Johannessen in the 50-yard freestyle (24.34) and freshman Alison Lusk in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.95).
On the diving side, sophomore Taylor Ilten placed first in the one-meter dive, scoring a career-high 242.05 points.
Kansas will hit the road in three weeks to compete in the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga. Dec. 3-5. Please check back with kuathletics.com for complete results from the three-day meet.
