Kansas leads Bears and Coyotes after day one

LAWRENCE, Kan.  – Kansas swim and dive opened the Double Dual with a fast pace and numerous top finishes, as the Jayhawks own the lead over Missouri State and South Dakota after the first day of events in Robinson Natatorium.
 
The Jayhawks sit just shy of a triple-digit lead over South Dakota (140-45), while holding a 52-point lead over Missouri State (118-66).
 
The Kansas relays claimed the top two times to start off the meet in the 200-yard medley relay with times of 1:43.99 and 1:45.84, respectively, to set the tone for the entire meet. KU showed no signs of hesitation throughout its first meet of the season as the Jayhawks won seven of the 10 events competed in on Friday evening.

The Jayhawks’ presence showed not only on the blocks, but on the boards as well. Freshman Alison Grass completed her first collegiate meet on the one-meter springboard with a sixth-place finish (190.20) followed by junior Peri Charapich in seventh (188.35). The divers continue their competition into tomorrow on the three-meter springboard.

KEY RACES

  • KU took first place in the 200-yard medley relay consisting of sophomore Manon Manning, junior Haley Downey, senior Haley Bishop and senior Taylor Sieperda with a time of 1:43.99.
  • Junior Jenny Nusbaum won gold in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.25.
  • Junior Elizabeth Amato-Hanner claimed first place in the 100-yard backstroke event, finishing in 56.10.
  • Downey brought home gold in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.96.
  • Bishop also won 50-yard freestyle with a winning time of 23.84.
  • Amato-Hanner brought home a second first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, clocking a time of 2:06.67.
  • Kansas’ second relay won the 800-yard freestyle relay consisting of Bishop, sophomore Lauryn Parrish, freshman Claire Campbell and Nusbaum with a time of 7:31.16.

QUOTES
Kansas head coach Clark Campbell
I’m very pleased with how we swam. I go back to last year so much and that wasn’t a meet like us last year, so the returners really learned from that experience and did much better today. They knew what to do and how to care of themselves to race at a high level, so that was good.
 
The freshmen, I thought, did really well. Everyone was positive, supportive and we fed off of the good energy, so we were able to get off to a fast start.
 
On what helped spark the team:
The training has been good and the team culture has gotten to a new level. The team is gelling and competing at a high level in practice. It’s cool to see what we’re doing every day during the week come through on the weekend. 
 
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks conclude action in the double dual against South Dakota and Missouri State with the final events on Saturday, Oct. 13, starting at 12 p.m. inside Robinson Natatorium.
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