Two 10-year-old records fall in dual at Northern Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Senior Vicky Xu broke two 10-year-old diving records as the Kansas swimming and diving team started 2019 with a victory over Northern Arizona with a score of 197-101 Friday evening inside the Wall Aquatics Center.
Xu finished her first three-meter springboard performance as a Jayhawk with a school record score of 392.80. She surpassed the previous record of 325.20 set by Erin Mertz in the 2008-09 season by nearly 70 points to claim the top spot in the meet.
She followed that up with a 324.65 in the one-meter springboard event, breaking another Mertz record of 307.65 set in 2007-08.
The Jayhawks led themselves to success when they opened the competition with five straight victories in the lanes as well as the jaw-dropping three-meter winning performance Xu in the diving well.
Kansas followed with a steady, yet strong pace and did not disappoint. The team concluded the 16-event meet with a total of 13 gold medal finishes and second-place results in the remaining 3 events. Those finishes and final victory for the team added to a now standing 5-0 winning streak of the season by the Jayhawks.
KEY RACES
- Jayhawks opened the dual with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.83. The relay team consisted of sophomore Manon Manning, freshman Kate Steward, freshman Kaitlyn Witt, and junior Carly Straight.
- Sophomore Crissie Blomquist swam her way into first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing in 10:27.87.
- Junior Jenny Nusbaum claimed gold in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 1:50.99.
- Junior Elizabeth Amato-Hanner touched the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.26.
- Steward took home gold in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.51
- Senior Vicky Xu took home gold in the three-meter event with a KU school record time of 392.80.
- Xu dove her second victory and Kansas school record of the evening with a one-meter final score of 324.65.
- Nusbaum swam her way into her second gold of the evening with a time of 50.99 in the 100-yard freestyle.
- Amato-Hanner recorded another first-place finish of the evening in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall at 2:03.43.
- Steward touched the wall first for the second time of the night with a 2:18.89 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
- Freshman Claire Campbell claimed gold in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.54.
- Freshman Greta Olsen earned first-place in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing at 56.88.
- Kansas’ foursome of Bishop, Nusbaum, senior Taylor Sieperda, and Straight concluded the meet with a winning time of 3:29.10 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
QUOTES
Head coach Clark Campbell
The performance surpassing expectations:
“We’ve been working hard not only since we’ve been up here, but for the entire break, so we’ve not done a lot of racing. So you never really know how they are going to respond to it, especially with the altitude component thrown into it as well, and they really competed at a super high level. Time wise, we weren’t very fast, but that is kind of expected when you are at 7,000 feet (above sea level), but what we did is compete really well – I am really happy for the swimmers. Jenny Nusbaum did fantastic, Greta Olsen was doing better – it is funny how altitude affects some people differently than others, it is definitely hit and miss. Every single group on the team had good performances. Some people didn’t perform the way they would have liked to, but I think the altitude affected them a little bit more than their teammates.”
On Xu’s diving performances:
“We were super happy for Vicky in her first competition getting two school records and really elevating our diving team. She is such a high level athlete that it has really brought up everyone’s game, and she is fun to watch. She is really into the team aspect of our program and having fun and throwing some really high-level dives. So it is not only helping the diving program, but it is helping all of us.”
How everyone is feeling to be back in competition in altitude:
“I think (we were) really apprehensive going into the meet and then coming out of the meet, we felt really good about it. I talked to the team about how we are tougher than we think we are, and there won’t be another meet that they will do this season that will be as tough as this. When you are in altitude, everyone is uncomfortable really soon, so you really have to lean into that and figure out how you are going to finish feeling that way and they did great. The big take away coming out of this is that we are tougher than we think we area and we really gel well as a team.”
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks’ get ready to travel to Liberty, Missouri on Wednesday, Jan. 16 to face William Jewell.
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