Day 1 Results
| The 200-yard medley relay team placed third Friday night and scored 32 points for the Jayhawks. |
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Austin, TEXAS. – The Kansas 800-yard freestyle relay team broke the school record in the event Friday night as day one of competition at the 2014 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close inside the Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The quad of Morgan Sharp, Haley Molden, Chelsie Miller and Allison Merecka beat a five year-old KU all-time record of 7:13.86 when they swam a time of 7:11.99 in the 800 free race. The team chalked up 34 points toward the KU team total and grabbed a second-place finish. They led Iowa State, the third place team, by roughly seven seconds (7:18.24).
“We achieved our goals today in the 800 free relay and I expect to see the same thing happening tomorrow in individual events,” head coach Clark Campbell said. “We have three events tomorrow and want to achieve those individual goals that we have been talking about all season.”
To start the championship, the Jayhawks placed third in the 200-yard medley relay (1:40.63), also setting an in-season best time in the event for the Jayhawks. Yulduz “Yulya” Kuchkarova, Bryce Hinde, Pia Pavlic and Leah Pfitzer represented the Jayhawks in the race. They were close behind West Virginia who finished with a time of 1:40.41.
“It was a good way to start the meet,” Campbell said. “We definitely set a tone for the rest of the meet. The fact that we had four 200 medley teams gave more of our athletes an opportunity to swim tonight. We gained some momentum today and need to carry that over into tomorrow.”
After two events, the Jayhawks are sitting in second place with 66 total team points. They are followed by Iowa State (62), West Virginia (62), and TCU (58). Texas leads the field with 80 points. Preliminary competition for tomorrow’s events will begin at 10 a.m., with finals to be swam in the evening at 6 p.m.
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