Richard GwinKansas University won five events and jumped to the lead after the first day Friday of a season-opening double-dual swimming and diving meet at Robinson Natatorium.
KU leads Missouri State, 150-32, and Denver, 93-91.
Junior Hannah Angell claimed two double-dual career bests in the 100-yard backstroke (first place, 56.85 seconds) and her 50-yard backstroke leg in the 200 medley relay (which placed second).
“Hannah’s races today were big time,” KU coach Clark Campbell said. “We talked about stepping up this week and she embraced that challenge.”
In her collegiate debut, freshman Libby Walker chalked up the first individual victory of the evening in the 1,000-yard free in 10:14.09 and winning the race by nearly two seconds. Walker had another notable performance in the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.68), finishing third only behind teammate Chelsie Miller (2:01.96) and Denver’s Dora Kiss (2:04.06).
Miller turned in another first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, winning by less than half a second with a time of 2:05.44.
“Today was a mixed bag,” Campbell said. “We have some new bodies, and we made some mistakes, but they came back and performed really well. We have to recover well and be ready to come in tomorrow so we can be in a position to be even more competitive. “
Graylyn Jones and Nadia Kechfe placed 1-2 for KU in diving.
The meet will conclude today.
200 medley relay — 1. Denver A, 1:45.56; 2. Kansas A (Hannah Angell, Bryce Hinde, Pia Pavlic, Haley Bishop), 1:45.67; 3. Kansas B (Madison Hutchison, Lydia Pocsik, Leah Pfitzer, Haley Molden), 1:47.38.
1,000 Freestyle — 1. Libby Walker, Kansas, 10:14.09; 2. Clara Jenck, Denver, 10:16.05; 3. Dora Kiss, Missouri State, 10:19.73.
200 Freestyle — 1. Johanna Roas, Denver, 1:50.48; 2. Haley Molden, Kansas, 1:51.06; 3. Maddie Myers, Denver, 1:52.44.
100 Backstroke — 1. Hannah Angell, Kansas, 56.85; 2. Morgan McCormick, Denver, 56.93; 3. Pia Pavlic, Kansas, 58.26.
100 Breaststroke — 1. Amanda Sanders, Denver, 1:04.55; 2. Bailey Andison, Denver, 1:05.78; 3. Bryce Hinde, Kansas, 1:05.95.
200 Butterfly — 1. Chelsie Miller, Kansas, 2:01.96; 2. Dora Kiss, Missouri State, 2:04.06; 3. Libby Walker, Kansas, 2:04.68.
50 Freestyle — 1. Zoe Huddleston, Denver, 23.86; 2. Haley Bishop, Kansas, 24.04; 3. Hannah Driscoll, Kansas, 24.43.
1M Diving — 1. Graylyn Jones, Kansas, 261.45; 2. Nadia Khechfe, Kansas, 240.75; 3. Larissa Grammer, Denver, 226.60.
200 Individual Medley — 1. Chelsie Miller, Kansas, 2:05.44; 2. Morgan McCormick, Denver, 2:05.76; 3. Madison Straight, Kansas, 2:06.79.
800 Freestyle Relay — 1. Denver A, 7:30.98; 2. Kansas A (Haley Bishop, Haley Molden, Sammie Schurig, Chelsie Miller), 7:31.65; 3. Denver B, 7:42.73.
Kansas University’s swimming team built big leads over TCU and North Dakota in a double dual on Friday at Robinson Natatorium.
The Jayhawks (2-1) won eight of the 10 events, leading TCU, 153-66, and North Dakota (153-32). The meet will conclude today.
