Drolc Breaks Decade-old Razorbacks School Record in Prelims

Courtesy University of Arkansas Athletics Department

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Freshman Nina Drolc took down the 10-year old 50 freestyle record set by Peggy Stoner in 2003 en route to a 17th-place finish in the 50 free to highlight the morning preliminaries on the second day of the 2013 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championship. The freshman from Velenje, Slovenia, won the heat, sending her to the finals. Arkansas finishes the morning preliminaries with six chances to score tonight and also holds three alternate spots.

Other big pickups for the Razorbacks came in the 500 freestyle where Nicole Menzel, Chelsea Franklin and Lauren Jordan all qualified for the finals. Menzel swam the Razorbacks’ fastest time in the 500 free with a personal-best time of 4:45.24, earning her a 15th-place finish. Franklin and Jordan will swim in the ‘C’ final and Rachel Stoehr and Allison Boyle are alternates for the ‘C’ final.

The Razorbacks were led in the 200 individual medley by sophomore Susanna White. White recorded a personal best time of 1:59.16 to take 13th overall in the prelims. The top-finish sends her into the ‘B’ finals tonight.

Junior Kesha Naylor recorded a score of 290.45 to put her to the one-meter diving finals. Freshman Shelby Bartlett strung together a late rally to score for the Razorbacks as her final dive, a back one and a half flip and one and a half twist, earned a 48.75. She finished with a final score of 246.65, putting her in 23rd and scoring for Arkansas.

Preliminaries:

500 freestyle

15th – Nicole Menzel – 4:45.24 & %

19th – Chelsea Franklin – 4:48.26 %

20th – Lauren Jordan – 4:48.86

25th – Rachel Stoehr – 4:54.18 (Alternate)

26th – Allison Boyle – 4:54.93 (Alternate) &

29th – Sigrun Sverrisdottir – 4:56.19

200 Individual Medley

13th – Susanna White – 1:59.16 & %

26th – Tera Bradham – 2:01.64 (Alternate) &

38th – Nikki Daniels – 2:05.78 &

51st – Julia Banach – 2:06.53

57th – Rebekah Harvey – 2:08.52 &

50 freestyle

17th – Nina Drolc – 22.65 & % !

32nd – Maddie Monroe – 23.36 &

One-Meter

5th – Kesha Naylor – 290.45

23rd– Shelby Bartlett– 246.65

35th – Hannah Bortnick– 214.45

* Indicates top-8 finish

& Indicates personal best

% Indicates NCAA ‘B’ Cut time

! Indicates school record

Tonight’s finals will begin approximately at 6 p.m. Fans looking to follow the swimming and diving team as they compete in the SEC Championships can do so by tuning in to the live blog and live video stream on ArkansasRazorbacks.com and following the Razorbacks on Twitter (@RazorbackSwim).

For more information regarding Razorback swimming & diving or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.