Razorbacks conclude Thursday preliminaries

FAYETTEVILLE - The University of Arkansas swimming and diving team finished the morning preliminaries at the Houston Cougar Swimming and Diving Invitational. The Razorbacks recorded three NCAA 'B' cut times and eight top-10 finishes to close out the morning session.

In the first event out of the gate, Nicole Menzel won the first heat in the 500 freestyle and was able to hold on with her time of 4:51.33 for a ninth-place finish. The Razorbacks placed five swimmers in the top-10.

Lauren Jordan and Anna Mayfield were the top finishers for the Razorbacks in the 500 freestyle preliminaries, as they finished with times of 4:44.80 and 4:45.79 respectively. Their times were good for fourth and fifth overall and were also NCAA 'B' cut qualifying times.

In the 50 freestyle the Razorbacks picked up two top-10 finishes with Nina Drolc finishing 10th with a time of 23:22 and Susanna White recording a time of 23:16, which was good for seventh overall.

White also shined in the 200-yard individual medley as she placed fourth overall with a time of 2:00.19, besting her previous time by 3.34 seconds. The season-best time was also good for an NCAA 'B' cut time.

Diver Kesha Naylor advanced to the finals on the three-meter board. She will compete this evening following the three-meter finals for the men.

The Razorbacks will return to the pool tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening finals. The top 32 swimmers in the morning preliminaries advanced to the evening finals. The top-32 will all have a chance to score for their respective school.

500 freestyle finals (preliminary time):

Allison Boyle (4:57.06)

Rachel Stoehr (4:51.38)#

Nicole Menzel (4:51.33)

Chelsea Franklin (4:50.09)

Anna Mayfield (4:45.79)*#

Lauren Jordan (4:44.80)*#

200 individual medley (preliminary time):

Rachel Kessler (2:08.20)

Nikki Daniels (2:06.59)#

Aubrey Golbek (2:06.28)

Julia Banach (2:05.44)#

Liz Braun (2:04.79)

Julia Kucherich (2:03.42)

Tera Bradham (2:03.34)

Susanna White (2:00.19)*#

50 freestyle (preliminary time):

Alexandria Sutton (24.03)

Shelby Cox (23.90)#

Shana Lim (23.47)

Nina Drolc (23.22)#

Susanna White (23.16)#

* - Denotes NCAA 'B' Cut Time

# - Denotes personal best (Only if event was previously swum at UA)