Engs qualifies for finals at SEC Championships
The University of Arkansas sophomore swimmer Elizabeth Engs qualified for the finals of the 400 individual medley Friday as the Southeastern Conference Championships continued in Lexington, Ken.
Engs was the first Lady Razorback to make a trip to the finals at this year’s championships. She earned a personal-best time and finished 16th in the preliminaries of the 400 IM. In the finals, Engs shaved nearly four more seconds off of the career-best time she earned earlier in the day and finished 15th with a time of 4:26.65.
Senior Kristen Thibodeaux turned in an individual-best 1:52.95 in the 200 freestyle, as did senior Marian Fulop and freshman Allison Chinn in the 100 backstroke.
Fulop just missed qualifying for the finals with a 17th-place finish and a 57.03, while Chinn touched in with a time of 1:00.80.
Junior Emily Gregory was also one place away from qualifying for the finals, placing 17th in the 100 butterfly with a 56.21.
“We had some real good swims in the morning and also a few swims that just missed out on the finals,” said head coach Jeff Poppell. “We had a little bad luck in those races, but were able to come back at night and rebound with a great race by Engs and a great relay.”
The squad of Fulop, Summer Jackson, Gregory and Thibodeaux finished eighth in the 400 medley relay with a season-best time of 3:50.35, more than three seconds faster than their previous best time.
Arkansas remains in ninth place with 112 points after three days of SECs. South Carolina sits right above the Lady’Backs in eighth with 128 points. Auburn holds a commanding lead with 622 points, followed by Georgia with 456 and Florida with 386.
Today is the final day of the championships and the Lady’Backs begin preliminaries at 10 a.m. The events scheduled include the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 butterfly, and 400 free relay.
“We have one more day left and are looking forward to finishing off with a good day,” said Poppell.
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