Lady'Backs topped by No. 5 Auburn and No. 22 Florida State

AUBURN, ALA. – The University of Arkansas swimming and diving team dropped a double-dual meet against No. 5 Auburn and No. 22 Florida State in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday afternoon.

Junior Stephanie Carr won the 1,000 freestyle (9:56.42) by over five seconds and had a runner-up finish in the 500 free (4:53.36) to lead the Lady Razorbacks.

“We did not perform as well as we were hoping,” said head coach Jeff Poppell. “We looked a little flat, which is probably to be expected with our training up through last week, but we did have some performances that were really good.”

Sophomore Allison Chinn was one Lady’Back who turned in three career-best times. Chinn touched in with a 57.20 in the 100 butterfly and beat her personal-best in the 100 backstroke by over two seconds with a 58.20. She topped that with another individual-best by over three seconds in an event that she had not swam all season, the 100 free (52.99).

In the 1,000 free, freshman Shara Sutphen placed fifth with a career-best time of 10:18.71. Sutphen also touched in with a personal-best 5:06.54 in the 500 free.

Junior Macey Webb and freshman Kylie Kastes turned in the best times of their careers as well. Webb bettered her 500 free time by almost 2.5 seconds with a 5:06.21, while Kastes swam a personal-best 2:09.37 in the 200 butterfly.

Other solid performances for Arkansas included second-place finishes for junior Madison Palmer on the one- and three-meter springboards. Palmer scored a 238.50 on the one meter and a 273.00 on the three meter. Freshman Jamie Marks placed third in the 200 fly with a 2:03.41 and touched in third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:20.08.

The Lady’Backs’ best finish was in the 200 individual medley. Marks (2:07.29), Katie Kastes (2:09.02), Elizabeth Engs (2:10.01) and Megan Haskins (2:10.73) finished 2-3-4-5 in the event.

The Arkansas squad of junior Summer Jackson, senior Emily Gregory, senior Tifanie Silver and Haskins touched in third in the 400 free relay with a 3:36.63.

The Lady’Backs return to action Feb. 20-23 as Arkansas tries to improve on years past at the Southeastern Conference Championships.

“We’re looking forward to some rest over the next two weeks as we get ready for the SEC Championships,” said Poppell.

For more information about Arkansas swimming and diving, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.