Palsha finishes third in 500 Free to lead Hogs on Day 2

Fayetteville, Ark.- The 20th ranked Arkansas Swim & Dive team continued their solid effort at the SEC Championships on Thursday, finishing the second day in seventh place with 249 points.

The swimmers, in Athens, Ga., competed in the 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free and the 200 Free Relay. In the 500 free finals, Peyton Palsha continued her stellar season by finishing third with a time of 4:38.97. Kobie Melton grabbed eighth in the 50-yard freestyle finals with a time of 22.36. Emily Barclay, Melton, Molly Moore and Bella Cothern wrapped up the day strong with a sixth-place finish in the 200 Free Relay finals with a time of 1:29.59.

In the three-meter dive in Columbia, Mo., the Razorback divers got off to a hot start in the three-meter prelims taking the top two spots. Brooke Schultz (335.10) took first place and Maha Amer (334.60) finished second. Estilla Mosena (293) made it three Hogs in the Top 10 in the prelims with an eighth place finish. The freshmen Grace Walker and Mayson Richards also had good showings, finishing 21st and 23rd, respectively. In the three-meter finals, Schultz finished in fifth with a score of 348.15. Maha Amer (327) placed seventh and Estilla Mosena (290.15) followed in eighth place.

Action picks back up tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. CT, with the prelims for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke and 100 back. All action will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Quotables 

Arkansas Head Coach Neil Harper: “The Ladies had another successful day. After prelims this morning we placed two swimmers and three divers in the top eight and another swimmer in the 50 free B final. Peyton raced well and got her first SEC medal. As a senior she has just improved every year and I’m so excited and proud of her. I thought Kobie and Emily swam great with multiple best times in the 50 free today. Brooke, Maha and Esti were amazing in prelims to all qualify for the championship final. They too battled well and have led our team to the place we are in the team standings right now. We have more events tomorrow morning and we have to keep performing well in the prelims to increase our opportunities to score points for the team at night in finals.”