Lady Hornets win eight events to top 12-team field
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos courtesy of Jamie Hester and Marianne Shelton
The Bryant Lady Hornets’ 200-yard medley relay team of Lindsey Butler, Libby Thompson, Jessica Butler and Ploy Freebairn reached a goal they’d set for themselves to highlight Thursday’s 12-team meet at Bishop Park Aquatic Center.
Jessica Butler (Photo courtesy of Marianne Shelton)
Accounting for one of eight first-place finishes, the quartet in the 200 medley turned in a 1:57.44 to out-pace second-place El Dorado (2:04.21) with Karlee Thurmon, Sally Walthall, Isabella Gati and Marshall Coan.
Bryant dominated the meet, compiling 476 points. Magnolia was second with 246 followed by Benton (200), Rogers Heritage (187) and El Dorado (149) to round out the top five.
“Despite the timing system issues we encountered at the meet that caused some delays, the Lady Hornets showed up and took care of business,” commented Bryant coach Angel Dale. “We showed improvements in many of our events. Our 200-yard medley relay reached a goal to get under the two-minute mark.”
The meet was the first for the Lady Hornets since Dec. 4. They’re set to compete at Hendrix University in Conway on Jan. 23-24.
Bryant swept the relays on Thursday. In the 400 freestyle relay, the Butler sisters combined with Katie Higgs and Freebairn on a winning time of 4:01.35. In the 200 free, Thompson and Higgs joined Taylor Wilson and Reagan Smith in clocking a 1:54.30.
Ploy Freebairn (Photo courtesy of Marianne Shelton)
Individually, Jessica Butler won two events. Lindsey Butler, Thompson and Freebairn each finished first as well.
Jessica Butler took top honors in the 100 free with a time of 58.94 and the 200 individual medley in 2:26.49. In the 100 free, Smith was ninth in 1:07.31 and Jordan Tarvin 14th in 1:11.23. In the 200 IM, Higgs was third in 2:31.34 with Julianna Shelton eighth (2:56.73), Erin Vaughn ninth (3:04.02) and Lauren Nalley 11th (3:30.91).
Thompson won the 100 yard breast stroke in 1:17.41 with Jamie Hammers ninth (1:29.83) and Tiffany Robinson 11th (1:31.50).
Freebairn’s 2:09.09 paced the field in the 200 free. Devin Hester was fifth in 2:35.44 and Helen Woodham seventh in 2:38.32. Taylor Vaughn turned in a 2:49.57 to finish ninth with Paris Works 10th (2:49.67) and Skylar Barber 12th (2:51.53).
Lindsey Butler continued to dominate the 100 yard backstroke, winning in 1:01.33. Higgs was third in 1:07.31 and Wilson fifth in 1:13.86. Butler also took second in the 100 butterfly, clocking in at 1:01.09. Robinson finished fourth in the event (1:16.97) with Nalley seventh (1:45.07).
The Lady Hornets picked up third-place points from Woodham in the 500 free. She finished in 6:58.74 with Hester fifth in 7:09.87, Hammers seventh in 7:11.70 and Vaughn ninth in 7:59.70.
Freebairn led the Bryant contingent in the 50 free, finishing fourth in 26.16. Thompson was eighth (27.82), Wilson 13th (29.43), Smith 14th (29.45) and Jordan Tarvin 16th (30.26).
Katie Higgs (Photo courtesy of Jamie Hester)
