Eckhart Wins 50 Free to Open Carolina College Invite

Friday, February 5

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Carolina College Invitational

Eckhart Receives ACC Top Six for Service Award

Eckhart Wins 50 Free to Open Carolina College Invite

2/5/2016 8:02:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Friday Finals Results Live Results

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Duke swimmers got their first taste of postseason competition Friday, opening action at the 2016 Carolina College Invitational.

Senior Kathryn Eckhart headlined the evening's results in Koury Natatorium, taking home a first-place finish in the women's 50-yard freestyle. She touched at 23.08, while classmate Linsay Cooper also earned a season-best in the B final (24.02) and sophomore Maria Sheridan lowered her previous personal best with a 23.69 clocking in the morning preliminaries.

“I've been working really hard this season and I know everybody else has been working super hard as well,” Eckhart said. “I knew good things were going to happen, but I think it was a little bit of a euphoric moment, being my last 50 free swim ever. I was excited about it and I'm excited moving into the couple days of the meet we have left.”

Junior Benedict Parfit paced the men's sprinters with a second-place showing in the 50 freestyle. He logged a finals time of 20.56 after racing to the wall in a personal-best 20.33 during preliminaries.

The first individual event of the evening session saw junior Lindsay Schlichte and sophomore Alex Peña turn in fifth-place performances in the A finals of the 500 freestyle. Schlichte went a season-best 4:55.37 on the women's side while Peña led a trio of Blue Devil men with a 4:31.24 swim. Peña's preliminaries mark of 4:30.03 was good for a season-best, as was Parker Pearson's 4:34.52 preliminaries time.

Four Duke women qualified for the 200 IM A finals, with sophomore Catie Miller earning the squad's highest finish in fourth. Her time of 2:03.78 surpassed her previous personal best, which was also posted in Koury Natatorium this fall at the Nike Cup Invitational. Senior Ryan Prince earned a personal-best mark on the men's side, shaving over six seconds off of his preliminaries time to go 1:53.88 in the B final. Junior Kenny Ng was the Blue Devils' top finisher in fifth overall (1:51.28).

The Carolina College Invitational continues Saturday, with the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 800 freestyle relay on tap. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. in Chapel Hill with evening finals slated for 6 p.m.

Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 500-Yard Freestyle: Lindsay Schlichte (5th), 4:55.37
Men's 500-Yard Freestyle: Alex Peña (5th), 4:31.24

Women's 200-Yard Individual Medley: Catie Miller (4th), 2:03.78
Men's 200-Yard Individual Medley: Kenny Ng (5th), 1:51.28

Women's 50-Yard Freestyle: Kathryn Eckhart (1st), 23.08
Men's 50-Yard Freestyle: Benedict Parfit (2nd), 20.56

#GoDuke