Oct. 11, 2008

Final Results

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vanderbilt swimming and diving team defeated Centre College 127-106 and Rhodes College 176-43 in a double-dual Saturday at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn. It was the program's first wins in dual-meet action since the program was started up again in the winter of 2006.

"It is exciting for us," head coach Jeremy Organ said. "It is good to do it at home and have the girls see some success with our fans here. It is always good to swim well when you are at home."

Sophomore Leigh-Ann Axt set the tone for the Commodores Saturday as she cruised to a first-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:32.84. The 1,000-yard title was just the beginning of a Vanderbilt dominating performance Saturday. Axt's time was over 40 seconds faster than the second place finisher.

The Kingwood, Texas native also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.80. Five events later, Axt added to her list of achievements as she cruised to the 500-yard freestyle title with a time of 5:12.49, nearly 11 seconds faster than the second place competitor.

Jennifer Molchan followed Axt's first place finish with one of her own as she swam to a first place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.64. Teammate Anna Fargo placed fourth in the same event with a time of 2:05.91.

Later in the meet, Kelly Obranowicz picked up her second-straight 100-yard butterfly title with a time of 55.06. The Marietta, Ga., native's time Saturday was faster than the time she posted against Alabama last month.

Obranowicz continued her strong fall season as she placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.62. Zoe Cooper-Surma finished right behind Obranowicz with a time of 25.77.

Freshman Laura Dillon picked up where she left off two weeks ago as she placed second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:16:25.

Nicole Woodworth and Liz Asche swept the one-meter dive as they finished first and second overall with scores of 239.40 and 198.08, respectively. The Vanderbilt duo also picked up the top two finishes in the three-meter dive with Woodworth claiming the top honor with a score of 227.33.

Sophomore Alexandra Jennings picked up a second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke after swimming to a time of 1:03.51.

Freshman Allie Voss picked up a first-place finish of her own in the 100-yard breaststroke by swimming to a time of 1:08.49.

The 'Dores 200-yard freestyle relay team of Christina Chao, Fargo, Molchan and Obranowicz picked up the gold medal after recording an impressive time of 1:41:48.

After the meet the Commodores head coach talked about how this can help the team gain some momentum heading into the conference season.

"Hopefully, it is the first two of many, many more," Organ said. "We've got a long road ahead of us, and we have to keep the focus on the end of the season and doing our best at the SECs and getting better each week.

"It is a nice stepping stone, but we've definitely got a long way to go yet."