Georgia Tech
The Georgia Tech men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined for nine top-five finishes on a fast night of swimming Friday as the 2014 GT Invitational continued. Andrew Kosic and Brad Homza led the way for the 24th-ranked Tech men, who remain in second place.
The Tech women were boosted by strong performances from junior diver Shannon Lumbra and rookie swimmer Kira de Bruyn and remain in eighth place in the team standings.
The final day of the GT Invitational is Saturday with prelims beginning at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Florida remains in control of both the men's and women's meets, with the Gators' seventh-ranked men scoring 1,225 points. Tech is second with 666 points, followed by No. 20 Florida State (586), Indian River (408), Florida Atlantic (258), South Carolina (84), Auburn (76), Utah (49) and College of Charleston (4).
The 11th-ranked Gator women have amassed 878 points and lead Arkansas (576.5), Florida State (491.5), Florida Gulf Coast (399), Vanderbilt (299), Miami (260), FAU (252) and Georgia Tech (245.5) in the top half of the women's standings.
Men's Highlights
• Each of Tech's relays on Friday night finished second to the Gators, as the 800 free relay of Kosic, Noah Harasz, Mats Westergren and Dan Cohen Solal was clocked in 6:38.87. Kosic also swam the second-place 200 medley relay with Brad Oberg, Ricky Lehner and Ben Southern (1:27.70).
• Homza and Omar Eteiba each finished in the top 10 on the 3m springboard with Homza scoring 373.75 points in the finals to finish third, followed in 10th by Eteiba (331.05).
• The 100 fly proved a valuable event for the Jackets with seven swimmers finishing in the points, including three in the A-final. Kosic took second (46.87), Southern was fifth (47.42) and Youssef Hammoud was ninth (48.44). The times for Kosic and Southern were each NCAA B-cuts.
• Hammoud was strong Friday night as he also posted a fourth-place finish in the 100 back (49.32), followed by Oberg in sixth (49.57) and Mark Keaveney in seventh (49.94).
• Lehner and Alex Kimpel each put down NCAA B-cuts in the 100 breast, with Lehner in fifth (54.97) and Kimpel in seventh (55.22).
• Michael Kenny was sixth in the 400 IM (3:55.63) and Barragan won 400 IM B-final (3:57.82), shaving five seconds faster than prelim time.
• The 200 free A-final featured Harasz in seventh (1:39.32) and Westergren in eighth (1:39.48).
Women's Highlights
• de Bruyn enjoyed a big night for the Yellow Jackets as the rookie collected a fifth-place finish in the 400 IM, was 15th in the 100 fly and helped the 200 medley relay to a sixth-place showing.
• In the 400 IM, de Bruyn missed a 12-year-old school record by just .02 seconds in finishing fifth overall with her time of 4:16.02, which was an NCAA B-cut. The top-seven swimmers in the women's 400 IM final each achieved NCAA B-cuts.
• Lumbra scored 292.25 points in the finals of the 1m springboard to claim a fifth-place finish.
• The sixth-place 200 medley relay was clocked in 1:43.57 and featured Carly Sweeney, Darelle Cowley, de Bruyn and Chiara Ruiu.
• Ruiu was 14th in 200 free (1:49.87), while Cowley was 13th in the 100 breast (1:02.79). Efrat Rotsztejn also finished in the points in the 100 breast 18th, 1:03.89).
• Four Jackets scored points in the 100 back, led by Maddie Paschal in 14th (55.82). Carly Sweeney was 18th (56.68), Katherine Kerman was 19th (56.97) and Megan Young was 20th (57.10).
• The women's 800 free relay closed the session with Cowley, Ruiu, Sarah Williford and Erika Staskevicius putting down a time of 7:28.56 to finish sixth.
Florida
Florida’s No. 7-ranked men’s swimming & diving team captured five individual titles and had two relay victories, while UF’s No. 16 women’s squad won three individual events and two relay wins as well on day two of the Georgia Tech Invitational.
UF’s men currently stand in first place with 1,225 points, while the women rank first with a score of 878.
Individually, the Gator men were led by senior Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, as he won the men’s 100-yard breaststroke in an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 53.67 seconds and he was a member of UF’s first place 200-yard medley relay team. Junior Lindsey McKnight paced the women’s team, as she won the 200-yard freestyle in an NCAA ‘B’ time of 1:45.79. In addition, McKnight was a member of both of the Gators first place relay squads.
The Gators are competing in this event for the first time since the 2011-12 season, when Florida’s women won the meet and the Gator men finished runner-up. The three-day meet is being held in Atlanta, Ga. and is hosted by Georgia Tech in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
TROY’S TALKING
On the Gators performances on day two…
“We were a little inconsistent in the morning, but we made a great turnaround at night. We really raced well across the board. I’m extremely proud of the depth in our 800 freestyle relays at the end of what was a very long day. It really showed a lot of character.” -- Head Coach Gregg Troy
RELAY MAGIC
UF won both men’s and women’s relay events on day two, beginning with the 200-yard medley relay. In the men’s race senior Christian Homer, junior Corey Main, freshman Caeleb Dressel and Solaeche-Gomez placed first in a time of 1:26.03. On the women’s side, juniors Sinead Russell, Natalie Hinds sophomore Alyssa Yambor-Maul and McKnight touched the pad first in 1:38.28.
In the final event of the evening, the 800-yard freestyle relay, UF’s men (Dan Wallace, Mitch D’Arrigo, Pawel Werner, Corey Main) placed first in 6:24.27, while the Gator women (Sinead Russell, Lindsey McKnight, Ashlee Linn, Jessica Thielmann) won in a time of 7:09.92.
All four relay times were NCAA ‘B’ standard marks.
I BELIEVE I CAN FLY
Freshman Caeleb Dressel won second first individual event of the week, as he placed first in the 100-yard butterfly in an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 46.60 seconds.
FREE TIME
Werner captured his first individual title of the Invite, as he placed first in the 200-yard freestyle in an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 1:34.79.
BACK IT UP
Sophomore Jack Blyzinskyj and Russell notched victories in the men’s and women’s 100-yard backstroke races in an NCAA ‘B’ standard times of 47.49 and 52.89 seconds.
IM IN
Senior Dan Wallace and Thielmann helped the Gators sweep the individual medley events for the Invite, as they won the men’s and women’s 400-yard IM in an NCAA ‘B’ standard times of 3:44.12 and 4:09.64.
UP NEXT
The Gators are back in action tomorrow for the third and final day of the Georgia Tech Invitational at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. and finals start at 5 p.m.
POSTSEASON FOCUS
In addition to competing in an NCAA Championships-style format this week, the Gators had three NCAA ‘A’ standard marks through two days of competition.
· Women’s 200 FR (Russell, McKnight, Linn, Hinds – 1:28.94)
· Caeleb Dressel (50 Free – 19.31)
· Dan Wallace (500 Free – 4:14.53)
Florida State
Sophomore Chelsea Britt picked up a win in the 100 fly on the second night of the Georgia Tech Invite with an NCAA ‘B’ standard of 52.39, just four-one hundredths shy of her FSU record.
“The women’s team is have a great meet,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “Chelsea has had some great swims so far. She had a great 100 and a nice medley relay split tonight and I hope she continues that through tomorrow.”
Britt helped the 200 medley relay to a second place finish with a 23.62 split in the fly leg. Junior Bianca Spinazzola, freshman Natalie Pierce and senior Kaitlyn Dressel put up a time of 1:38.36, finishing behind Florida.
Spinazzola also swam in the top heat of the 100 fly along with Britt, placing seventh with a time of 54.50.
Dressel took third in the 200 free with a season best time of 1:47.13 (NCAA B). Junior Sami Pochowski continued to show improvement in the race, swimming a time of 1:45.54 for a fifth place tie.
With little rest, Pochowski turned around and placed second with another season top time in the 100 breast of 1:01.53. Pierce finished fifth with a 1:02.14. Both swims were NCAA ‘B’ times.
In her second individual event of the session, Spinazzola placed third in the 100 back with a final time of 53.88 (NCAA B).
Redshirt senior Katrina Young grabbed second place on 1-meter, finishing with a final score of 312.45.
“All these ladies continue to step up and race,” Bradley said. “They’re swimming season best times and diving well for this time of the year. We have room for improvement, but I like where we’re heading.”
The men’s team started with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay with the team of senior Kevin Rogers, sophomore Jason Coombs, senior Connor Knight and sophomore Jason McCormick, posting a time of 1:28.60.
Junior Kyle Doxtater led the Seminoles in the 400 IM and placed ninth with a time of 3:58.50.
In the 100 fly, senior Cadell Lyons put up a career best time placing third with a NCAA ‘B’ standard of 47.26, finishing just ahead of Knight, who touched in sixth with a 47.51 (NCAA B). Junior Cole Hensley was eighth with a time of 48.23 (NCAA B).
Rogers posted a 10th place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.57 after swimming a 1:39.45 in prelims.
Coombs was second in the 100 breast with a time of 54.40 (NCAA B) after posting a season best of 54.08 in the morning. Freshman Storm Hewitt finished 10th with a time of 56.98.
Lyons swam his second race of the session and placed fifth in the 100 back with a time of 49.32 while senior Harrison Brogden was ninth at 50.90.
“Cadell had a great session,” Bradley said. “He swam those back-to-back races very well tonight.”
In diving, the Seminoles had three competing in finals with sophomore Dustin Miller leading the way in fourth with a score of 363.15. Sophomore Dylan Grisell followed in fifth with a tally of 359.05 while junior Kalonji Cole was ninth at 333.20.
“For the guys we had some great swims,” Bradley said. “We still need to shift some things around from here on out but we still had positives to take away from tonight. We’ll get our rest tonight and get ready to finish the meet.”
Both teams sit in third as the women have tallied 491.5 behind Florida (878) and Arkansas (576.5). The men have tallied 586 points, behind Florida (1,225) and Georgia Tech (666).
Bowling Green State
The Bowling Green Swimming and Diving team moved up one place at the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational Friday night. Excluding relays, the Falcons had eight swimmers in final heats during evening two of the competition.
BG moved from 10th place after day one to ninth place with 209 points after day two.
The 200 yard medley relay team finished top 10 to open up Friday night's events. Maya Skorupski, Kristin Filby, Maria Galic and Victoria Griffin raced their way to a season best time of 1:44.12.
Estela Davis earned her way into another consolation final by swimming a personal best time in the 400 individual medley prelims. In the finals, she placed 12th and set yet another PR (4:23.01), swimming over two seconds faster than her prelim time. Jordan Bullock and Nicole Hranchook qualified for the non-scoring bonus finals. Hranchook swam a season PR 4:32.48 in the final swim.
In her second event of the evening, Griffin swam a season best 1:50.23 in the 200 yard freestyle. Her final time was over two seconds faster than she swam in prelims earlier this morning.
The Falcons took two spots in the championship heat of the 100 yard breaststroke. Filby and Daniela Carrillo both set PRs in the preliminary heat this morning and the duo finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Filby swam a 1:02.87 and Carrillo was two tenths of a second behind, swimming 1:03.07.
"Kristin and Daniela had good swims tonight. There were some things that they did better than this morning, but also some that were a little bit off," Head Coach Petra Martin said. "Overall, I think that it was a great experience for them to be in the championship final and under a much higher pressure. It is good for them to race other very fast swimmers so that we can keep on raising our bar and working towards new goals."
Davis and Skorupski qualified for the consolation finals of the 100 backstroke, placing 13 and 14 in prelims. Skorupski swam a career best time of 56.06 in prelims. Later in the evening, Skorupski broke her own career record and finished 11th overall (55.60). Davis placed 13th with a 55.75.
BGSU divers continue to show improvement as they competed in 1-meter diving Friday morning. Rachel Perry recorded a 171.10 and Devan Hennig finished with a score of 167.90. These scores were a significant improvement from their last diving competition.
"Divers did a good job today as well, they were both doing some new dives and scored higher than before which is great to see, they are starting to gain more confidence and we are all excited for them," Martin said.
Bullock also set a season PR of 57.04 in the 100 fly prelims. In the 200 freestyle prelims, Galic, Natalie Criswell, Amanda Washko and Anna Babinec all swam season best times.
The meet concluded with the 800 yard freestyle relay, where Griffin, Davis, Galic and Newman swam a 7:36.41. The season best time earned the women an 8th place finish in the event.
"We had some great swims from a lot of our women," Martin added. "Maya's 100 back was a long time coming, she has been trying to go under 56 for a while. Estela's 400 IM tonight was a lot better and so was the 200 free for Victoria. We are excited for tomorrow."
Utah
Utah divers Jacob Crayne and Amanda Casillas both placed inside the top-ten following the second day of competition at the Georgia Tech Invitational, which was held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Coming off a first-place finish in the one-meter on Thursday, Crayne, a junior, tallied another top-three finish after claiming second-place overall in the three-meter with a score of 289.60.
"We had another fantastic day today and I couldn't be happier with how Jake and Amanda dived today,” said Utah head diving coach Richard Marschner. “Jake did some of the best dives I have ever seen him do and he is really making a name for himself here. It's been fun to watch.”
Casillas, a sophomore, placed ninth overall in the one-meter with an overall score of 263.25. She was in the top-10 after prelims earlier in the day, which had 52 divers competing overall.
"Amanda fought hard to get herself into finals after a rough start. It is a testament to her mental toughness that she was able to put a missed dive behind her and still make it into the top-10 of a very tough competition today. This meet experience will serve her well as we get into February and March.”
Colorado State
The Colorado State swimming & diving team once again had several top performances on Friday, during Day 2 of the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. The Rams are in 10th place in the 16-team competition, and are in position to move up several spots during the final day of action.
The 200 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke were the Rams’ top events, as three swimmers qualified for the finals in both events. In the 100 Breaststroke, senior Tess Simpson finished 15th (1:03.48), the best individual finish of the night. Junior Cristina Bassani (20th; 1:05.44) and sophomore Megan Lloyd (29th; 1:06.21) also finished among the top athletes. Simpson’s mark was the best by a CSU swimmer this season.
In the 200 Freestyle, sophomore Karin Roh (20th, 1:53.94), sophomore Elizabeth Prasse (28th, 1:53.62) and freshman Colleen Olson (30th, 1:55.16) competed in the night swims. Roh and Prasse’s times are the top two on the season by the Rams, while Olson’s was just shy of her career best.
Simpson also qualified in the 100 Butterfly, finishing 23rd with a season-best time of 56.34. Also competing in the night finals was sophomore Alexandra Jacobs, who finished 15th in the 400 IM (4:25.64) and junior Jessica Shepard, who placed 26th in the 100 Backstroke (57.07).
In relay events, the Rams finished eighth in the 200 Medley Relay (1:43.75) and ninth in the 800 Freestyle (7:37.67).After two days, CSU trails Florida, Arkansas, Florida State, Florida Gulf Coast, Vanderbilt, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Institute of Technology and Bowling Green. The Rams are ahead of Indian River State College, South Carolina, Campbell, Auburn, Clemson and Utah.
