The Georgia swimming and diving team split a pair of meets against national power Texas Saturday afternoon at Gabrielsen Natatorium. The Bulldogs dropped a tough 152.5-147.5 decision to the No. 7 Longhorns, while the Lady Bulldogs remained undefeated with a 167-131 victory against No. 5 Texas.

Despite the close loss, the Bulldogs used great swims from Robert Margalis and Sebastien Rouault along with a sweep on the boards to bring the outcome of the meet down to the final relay.

Georgia trailed by 10 points heading into the 200-yard freestyle relay and needed to claim the top two places for the upset. The Bulldog foursome of Josh Laban, Cameron Hollinger, Peter Verhoef and Scott Gardner touched first to win the event in 1:22.11, but the Longhorns finished second to preserve the victory.

"It was very exciting and frustrating at the same time," said Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle of the men's five-point loss. "We had a great meet. The effort was great. I am proud of this group. We definitely have a chance to be a top 10 team. Traditionally Texas brings out the best in us, and that's why we like then to come."

Margalis was a double winner for Georgia, as the senior took top honors in the 1650-yard freestyle with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 15:10.44. Rouault was right behind with an NCAA B-cut time of his own at 15:10.96 to finish second.

"It is great to have Robert back, and our new guy, Sebastien, is doing a great job for us as well," said Bauerle. "Both of their swims (in the 1650y free) probably made the NCAA Championships."

Margalis won his second event of the day when he touched in 3:55.36 in the 400-yard individual medley. Rouault added some much needed points with a victory in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:27.86. Laban also added an individual win for Georgia, as he touched first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.55.

Adding to the Bulldogs' effort was a 1-2-3 finish on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. Sophomore Chris Colwill won both events, as he amassed a total score of 376.95 on the 1-meter and an award of 398.62 on the 3-meter.

"I think we're just carrying on from what we did last week," said Georgia diving coach Dan Laak. "We had a great invitational last week and a great week of practice. We're all excited about being able to help the swim team out. I knew we were capable of going 1-2-3 today in both events if we dove well, and we dove great."

"Right now Chris Colwill is one of the best divers in the country," offered Bauerle. "Todd, who is an All-American, and Genya are diving well. Genya is diving at a much higher level. With those three, we really feel like we can get the points we need, and that happened today. The divers really kept us in the meet."

Georgia posted a number of runner-up finishes, including Damian Alleyne (200-yard free), Gardner (100-yard breast), Gil Stovall (200-yard fly) and Hollinger (100-yard free). Peter Osborn recorded a pair of third-place finishes in the backstroke events.

The Georgia women won the first three events in their meet to build a solid lead, but the Longhorns kept chipping away. The Lady Bulldogs started the meet with a 0.21-second victory in the 200-yard medley relay en route to their eighth win of the season.

"This was a great meet," said Bauerle of the women's contest. "Texas was tough today, but so were we. We had a lot of positive things come out of this meet. This was a meet of two heavyweights battling it out."

Junior Mary DeScenza won a pair of events for the Lady Bulldogs. DeScenza stopped the clock in 1:48.38 to take top honors in the 200-yard freestyle, and she returned to the pool to win the 200-yard butterfly in 1:57.91.

"Mary was absolutely spectacular today," said Bauerle of the double winner.

Katie Yevak, who was runner-up in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:00.04, earned an individual victory with a time of 4:18.27 in the 400-yard individual medley.

Sophomore Kara Lynn Joyce touched first in the100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.95, and junior Laura Conway led a 1-2 finish in the 1650-yard freestyle. Joyce also finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (22.93).

Freshman Anna Miller added to the Lady Bulldogs' win total, as she took top honors in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 4:51.20.

Lindsey Ertter and Sarah Poewe finished second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Ertter was runner-up in the 200-yard breaststroke as well. Haley Chura was Georgia's top finisher in the 200-yard with a time of 2:00.02 to finish third.

In the diving well, senior Brooke Bassham topped the 1-meter leader board with an overall score of 267.22, followed narrowly by Emily Hunter in second (267.00). Sophomore Sara Hershman won the 3-meter springboard event with an overall score of 299.55, while Bassham finished third.

"Our divers did a great job as well," said Bauerle.

"This could be our last hurdle to an undefeated season for the women," said Bauerle. "We still have South Carolina. (The Gamecocks) are good, but not quite as strong as Texas. It would be nice to win all our meets heading into the SECs."