Georgia Tech, Alabama Shine in Early Openers

The Georgia Tech swimming and diving teams picked up four wins in the season-opening Fall Quad Meet Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The men’s team beat Florida Atlantic, 178-121, while falling to Alabama, 190.5-100.5. The women’s team, meanwhile, knocked off Georgia Southern (238-50), FAU (231-67) and Florida Gulf Coast (167-133). They lost to Alabama by a score of 187-113.  The Alabama men were the big winners with four wins on the day while the Tide women added a pair of victories.
 
 “It’s good to get that first meet in the books and get a starting point,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “We had some good races out there and were able to go into someone else’s pool and come away with the “W”. Now we just have to come back home and get back to work and keep getting better.”
 
In a tri-meet with Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic, the Tide men beat the Yellow Jackets 190.5-100.5 and downed the Owls 208-83. The Alabama women were involved in five-way meet and came away with wins over host school Georgia Tech (187-113), Georgia Southern (248-46), Florida Atlantic (247-53) and Florida Gulf Coast (209.5-90.5).
 
Alabama’s men were nearly unstoppable, taking first and second place in 11 of 16 events, including the first six races of the meet and winning 14 overall while the Tide women won 10 of 16 events, including the open and closing relays.

“I am really pleased with how the women raced today,” said Courtney Hart after her first meet as a head coach. “They came out focused and were definitely ready to go. The men did some nice things as well today. There are some things we need to work on, but overall we’re pleased after the first meet of the season.”

The first event was the 200-medley relay and both Tech teams turned in solid finishes. The women’s team of Heidi Hatteberg, April Dickerson, Jordan Evans and Agatha Kwasnik placed second with a time of 1:47.14. On the men’s side, Ilia Ayzenshtok, Jeremy Jackson, Travis Wagner and Jeffrey Phillips were third as they touched the walll in 1:33.51.

The women’s 1,000-free saw Jing Li finish fourth in a time of 10:34.72, while Alexis Weber (1:54.11) and Taylor Flynn (1:54.21) finished fourth and fifth in the 200-free. In the men’s 200-free, Matt Tang secured a fourth place finish with his mark of 1:42.86.

Hatteberg gave the Yellow Jackets their first win of the afternoon when she was victorious in the 100-back with a time of 57.62. Keren Siebner (58.53) and Ryann Kopacka (59.05) were right behind Hatteberg giving Tech all three top positions.

In the men’s 100-back, Ayzenshtok was third as he recorded a time of 52.39. Lisa Pucci earned a fourth-place spot in the 100-breast with her mark of 1:07.13, while Jackson had a third place spot on the men’s spot with a time of 58.80.

Freshman Kate Riley began her Tech career in style as she earned a second-place finish in the 50-free (24.39). For the Jacket men, Jackson (21.98) and Phillips (22.03) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

On the one-meter platform, Michele Bertolino (242.30) and Hannah Krimm (231.45) secured third and fifth places for the Yellow Jackets. For the men’s diving squad, a pair of freshmen in Brandon Makinson (285.40) and Chris Khosravi (249.45) finished third and fourth, respectively. In the three-meter, Krimm finished fourth for Tech with 258.10 points, while Bertolino had 242.05 points, good for sixth. Makinson (321.00) and Khosravi (270.30) were three and four once again.

In the 100-free, Kwasnik gave the Jackets their second win of the day as she finished in a time of 51.19. Siebner placed third (52.93). Travis Wagner made it a clean sweep for Tech as he was victorious on the men’s side, its first win of the day, by finishing in a time of 46.58.

In the 100-back, Hatteberg recorded her second win of the day when she hit the wall in 2:03.80. For the men, Randolph (1:56.68) and Tang (1:56.87) were third and fourth.

Wagner picked up his second win of the day, this time in the 100-fly, as he finished in 51.15. Freshman teammate Michael Hart came in third with a mark of 51.15.

Max Randolph picked up another win for Georgia Tech in the 200-IM (1:58.52), while Morgan finished third (2:00.54). Both Tech 400-free relay teams closed out the meet well as the women were second and the men first. The women’s squad, comprised of Kwasnik, Siebner, Weber and Riley finished in 3:29.64, while Wagner, Tang, Phillips and Hart touched the wall in a time of 3:08.99 for the Jacket men.

The Yellow Jackets will host a meet next Saturday against Clemson, Miami and Western Kentucky. All of the action from the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center gets underway at 11:00 a.m. and live stats will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com.