Ga. Tech Beats Clemson, Miami, WKU; Clemson Women Win

The Georgia Tech swimming and diving teams picked up three wins in the team's annual Parent's Weekend meet on Saturday afternoon. The men's team had a clean sweep in their action, knocking off Clemson 165-135 and Western Kentucky 164-136, while the women's squad picked up one win over Miami, 156-130, battled Western Kentucky to a 150-150 draw and fell to Clemson, 160-138.

"Overall, I thought both the men's and women's teams raced better than they did last week," said head coach Courtney Hart. "I was especially pleased with the performance by the men's team and the women's team fought all day long. Across the board, it looks like we're improving and also, any time you can beat ACC competition, it is a great thing."

The first event of the day was the 200-medley relay, as both Tech team's registering top three finishes. On the men's side, the team of Way Joe Lee, Jeremy Jackson, Sullivan Lynch and Garrett Robberson picked up the first win of the day for the Yellow Jackets quickly fin a time of 1:31.89. For the women, the team of Heidi Hatteberg, Lisa Pucci, Christine Chuang and Agatha Kwasnik finished third in 1:46.93.

The women's 1,000-free saw Jing Li finish fourth in a time of 10:28.84, while for the men, Kevin Morgan was the Yellow Jackets' top finisher hitting the wall in 9:53.76 to place fifth.

In the 200-free, Sarah Broadley hit the wall in 1:52.39 to finish second, while Katherine Locker placed fifth in a time of 1:53.65. For the men, Travis Wagner gave the Jackets their second win of the day after hitting the wall in 1:40.85. Matt Tang also placed well, finishing third in 1:42.31.

In the 100-back, Ryann Kopacka placed fourth in a time of 58.05, while in the men's 100-back, Lee hit the wall in 51.56 to finish second, with Ilia Ayzenshtok finishing third in 51.86. In the men's 100-breast, Matthew Vaughan finished second in 56.93, while Jeremy Jackson finished right behind his teammate in a time of 58.13,

The women's 200-fly saw Li finish third in 2:06.40, while in the men's 200-fly, Ralph Long also placed third in a time of 1:53.99. In the 50-free, Kwasnik finished second in 23.88, while on the men's side,

Nigel Plummer earned another the third win for the Yellow Jacket men in the 50-free hitting the wall in 20.34. In the 100-free, Kwasnik finished second in the 100-free in a time of 51.24, while Broadley finished fourth in 52.09.

On the one-meter platform, Hannah Krimm made school history with a 307.60 effort that earned was a school record in the event. The effort also earned the Yellow Jacket women's squad their first win of the day. Teammate Michele Bertolino finished right behind Krimm in the event after a 258.30 effort.

The 200-back saw Kopakca of the women's team place fifth in 2:05.51, while for the men, Lee also placed fifth in the event in 1:55.83. In the 500 free, Li was fourth hitting the wall in 5:04.87, while Hatteberg was fifth in 5:06.14.

In the women's 100-fly, Erin O'Donnell finished fifth in a time of 57.35 and in the men's 100-fly, Travis Wagner had a strong run, finishing third hitting the wall in 51.41. In the last individual event of the day, Gal Nevo picked up the fourth and final victory for the men's squad in the 200-yard IM, placing with a time of 1:53.10.

The women's team ended the day on a high note, as the 400-medley relay team of Kwasnik, Broadley, Kate Riley and Keren Siebner finished first in a time of 3:26.02. For the men, the team of Morgan,Vaughn, Jackson, and Will Woodworth placed second in 3:04.79.

The Yellow Jackets return action on Oct. 23 when the men's squad hosts Florida at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center beginning at 6 p.m. The women return to action the following week, Oct. 30, with a meet against Duke and Houston in Durham, N.C.



The Clemson men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams
picked up four wins in the quad meet Saturday at the Georgia Tech
Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA.  The men’s team defeated Western
Kentucky 155-143, but fell to Georgia Tech 165-135.  The women’s team
came out undefeated as they took down Western Kentucky 164.5-135.5,
Miami 162-124 and Georgia Tech 160-138.

Clemson’s men move to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC, while the women
improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.

“Overall we are really happy with the way we performed today,” Head
Coach Christopher Ip said.

“On the men’s side, we came out a little flat in the beginning, but at
the half we had a good meeting and they finished the meet strong.  It
was a god day from top to bottom.  Senior Thomas Recko won the two
backstroke events, junior David Gordon had a great day in the free and
fly, sophomore Seth Broster won the 100 fly and the sophomore group
won the 400 free relay and then freshman Eric Bruck had a solid day.”

“On the women’s side, it was a strong effort all day long.  We are
very excited to have gotten off to a 4-0 start and 2-0 in the ACC.
They really shared the wealth today and had a solid day as everybody
contributed.  Senior Katrina Obas had a great day in the breast and
IM, junior Sarah Smith was very solid in the distance free, sophomore
Kelli Kyle won the 100 back and freshman Meg Anderson took the 50
free.”

The Tiger women started the day off with a runner-up finish in the 200
medley relay with the group of Kelli Kyle, Katrina Obas, Maddie
Tarantolo, and Meg Anderson.  The Clemson men took third in the 200
medley relay as Georgia Tech finished in the top two spots.

Junior Sarah Smith had a second place finish in the 1000 freestyle and
sophomores Will Clark and Alex Carr took second and fourth
respectively for the men.
Clemson got its first win of the day from sophomore Kelli Kyle in the
100 back and then made it a clean sweep when Thomas Recko took first
for the men.
In the 200 butterfly the Tigers took three of the top five spots on
the women’s side with freshman Tori Cervone picking up second, junior
Meggie Mizelle taking fourth, and sophomore Sarah Bechard in fifth.

Clemson got another win when freshman Meg Anderson took first in the
50 free and had three of the top four finishes when senior Alex Allen
finished third and freshman Heather Savage came in fourth.

Thomas Recko got is second win of the day as he won the 200 back to
sweep the backstroke events for the men.  Matt Angelini came in second
with senior Jason Chatlosh taking fourth.  Freshman Sarah Andrews had
a second place finish for the women.

Will Clark and David Gordon finished second and third respectively in
the 500 free with Alex Carr taking fifth and Sarah Smith came in
second for the women.
The men took three of the top five finishes as Seth Broster got his
first win of the day and sophomore Harry Foster was fourth and junior
Josef Knecht fifth.
Katrina Obas and Tori Cervone finished second and third in the 200 IM
for the women and Matt Anglini finished second for the men.

The Tigers the finished the day strong on the men’s side with a win in
the 400 free relay by the group of sophomores Seth Broster, Myles
Oliver, Chris Reinke and Lee Groseclose.  The women took second in the
400 free relay with the group of Meg Anderson, Maddie Tarantolo,
Heather Savage and Tori Cervone.

In diving, sophomore Brooke George took third on the one-meter, an
event where she earned a zone qualifying score last week against
Davidson.  Senior Hannah Krimm took the win for Georgia Tech.  On the
men’s side, senior David Giambra finished second and earned his zone
qualifying score in the one-meter with a 292.05.  In the three-meter
Clemson’s Brooke George took fourth and freshman Elizabeth Tatum
finished fifth and for the men Giambra finished third.

“As a staff, we feel really good about the way we performed today.
Now we will prepare for our first home dual meet against South
Carolina, which is always a great meet.”

The Tigers’ will have two weekends off before South Carolina travels
to Clemson for the first home meet of the season Friday, October 30 at
5:00 p.m. at McHugh Natatorium.



The WKU swimming and diving teams kicked off the 2009 season by competing against Georgia Tech, Clemson and Miami (FL) in Atlanta, Ga.  The women's team defeated Miami 178-114 and tied Georgia Tech at 150-150 but fell to Clemson 164.50-135.  The men's team fell to Georgia Tech by a score of 164-136 and fought Clemson to the very end before falling 155-143 in the final relay of the meet.

"I was very pleased with some of the performances that I saw in the women's meet," head coach Bruce Marchionda said.  "We were able to defeat Miami and tie Georgia Tech.  There are a lot of things that have to happen just right to tie a team in women's swimming. Even though we came up a little short against Clemson I am happy with the directon the women's team is headed in."

"The men lost a heart breaker today to Clemson," Marchionda said.  "We took them down to the last relay and obviously fell a little short.  We had a few kids sick today that are important to our relay team.  We really wanted to win that race and needed to for our program, but I am proud of our kids today."

To kick things off, the WKU women's 200 yard medley relay team of Stephanie Terrell, Stephanie Martin, Chelsea Stephens and Meredith Dement opened up the meet by taking first place finishing with a time of 1:44.13. 

During the day, the Lady Toppers picked up four more first place finishes behind Claire Donahue's two victories.  Donahue captured first place in the 100 fly with a time of 54.33 and in the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.80.  Donahue also picked up a NCAA "B" Cut in the 100 Fly. 

The WKU women also picked up a first place victory behind Alex Van Oost, who touched the wall in 2:03.60 to claim first place in the 200 back. Van Oost also finished third in the 1000 free with a time of 10:28.07.  Stephanie Martin picked up the team's final first place victory in the 200 breast touching the wall with a time of 2:18.74.

In addition to the first place victories, WKU's Claire Alexandre finished fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.62.  Freshmen Hilary Mishler and Laurel Chaney also had outstanding first meets finishing second and third in the 100 back with times of 57.14 and 57.79 respectively. 

Brittany Doss also posted a second place victory for the Lady Toppers in the 100 breast (1:04.88) while Martin was right behind Doss in third place (1:04.92).  Finally, Kristiana Feeser finished fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:09.41. 

In diving, Kylie Ruiz tallied 244.10 points to finish in third place in the three meter diving competition.

"We had a couple of swimmers that had really great times today," Marchionda said.  "Claire Donahue had a great meet and Stephanie Martin posted great times for this early in the season in the 100 and 200 breast.  Alex Van Oost also posted big swims for this early in the season and led the way in the 200 back."

In the men's competition, Sean Penhale led the way for the Hilltoppers finishing first in the 1000 free with a time of 9:32.94 and first in the 500 free with a time of 4:36.73.  David Rayner, in his first meet as a Hilltopper, placed third in the 1000 free touching the wall in 9:44.51.

WKU's Cameron Higdon also picked up a first place finish for WKU taking first place in the 200 Fly with a time of 1:52.75.  Endi Babi was also successful for WKU in the 200 fly posting a time of 1:53.15 to finish second and Nick Slattery finished second in the 100 fly with a time of 51.08.

The Hilltoppers final victory of the night went to Luke Musser who claimed the top spot in the 200 breast with a time of 2:04.27.  Billy Kunkel also had a great first meet finishing fourth in the 100 free (46.83) and fifth in the 50 free (21.30).  Also in the 50 free, Zane Rowland took home a third place finish with a time of 20.90.  Rounding out the top finishers for WKU was Cameron Watkins in the 200 back.  Watkins finished third in the race with a time of 1:55.04.

In the men's 200 yard medley relay the Hilltoppers picked up a fourth and fifth place finish.  In fifth place with a time of 1:35.31 was Cameron Watkins, Luke Musser, Endi Babi and Stephen Claycomb and in fourth place was Chris Housden, Bryan Mell, Nick Slattery and Zane Rowland who posted a time of 1:33.77.  Finally, in the men's 400 free relay, Kunkel, Babi, Penhale and Rowland posted a third place finish with a time of 3:08.49.

"We had a lot of guys who posted great times today, especially some of our freshmen," Marchionda said.  "Billy Kunkel's time in the 200 free and his time in the relay were all outstanding and Luke Musser had some big wins.  They are really coming along.  Our men also gave Clemson a scare leading with two events left to go."

WKU swimming and diving will continue action on Oct. 31 when they host Cumberland in Bowling Green.


The University of Miami swimming and diving team opened the season at Atlanta on Saturday, finishing the day with a 0-3 record in tight contests against Western Kentucky, Clemson and host Georgia Tech at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.  Overall, the Hurricanes won six events, and eight wins against ACC schools.

Miami (0-3, 0-2 ACC) was participating against good teams on Saturday, though taking to the pool with no divers in this weekend’s meet.  Therefore, valuable points were left off the final score sheet for the Hurricanes.  The Hurricanes dropped their three contests to Western Kentucky (178-114), Clemson (162-124) and Georgia Tech (156-130).

Miami began the day with a solid fifth place showing in the 200 medley relay using Hannah Kling, Sofia Johansson, Deidre Novotny and Lauren Jacoby for a time of 1:47.56.

Junior Ryann Labreche took first place in the 1000-yard freestyle for a time of 10:17.53.  Tiffany Petzold finished sixth with a mark of 10:31.22.  Miami also took a first place finish from Annika Saarnak with a time of 1:51.58.  In her Miami debut, Hannah Kling finished seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.19 seconds.

“The girls swam amazing,” stated UM swimming head coach Christie Shefchunas.  “We had so many great swims today and I think it truly set us up for a great season.”

UM continued strong swims in the 100-yard breaststroke as freshman Johansson picked up a winning time of 1:04.08 in her collegiate debut.  Christine Anderson, also making her UM debut, finished fourth with a time of 1:05.59.

Saarnak continued her determination in the pool with her second winning performance on the day, this time in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.68.  Kling picked up a top 3 mark in the 200-yard backstroke with a performing time of 2:04.96.  Roxanne Meyer, after sitting out last season for the ‘Canes, posted a mark of 2:05.13 in the 200 back in her Hurricanes debut, placing fourth.

“There is new determination, a new confidence with this team,” stated Shefchunas.  “Every time someone would win an event, I’d tell the girls ‘we’re not messing around this year.’ These girls are determined to make this a great team, and they stepped up and got it done today.”

UM picked up two top 3 marks in the 200 breast, using Anderson (2:20.93) and Johansson (2:21.46) for second and third, respectively.  That was followed by a win in the 500 free as Labreche registered her second win of the afternoon in a 5:01.77 winning mark.  Tiffany Petzold was third (5:03.86).

Miami picked up two more top 3 performances from Saarnak and Novotny in the 100-yard butterfly, with Saarnak leading the way with a time of 56.43.

“This is going to be a fun season if they keep this up,” said Shefchunas.”

The Hurricanes will get back to the pool on Saturday, Oct. 17 when they travel to Fort. Myers, Florida for a tri-meet with Florida Gulf Coast and ACC foe Florida State.  The meet is set to begin at 1 p.m.