It was a strong Friday night in the pool for Georgia Tech swimming & diving as the men picked up an impressive non-conference win over South Carolina and the women opened ACC action by beating Notre Dame at the GT Aquatic Center.
Meet Scoring
The Yellow Jacket men improved to 2-1 by defeating the Gamecocks, 186-114, while the women's record moved to 2-2 after beating the Irish, 157-143, but falling to South Carolina, 177-123.
Men's Highlights
• Rookie Brian Woodbury was impressive, winning both the 100 back (50.24) and the 200 IM (1:54.50) and helping the 200 medley relay to a victory in the meet's first event. Woodbury teamed with Mark Sarman, Ben Southern and Nico van Duijn to take the relay in a time of 1:30.21.
• Woodbury's other individual event was a second-place finish (1:52.26) to teammate Robert Borowicz (1:49.99) in the 200 back.
• Southern also picked up a pair of individual wins as the sophomore claimed the 100 fly (48.97) and went 1-2 with van Duijn in the 200 fly.
• Yuval Safra swept the distance events for the hosts, putting down a time of 4:28.78 in winning the 500 free and cruising to an eight-second victory over USC's Tom Peribonio in the 1,000 free (9:19.44).
• Senior Andrew Kosic continues the strong start to his season as he won all three individual events he entered -- the 50 free (20.01), the 100 free (44.15) and the 200 free (1:38.41). His 50 and 100 free times were each NCAA "B" cuts.
• Behind Kosic, Tech swept the top three spots in the 50 free with Andrew Chetcuti (20.99) in second and Taylor Wilson (21.16) in third.
• Kosic, Chetcuti, Wilson and van Duijn cemented the team victory over South Carolina with a win in the 400 free relay in a time of 3:01.73.
Women's Highlights
• Chiara Ruiu turned in a big meet by winning the 200 free (1:52.30), finishing second in the 200 IM (2:06.76) and helping the 400 free relay to victory.
• Shannon Lumbra finished second on both springboard events, scoring 294.95 points on the 1-meter and 306.00 on the 3-meter.
• Alex Rieger also swam on the winning 400 free relay and registered a second-place finish in the 200 back in a time of 2:02.10.
• Rieger and Ruiu joined Erika Staskevicius and Darelle Cowley in putting down a winning time of 3:29.46 in the 400 free relay.
• Tech also picked up a third-place finish in the 400 free relay as MaryKathryn Terry, Elise Breaux, Katherine Kerman and Kira de Bryun were clocked in 3:33.49.
Quotes from Head Coach Courtney Shealy Hart
• "I'm thrilled with the results tonight. South Carolina is always a strong men's program and Notre Dame is a women's team that was ranked in the Top 25 last season and has an American record-holder on its roster."
• "The key tonight was our depth, and that was something we had talked about. It wasn't just our athletes at the top of the lineup. It was a team-effort and I'm proud of how we performed. Now we have to re-focus our energy and get ready for another tough test with Pitt and Georgia Southern coming in tomorrow morning."
• "Ben (Southern) swam very well for us tonight, Yuval (Safra) was strong, and Brian (Woodbury) had a very good meet. Kosic continues to swim very fast right and he's had a great start to his senior season."
• "Chiara (Ruiu) and Shannon (Lumbra) both were big keys for the women to get that first ACC win."
Up Next
Tech is right back in action Saturday morning at the GT Aquatic Center, hosting Pitt and Georgia Southern. The meet begins at 11 a.m.
The South Carolina women’s swimming and diving team defeated both Georgia Tech (177-123) and Notre Dame (180-120) to improve to 2-1 on the season. The Gamecock men fell to Georgia Tech 186-114 and are now 1-1 on the year.
The women claimed seven events led by freshman Sarah Smith who took first place in the 500 (5:02.19) and 1000 freestyle (10:13.60). Victoria Mitchell (200 backstroke), Meredith Vay (100 freestyle) and Mairyn Branaman (100 butterfly) all added wins for the Gamecocks. In the diving well, Patricia Kranz and Julia Vincent claimed the one-meter and three-meter, respectively.
The 200 medley relay team of Heather Merritt, Ellen Johnson, Branaman and Vay finished second with a time of 1:45.19. The women also recorded a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (2:29.78) with the team of Rachel Elliott, Caroline Petrone, Merritt and Vay.
Nils Wich-Glasen picked up two wins for the men’s team, as he took first in both the 100 (56.14) and 200 breaststroke (2:01.02). Kevin Leithold finished second in both the 100 freestyle (45.10) and the 100 butterfly (49.09). Jared Kauffman recorded a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 (57.30) and 200 breaststroke (2:05.53) and took second in the 200 IM (1:54.70).
Wich Glasen and Leithold teamed up with Jonathan Boland and Joshua Clothier to take second in the 200 medley relay (1:31.20). The pair also finished second in the 400 freestyle relay along with Marwan El Kamash and Michael Covert.
Key Stat
The women defeated both opponents by at least 50 points, winning seven of 16 events
Notables
Men’s
• Nils Wich-Glasen remains undefeated this season after winning both the 100 and 200 breaststroke
• Bryce Kananowicz posted a new personal record in the 200 IM (1:55.20)
• Cole Miller picked up his second consecutive win on the three-meter springboard
Women’s
• Sarah Smith picked up her first collegiate win in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:13.60, which is a new personal record
• Mairyn Branaman recorded her first collegiate win in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.75
• Meredith Vay logged her second consecutive win in the 100 freestyle
• Heather Merritt (56.87) and Branaman (56.75) posted new personal records in the 100 butterfly
• Julia Vincent took first place on the three-meter springboard (348.30) for her first collegiate win
• Marissa Roth made her collegiate debut, she finished third on the three-meter (278.10) and seventh on the one-meter (246.60)
Quotable
Head swimming Coach McGee Moody
“This was one of the best wins for our women’s team in program history. They stepped up and raced hard. I’m very proud of the steps this team has taken over the last few seasons to get to where they are today. They were able to beat a team (Notre Dame) that finished in the top-20 last year at the NCAA Championships. The men did the best they could and put up some good times, but came up short in the end. We’ll regroup and be ready to race against East Carolina and College of Charleston.”
Head diving coach Todd Sherritt
“Overall we had a good meet, we finished with three wins. Cole Miller came back to win the three-meter (after placing fifth on the one-meter) and I was happy with that. Julia Vincent had a great meet; she had a really good score (348.30) on the three-meter. Our freshman, Marissa Roth, did an incredible job and I thought she really shined.”
Up Next
The Gamecocks begin their home slate with the women hosting Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 31; both squads will then face East Carolina and College of Charleston on Nov. 8.
Amidst the flurry of midterms and fall break, the University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s diving squads traveled south for a pair of dual meets with Georgia Tech and Auburn. Versus Georgia Tech Friday evening, the men’s squad excelled, claiming first and second place in the 1-meter event and finishing second and third in the 3-meter competition.
2014 NCAA qualifier and sophomore Joe Coumos led the way in 1-meter diving for the six-man Irish squad, finishing first with a 334.40 mark. Senior Nick Nemetz was close behind with his 324.35 score.
In the 3-meter event, Nemetz’s 353.35 mark placed him second, behind South Carolina’s Cole Miller (378.20), while Coumos finished third with a 343.25 mark.
James Lichtenstein clinched fourth in the 1-meter (295.15) and was ninth in the 3-meter event (249.55).
Senior Michael Kreft dove to a solid performance, earning sixth-place honors in the 1-meter (278.00) and seventh-place accolades in the 3-meter (306.50).
Ted Wagner rounded out the top 10 in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the Atlanta meet, scoring 246.45 in the 1-meter competition and 232.80 in the 3-meter.
Peter Myers, the lone freshman, scored 242.30 in the 1-meter event and came in eighth in the 3-meter competition with a 278.65 mark in his second outing wearing the blue and gold.
The Irish continue their south-bound swing Saturday with a dual meet against Auburn at the Martin Aquatics Center.
After a week full of midterms, the University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team won seven events and finished runner-up in three others Friday evening in dual meets against Georgia Tech and South Carolina at the GT Aquatic Center. However, the Irish couldn’t quite overcome the depth of the Yellow Jackets (157-143) and Gamecocks (180-120), as they suffered a pair of setbacks in their first road competition of the 2014-15 season.
“I’m pleased with how our team put together their races tonight. We had a lot of really good splits across the board,” said assistant coach Ryan Von Gunten. “We know the times and outcomes will only get better as we continue to focus on the championship meets at the end of the year. We had an excellent week of training and I was proud of how the squad maintained their focus in practice despite a stressful week of midterms. We are still learning how to swim fast when we are tired. That’s something that we can continue to work on tomorrow, as we get right back at it against Auburn and Vanderbilt.”
The Irish (1-2) got off to a great start, as the team of Catherine Mulquin, Emma Reaney, Courtney Whyte and Catherine Galletti claimed the 200 medley relay title in 1:43.59.
For Mulquin and Reaney, the win was the first of many on the day, as they combined to take five of the seven Irish wins. In individual competition, Mulquin claimed the 100 back (56.42) and 50 free (23.82) crowns, while Reaney won the 100 breast (1:01.78), 200 breast (2:16.57) and 200 IM (2:05.37). Reaney’s time in the 200 breast was the team’s first NCAA “B” cut this season.
Elsewhere, senior Bridget Casey turned in another strong swim in the event she holds the school record in – the 200 fly (2:03.68). The Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania native topped fellow captain Courtney Whyte (2:03.95) by .27 seconds and the third-place finisher Kate Brandus (Georgia Tech) by almost two seconds.
Mulquin missed out on three individual wins by .20 seconds, as she placed second in the 100 free (51.62). Freshman Sherri McIntee took second behind Reaney in the 200 breast (2:19.07) and sophomore Katie Miller claimed third in the 200 back (2:05.20).
“Sherri had a great 200 breast swim,” said Von Gunten. “She was behind at 175 yards and came back to take second. I was really proud of her determination at the end of that race.”
Despite the two losses, the experience of competing in the same aquatic center that will host the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships will prove to be invaluable as the squad continues to prepare for the late-February meet.
Notre Dame has a quick turnaround, as it busses to Auburn, Alabama for a 2 p.m. (ET) meet Saturday with Auburn and Vanderbilt.
