Georgia Tech
The Georgia Tech swimming & diving team completed the second of three days of competition Friday night, breaking a school record in the process. The men are currently in 3rd place, while the women are in 5th.
The women’s 200 medley relay team, which consisted of Maddie Paschal, Florina Ilie, Morgan Lyons and Iris Wang, finished with a time of 1:41.25. The previous record of 1:41.57 was set in 2012 by Heidi Hatteberg, Ariana Berg, Jordan Evans and Keren Siebner.
The men closed out the day strong, as the A-team of the men’s 800 freestyle relay finished second in the event. The team consisted of Youssef Hammoud, Dan Cohen Solal, Mats Westergren and Noah Harasz.
“I’m proud of the way our men’s and women’s teams are racing,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “Our women’s team broke a record in the 200 medley relay. They’re racing really hard, and they’re racing from start to finish. I’m very proud of them. I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning’s session where we can get in a position to score tomorrow night.”
Men’s Standings
1. Alabama 904.5
2. South Carolina 752
3. Georgia Tech 666.5
4. Indian River State College 335
5. UNLV 252
6. Florida Atlantic 204
7. Carson-Newman 183
8. Minnesota 151
9. Stanford 97
10. Auburn University 75
11. Hawai’i 61
Women’ Standings
1. Arkansas 749
2. Alabama 689.5
3. Florida Gulf Coast 601
4. South Carolina 510
5. Georgia Tech 327.5
6. UNLV 231
7. Indian River State College 193
8. Florida Atlantic 144
9. Carson-Newman 141
9. Georgia Southern 141
11. Campbell 128
12. Minnesota 118
13. UNC Asheville 90
14. Stanford 72
15. Hawai’i 71
16. Auburn 42
Alabama
Mia Nonnenberg must not have heard about the dreaded sophomore slump. The University of Alabama swimmer isn’t even half way through her second season with the Crimson Tide and she’s already broken two school records in as many days at the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational here in Atlanta, Ga., this weekend, and not by a little bit either.
Nonnenberg shattered the Tide’s 30-year old 500 freestyle record on Thursday by three seconds and on Friday, she bettered her own 400 individual medley record set during her freshman campaign by a second and a half, turning in a 4:07.53 to secure her second win of the meet by more than four seconds.
Hers was one of six individual wins by the Tide on day two of the Atlanta, Ga. based meet. The Tide also won three relays on the night.
Sophomore Hannah Musser won the 100 butterfly with a 53.37, which ranks her fifth all-time at Alabama while senior Brett Walsh won the men’s 100 butterfly with a 46.44, just off his school record set last season. Alabama also swept the 100 breaststroke events, with junior Bridget Blood winning the women’s race with a 1:00.43 while junior Anton McKee won the men’s race with a 52.43.
Freshman Christian Arseneau went 1:36.10 to lead a 1-2-3 Alabama sweep of the 200 freestyle. Arseneau’s time ranks him eighth all-time at Alabama. Junior Connor Oslin led another 1-2-3 Tide sweep in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall at 46.00.
In other top-five action, senior Emma Saunders was second in the 200 freestyle with a 1:47.17. Junior Taylor Charles was fourth in the 400 individual medley with a 3:54.03. Junior Pavel Romanov was fourth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 54.06.
In addition to Arseneau’s win in the 200 freestyle, junior Alex Gray was second with a 1:36.36 while senior Crews Wellford was third with a 1:37.44. In the 100 backstroke, sophomores Luke Kaliszak and Christopher Reid followed Oslin’s win, going 46.14 and 47.64, respectively. Junior Caroline Korst took third in the 100 backstroke with a 54.20.
The Tide men started off the night by winning the 200 medley relay, with Oslin, Romanov, Walsh and junior Kristian Gkolomeev combining to post a 1:24.49, nearly three seconds ahead of the field. Reid, Gray, Wellford and Arseneau came together to win the 800 freestyle relay with a 6:27.19 to close out the night.
On the women’s side of the slate, Nonnenberg, Musser, sophomore Temarie Tomley and Saunders won the 800 freestyle relay by more than two seconds with a 7:15.20. Earlier in the night, Saunders, Blood, Musser and sophomore Temarie Tomley were second in the 200 medley relay after touching the wall at 1:39.60.
Alabama finishes things up at the Georgia Tech Invitational on Saturday, with preliminaries starting at 9 a.m. CT and finals getting underway at 5 p.m. CT.
Florida Gulf Coast
After a strong first day at the McAuley Aquatics Center, the No. 24 FGCU swimming and diving team followed up with another strong showing at the Georgia Tech Invite. The Eagles set six season bests, along with three first place finishes.
In the 100-yard butterfly preliminaries, the Eagles got on the board with a fourth place finish from Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls' School). Wong, a sophomore, finished with a time of 54.65 seconds, eclipsing her previous season best of 54.86 seconds.
Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) had a big day for the Green and Blue, qualifying for the NCAA 'B' cut in the 200-yard freestyle preliminary race. Haan, a freshman, finished the race with a time of 1:47.27, which is 0.25 seconds off from the school record. In the 100-yard backstroke, she brought home FGCU's first first-place finish of the day, posting a season-best time of 52.23 seconds while again qualifying for the NCAA 'B'cut.
Katie Armitage (Bushey, Unitied Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) also qualified for the NCAA 'B' cut for her efforts in the 100-yard breaststroke. Armitage's time of 1:01.49 is not only another season best, but also good for third best in school history.
In the evening section of the meet, the Eagles reigned supreme in the 200-yard medley relay race. The group of Haan, Armitage, Wong, and Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood's School) posted a time of 1:38.90, edging Alabama by seven-tenths of a second. Other schools that they beat were Arkansas, UNLV, and Georgia Tech.
Wong returned to the top five in the 100-yard butterfly, with a time of 54.77 seconds. She tied for fifth place with Laura Branton of Georgia Tech. Haan earned more individual accolades in the evening by competing in the 200-yard freestyle. In that race she placed third overall, finishing with a time of 1:47.25, two-tenths of a second faster than her previous career best that she set earlier in the day. Armitage finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a final time of 1:01.63.
Haan capped off her big day by winning the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.52. After taking sixth in the preliminary round, Sandra Wilk (Lexington, Ky./Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School) had a huge second race to come back and place second overall at the finals. Wilk, a junior, shaved over a second off her preliminary time, and was able to finish in 54.18 seconds. Her time qualified her for the NCAA 'B' cut, and was a career best, eclipsing the 54.68 mark she set at the 2014 CCSA race.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay final, the Eagles placed third behind Alabama and Arkansas. The team of Lani Cabrera (Bridgetown, Barbados/St. Ursala's Secondary School), Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay High School), Melissa Marinheiro (Davie, Fla./West Broward High School), and Haan finished with a time of 7:18.38 to cap off the day for FGCU.
South Carolina
The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams held their positions through day two of the three-day Georgia Tech Invitational, which was completed Friday night. The men remain in second place out of 11 teams, while the women are fourth among 16 squads.
First up on in the Friday night finals was the 200-yard medley relay. The women’s unit of Heather Merritt, Kersten Dirrane, Paige Maynard and McKenna Keith turned in a time of 1:43.34 to place seventh, while the men’s quartet of Jonathan Boland, Nils Wich-Glasen, Kevin Leithold and Patrick McCrillis touched the pad in 1:27.33, good for second place.
Both Carolina teams had strong performances in the 400-yard IM. Emma Barksdale took second with a B cut time of 4:11.96, while Megan Carlson was eighth in 4:20.81. The men swept the top three places, all with B cut marks. Tom Peribonio was the top finisher in 3:50.96, and was followed closely by Cody Bekemeyer (3:52.14) and Phillip Willett (3:53.48), earning the squad 71 points.
Top Gamecock finishers in the 100-yard butterfly were Paige Maynard, who placed eighth in 55.07, and Jonathan Boland, who posted a time of 48.43, good for fifth place.
Akaram Mahmoud logged a fourth place finish and a B cut time in the men’s 200-yard freestyle, touching the pad in 1:37.84.
The Gamecocks turned in three more B standard marks in the 100-yard breaststroke. Kersten Dirrane finished fifth in 1:02.34 on the women’s side, while Nils Wich-Glasen (52.63) and Kevin Leithold (54.52), went 2-6 respectively, in the men’s race.
Jonathan Boland turned in a B cut time of 48:06 to finish fourth in the men’s 100-yard backstroke.
In the diving competition on Friday, Julia Vincent followed up her second place performance on the 1-meter board on Thursday with another second place in the 3-meter event. Vincent scored 368.55 points, missing the top spot by just 0.45 points. Jordan Gotro placed seventh in the men’s 1-meter board with 316.15 points.
Friday’s competition wrapped up with the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Gamecock women finished fifth, with Emma Barksdale, Paige Maynard, Ashleigh Ferguson and Heather Merritt finishing in 7:25.24, while the men’s quartet of Kevin Leithold, Akaram Mahmoud, Tom Peribonio and Cody Bekemeyer, touched in 6:31.19, good for third place.
After two days of competition, Arkansas leads the women’s team standings with 749 points. They are followed by Alabama (689.5), Florida Gulf Coast (601) and South Carolina (510). Alabama leads the men’s competition with 904.5 points, while the Gamecocks are second with 752.
UNLV
On its second day in Georgia, a new school record was the highlight for the UNLV squad at the Georgia Tech Invitational on Friday night. The meet is being held in the McAuley Aquatic Center.
With a select squad, the Rebel men are fifth with 252 points, while the women are sixth with 231 points. Both teams placed fourth in the 200 medley, the men with the team of Christian Sobczak, Boris Kulizhnikov, Dillon Virva, and Kasey Folley posting a time of 1:31.28. The women returned with the team of Lena Gavrilova, Lina Rathsack, Julia Fehervari, and Michelle Troup and they posted a time of 1:41.03.
In the individual events, the men first scored in the 400 IM as Boris Kulizhnikov was 10th (3:59.77) and Hannon Daigler placed 12th. Dillon Virva upped the standards with a sixth in the 100 fly in 48.74.
"The men found some form today with a couple of lifetime best swims," said UNLV interim head coach Bobby Folan. "As a group, they backed up well between events and have a bit of momentum heading into the last day tomorrow."
On the women's side Lina Rathsack continues to shine this season in the 100 breast, as she took second in 1:01.14, a NCAA 'B' cut and a new school record. She first broke the mark in the morning prelims with a time of 1:01.23. Michelle Troup also brought home a 12th in the 200 free.
"We continued to show our toughness on day two with several lifetime best swims," Folan said of the women's performance.
Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern Swimming & Diving improved with some impressive swims on the second day of the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. Georgia Southern made five individual appearances in the evening session while a sixth place finish in the 800 Free Relay capped the second day of the three-day meet.
TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS
Bre Stuart (FR – Stafford, Va.)
19th – 400 IM – 4:28.07 (B-Final)
35th – 100 Breast – 1:06.42 (Prelims)
Lauren Campbell (SR – Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
19th – 400 IM – 4:33.24 (B-Final)
Amber Cortazzo (SO – Reading, Pa.)
24th – 100 Breast – 1:04.38 (C-Final)
37th – 100 Fly – 57.49 (Prelims)
Kylee Parsons (SR – Akron, Pa.)
28th – 200 Free – 1:53.02 (C-Final)
Mykayla Arnold (FR – Birmingham, Mich.)
14th – 100 Back – 56.34 (B-Final)
36th – 100 Fly – 57.45 (Prelims)
Madison Litchefeld – (SO – Louisville, Ky.)
33rd – 100 Breast – 1:06.14 (Prelims)
Anna Battistello (JR – Holland, Mich.)
36th – 100 Fly – 57.45 (Prelims)
Kalyn Thomas (SO – Cumming, Ga.)
40th – 200 Free – 1:53.43 (Prelims)
Rachel Pelzek (FR – Woodstock, Ga.)
40th – 200 Free – 1:53.43 (Prelims)
Christina Moran (SR – Johns Creek, Ga.)
50th – 100 Back – 59.08 (Prelims)
Hannah Mudge (FR – Marshfield, Mass.)
52rd – 3 Meter Diving – 180.35 (Prelims)
RELAY RESULTS
6th – 800 Free Relay – Mykala Arnold | Kalyn Thomas | Rachel Pelzak | Kylee Parsons – 7:34.73
10th – 200 Medley Relay – Mykala Arnold | Amber Cortazzo | Kaylyn Thomas | Kylee Parsons – 1:45.59
WHAT HEAD COACH NATE KELLOGG SAID
"We were a lot better today compared to yesterday. We had to battle today, but had some people really step up at key moments. We've built some momentum going into the last day and have to bring it in the morning."
