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Georgia Grabs 3 NCAA A Cuts During Night 1 of UGA Fall Invite

Georgia kicked off the UGA Fall Invitational in style with 3 NCAA A cuts.

Georgia Press Release

ATHENS, Ga. --- Seniors Chase Kalisz, Olivia Smoliga and Chantal Van Landeghem earned Georgia’s first NCAA qualifying times of the season during the UGA Fall Invitational on Friday at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
 
Following one day of competition, the Lady Bulldogs are second with 270 points, trailing Cal’s 285 and leading Virginia’s 218. The Bulldogs also stand second with 223 points behind Cal’s 259, while Auburn sits in third with 209 points.
 
“I was really pleased with the way we competed today,” Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. “We’re certainly better than we were just a month ago. Everyone has been putting in the work, and it showed in the pool today.”
 
Kalisz won the signature race of the evening as he took the 200 individual medley featuring four United States Olympians with an A-cut time of 1:41.26. Fellow Rio competitors Gunnar Bentz and Jay Litherland were fourth in 1:43.63 and fifth in 1:44.57, respectively.
 
Smoliga and Van Landeghem went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle, which also featured four Olympians, with A cuts of 21.58 and 21.76, respectively. Veronica Burchill took 10th in 22.21.
 
Smoliga and Van Landeghem also bookended the 200 freestyle relay (along with Burchill and Emily Cameron) that set the school record with a second-place effort of 1:26.79. That broke the mark of 1:26.89 set in 2013. Katherine Aikins, Meaghan Raab, Kylie Stewart and Chelsea Britt took sixth in 1:31.05.
 
Madison Duvall came in second on the 3-meter springboard as she rolled up 301.00 points.
 
Stephanie Peters placed third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:38.48, followed by Meryn McCann in fourth in 4:38.62 and Rachel Zilinskas in seventh in 4:44.25. Jordan Stout took 10th as she reached the wall in 4:47.17 and Meg Finnon was 12th in 4:47.78.
 
Meaghan Raab came in fourth in the 200 individual medley in 1:56.26 and Cameron claimed seventh in 1:56.85. Caitlyn Casazza was 10th in 1:59.09 and Stewart took 11th in 1:59.35.
 
Smoliga, Cameron, Burchill and Van Landeghem got back in 3:30.34 to place third in the 400 medley relay, while Stewart, Raab, Britt and McCann placed eighth in 3:36.63.
 
Kevin Litherland and Walker Higgins went 1-2 in the 500 freestyle with times of 4:15.33 and 4:16.91, respectively, while Aidan Burns came in eighth in 4:23.93.
 
Ian Forlini came in second on the 1-meter springboard with 304.85 points. Charlie Clifton took seventh with 291.05 and Walker Wheeler came in 12th with 267.60.
 
Dale, Kalisz, Clark, and Acevedo placed second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:04:94, while Jay Litherland, Guest, Bentz and Higgins placed 12th in 3:12:81.
 
The Bulldogs placed eighth in the 200 freestyle relay as Javier Acevedo, Dale, Chris Powell and Bentz stopped the clock in 1:19.55. The quartet of John Wesley, Pace Clark, Jay Litherland and Mick Litherland took 12th in 1:31.13.

Virginia Press Release

ATHENS, Ga.—Four automatic NCAA-qualifying times highlighted the Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams’ first day of the Georgia Fall Invitational Friday (Dec. 2) at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.

After one day of action, the Virginia women are in third with 218 points, behind California (285) and Georgia (270). Michigan is fourth (159), while Florida State is fifth (92).

On the men’s side, UVA is fourth with 181 points, behind California (259), Georgia (223) and Auburn (209). Florida State is fifth (174), while Michigan is sixth (143).

“It was a very solid first day for us,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “We had a good percentage of best times and most finals swims were faster than prelims. The team has a really great energy about them which is so fun to see. They couldn’t be more excited about what is to come the rest of the weekend.”

In the women’s 200-yard IM, senior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) finished second in a UVA record time of 1:54.05. Junior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) was third in 1:55.90. In the prelims, Jones had set a new school record in a time of 1:54.47, while Marrkand moved up to No. 2 on UVA’s all-time list in 1:55.20. Both Jones and Marrkand automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships with their respective times.

The foursome of sophomore Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), senior Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany), Jones and senior Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) placed second in the women’s 400 medley relay an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 3:29.92.

The women’s 200 free relay of junior Dina Rommel (East Amherst, N.Y.), Thomas, junior Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) placed third in an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 1:28.74.

Freshman Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) finished third in the men’s 1-meter diving with a score of 304.10, while fellow freshman Samson Miller (Fairfax, Va.) 13th with a score of 264.85.

On the women’s side, freshman Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) qualified for the A final on 3-meter and placed fifth with a score of 276.15. Sophomore Kirsten Parkinson (Stamford, Conn.) was 13th with a score of 264.00, while junior Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) was 15th with 243.60. 

“We had a good start to the meet today,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “Both men’s divers did better in the finals and moved up in the standings. Our women were solid and it was nice having three of them diving tonight in the finals. This was our first opportunity this year to dive in a prelim/final format. We’ll get better because of this experience.”

In the men’s 200 free relay, the team of senior Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.), freshman John Whiteside (Fairfield, Conn.), junior Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.) and freshman Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) placed fourth in 1:18.60.

Senior Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) placed fourth in the men’s 200 IM in 1:44.58, which ranks fourth on UVA’s all-time list. In the B final, sophomore Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) finished 11th overall in 1:45.66, good enough for eighth on UVA’s all-time list.

The team of Quinn, sophomore Alex Albracht (Mission Hills, Kan.), Keblish and Whiteside placed fifth in the men’s 400 medley relay in 3:09.41. In the B final, freshman Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain) led off with a 46.67 100 back, which ranks third on UVA’s all-time list. Baker’s lead-off 100 back in the C final of 47.42 ranks ninth.

In the men’s 500 free, sophomore Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) was fifth in 4:19.38, while fellow sophomore Matthew Hrabchak (Concord, Mass.) was right behind in sixth in 4:20.02.

Cooper and Thomas went seventh and eighth in the women’s 50 free in 22.25 and 22.39, respectively.

Junior Cece Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished eighth in the women’s 500 free in 4:46.82.

In the men’s 50 free, Lockman won the C final in 19.71, which ranks in a tie for fourth on UVA’s all-time list.

Florida State Press Release

ATHENS, Ga.  –  The Florida State swimming and diving teams made history on the first night of the Georgia Fall Invite at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on Friday.  The men’s 200 free relay started the night by punching its ticket to the 2017 NCAA Championships with an automatic qualifying time of 1:17.33 before the women’s 400 medley relay set a new school record with a time of 3:33.43.
 
The team of senior Jason McCormick, sophomore Kanoa Kaleoaloha, junior Chad Mylin and sophomore Will Pisani grabbed second in the event en route to securing a relay spot at the NCAA Championships for the first time since the 2013-14 season. 
 
McCormick led off with a personal best time of 19.45 while Mylin’s split was the fastest in the field and of his career, clocking a blazing, 18.86.
 
Juniors Ariel Barber, Natalie Pierce and Tayla Lovemore along with senior Lydia Ware closed out the night by taking down the school record in the 400 medley relay that was set in 2014 by Bianca Spinazzola, Samantha Pochowski, Chelsea Britt and Kaitlyn Dressel at 3:34.02.
 
Barber led off with a career best time of 54.22 before Pierce (57.91), Lovemore (52.25) and Ware (49.05) followed with theirs. Together, they finished fifth. In addition, Pierce’s 57.91 was her fastest by over two-seconds and was also the best split in the event.
 
“It was just an amazing day of racing,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “Today was about a bunch of student-athletes having fun and believing in themselves. I couldn’t be prouder of what they did today.”
 
In addition to the pair of relays, the Seminoles had 11 performances that made the all-time top 10 list.
 
Individually, the men started the night with junior Calvin Bryant competing in the top heat of the 500 free, moving up to seventh with a time of 4:23.56.
 
Sophomore Max Polianski made his debut in the Garnet and Gold, placing 12th in the 200 IM with a time of 1:46.09.
 
Three Seminoles competed in the championship final as Mylin finished third in the individual 50 free with a time of 19.54 while McCormick followed in fourth at 19.57. Kaleoaloha finished eighth with a final mark of 20.23. 
 
In the B final, sophomore Emir Muratovic set a new career best with a time of 19.98, finishing 10th while Pisani was 12th at 20.08 which was his personal best.
 
Three of the FSU all-time top 10 performances came in the women’s 200 IM led by sophomore Meg Brown, who won the C final with the third fastest mark with a personal best of 1:58.96. Ware also turned in her best in prelims at 1:59.08, which ranks fifth all-time. She was 13th at finals with a time of 1:59.94.
 
In addition to Brown and Ware, Lovemore finished 19th, posting a time of 2:00.72, which was good enough for the 10th fastest swim all-time.
 
Lovemore came back and won the consolation heat of the 50 free, swimming a 22.10, just missing the school record by eight-one hundredths of a second.
 
“This is one of our best events,” Studd said. “With those times from Jason, Chad and Tayla, we’re optimistic they’ll earn the individual NCAA invite.”
 
Three Seminoles earned second swims in the 500 free as sophomore Michelle Turek placed 16th with a final time of 4:54.03 after turning in her personal best in prelims of 4:50.16.
 
Senior Katy Stringfield and Alex Wittman competed in the C final as Stringfield placed 21st with a personal best of 4:51.27 while Wittman finished 24th (4:55.21).
 
In the women’s 3-meter springboard, freshman Ayla Bonniewell placed seventh with a score of 280.50 while junior Blaire Mulka was 14th at 257.10.
 
Freshman Aidan Faminoff led the Seminoles on the boards with an eighth place finish on 1-meter with a score of 281.55 while junior Tyler Roberge (267.95) followed in 11th. Senior Dylan Grisell was 16th at 229.80. 
 
“It was great to see this team back on top again,” Studd said. “This was an incredible day and we can’t wait for tomorrow.”
 
Saturday’s events will include the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 800 free relay. The women will compete on 1-meter while the men will contest 3-meter.  

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