Swimcloud

California Claims Georgia Invitational Crowns

California took home the Georgia Invitational crowns this weekend.

California Press Release

ATHENS, Ga. – Kathleen Baker won the 200-yard backstroke with the fastest time in the country and Cal posted five more NCAA A qualifying times on its way to the team title at the Georgia Fall Invitational Sunday.
 
In a meet featuring four of the top 10 teams in the country, the Golden Bears finished with 914 points, well ahead of defending NCAA champion Georgia, which had 821. Virginia (716), Michigan (641) and Florida State (403) rounded out the top five. Cal also won the men's half of the meet with the Bears securing a victory by a nearly 150-point margin.
 
"I was really proud of our performance this weekend," head coach Teri McKeever said. "I thought the freshman did a great job and we saw a number of lifetime bests and top-10 performances. We have 12 women who swam a time under what was invited to the NCAA Championships last year, so that puts us in good shape looking down the road. It was wonderful to be here with the men and feed off their energy. There's a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on."
 
The 200 back led off the final session, and Cal showed its dominance in the backstroke with a 1-2 finish by sophomores Baker and Amy Bilquist. Baker, the Olympic silver-medalist in the 100-meter back, touched first in 1:49.83, with Bilquist, the reigning Pac-12 champion in the event, just a hair behind in 1:50.06. The times are the two fastest in the country so far this year and were more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
 
In addition, freshmen Keaton Blovad (6th, 1:54.62) and Courtney Mykkanen (8th, 1:57.35) also competed in the event final.
 
Freshman Abbey Weitzeil reached the NCAA A standard with a 47.22 in the 100 free, which now ranks second nationally behind only winner Olivia Smoliga of Georgia, who was timed in 46.95. Senior Farida Osman placed third in 47.84, with junior Valerie Hull seventh in 48.66.
 
In the 200 breaststroke, senior Marina Garcia posted a lifetime best of 2:08.64, which keeps her as the No. 2 performer in the event in school history. Junior Noemie Thomas swam her own PR in the 200 butterfly, taking third with an NCAA A time of 1:53.77. Celina Li (6th, 1:56.35) and Katie McLaughlin (1:56.48) were also finalists.
 
Finally, the Bears wrapped up the meet with a second-place showing in the 400 free relay. Baker, Weitzeil, Hull and Osman touched in 3:11.82, which is second only to Georgia's winning mark among relays in the country this season. Cal's B relay had the Bears' depth on display with Blovad, Bilquist, Maddie Murphy and Kristen Vredeveld also going under NCAA A standard, finishing in 3:15.30.
 
Following final exams, Cal has one last meet this calendar year, hosting San Jose State on Dec. 21 at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

Georgia Press Release

ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga, Chelsea Britt and Chase Kalisz earned NCAA qualifying standards on Sunday during the final races of the UGA Fall Invitational at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
 
The NCAA Championships are slated for March in Indianapolis.
 
Both Georgia squads came in second to California during the three-day meet. The Bulldogs rolled up 710 points to trail Cal’s 859, while the Lady Bulldogs had 821 points behind Cal’s 914.
 
‘We were really pleased with the performances all weekend,” Georgia senior associate head coach Harvey Humphries said. “We learned a lot about both teams. We were anxious to see where all the times fell during the meet, and we were happy across the board.”
 
Smoliga claimed the 100 freestyle with an A-cut time of 46.95. That was her third NCAA automatic qualifier of the weekend. Chantal Van Landeghem came in fourth in 48.00, while Veronica Burchill was fifth in 48.44.
 
Britt posted her first A cut of the year in the 200 butterfly as she placed fourth in 1:53.93. Caitlyn Casazza won the consolation for ninth in 1:57.14, followed by Meg Finnon in 12th in 1:59.93.
 
Kalisz earned his third A cut of the session as he won the 200 butterfly in 1:40.38. Gunnar Bentz and Mick Litherland tied for fourth in 1:43.95, while Powell Brooks took 12th in 1:46.03 and Blake Atmore was 13th in 1:46.53.
 
The Lady Bulldogs also had an A-cut time of 3:11.19 in the 400 freestyle relay with Smoliga, Burchill, Meaghan Raab and Van Landeghem winning. The B relay of Kylie Stewart, Jordan Stout, Meryn McCann and Emily Cameron took seventh in 3:19.65.
 
Rachel Zilinskas came in third in the 1,650 freestyle as she reached the wall in 16:13.48. Finnon placed fourth in 16:15.78, while Stephanie Peters was fifth in 16:25.52 and Sandra Scott took 16th in 17:20.45.
 
In the 200 backstroke, McCann posted a time of 1:53.47 to come in third. Stewart followed in fourth with a time of 1:54.00, while Katherine Parker was 12th in 1:57.75 and Zilinskas claimed 13th in 1:58.77.
 
Raab placed fifth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.87 and Cameron claimed eighth in 2:12.36.
 
In platform diving, Kelly Thatcher came in 14th with 185.90 points.
 
In the 200 backstroke, Jay Litherland finished in 1:41.65 to come in second. Taylor Dale was fourth in 1:41.95, while Aidan Burns finished 11th in 1:45.68.
 
James Guest touched the wall in 1:56.09 to take fifth in the 200 breaststroke. Basil Orr came in 15th in 2:00.14.
 
Burns took seventh in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 15:17.64. Walker Higgins placed eighth in 15:25.19, followed by Kevin Litherland in ninth in 15:26.14 and Clayton Forde in 15th in 15:35.04.
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The 400 freestyle relay of Dale, Kalisz, Jay Litherland and Bentz came in second with a time of 2:53.10. Mick Litherland, Kevin Litherland, Higgins and Alex BeMiller came home in 2:59.37 for 14th.
 
Georgia’s teams will be idle until the first week of January.

Virginia Press Release

ATHENS, Ga.—The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team finished third and the men placed fourth as action at the Georgia Fall Invitational concluded Sunday (Dec. 4) at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.

The No. 5 Cavalier women finished third with 716 points, behind No. 10 California (914) and No. 2 Georgia (821), but ahead of No. 4 Michigan (641) and Florida State (403). UVA’s men finished fourth with 608.5 points, behind No. 6 Cal (859), No. 13 Georgia (710) and No. 17 Auburn (656), but ahead of Florida State (539.5) and No. 10 Michigan (503).

“This was a great three days of racing for us,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “The men have a great spirit and fight about them this year. They fought so hard and ended with incredible efforts on the freestyle relays. Our women were missing two key members, but showed great resolve. This upcoming championship season can be a special one. We can’t wait to get back to work.”

The Cavaliers went 1-2 in the women’s 200-yard butterfly with senior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) winning in a time of 1:53.29 and junior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) touching second in 1:53.75. Jones’ prelim time of 1:52.93 is a new school record, while Marrkand’s finals time ranks second on UVA’s all-time list. Jones went 4-4 in breaking individual school records this weekend, including the 200 IM on Friday and the 400 IM and 100 fly on Saturday.

Senior Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) won the women’s 200 breast in a time of 2:06.94, while freshman Madeleine Vonderhaar (Lakeside Park, Ky.) was sixth in 2:11.51, which ranks third on UVA’s all-time list. Sophomore Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) was seventh in 2:12.35.

The women’s 400 free relay of junior Laine Reed (Austin, Texas), freshman Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), senior Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) finished fifth in an NCAA-automatic qualifying time of 3:15.66.

The men’s foursome of senior Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.), freshmen John Whiteside (Fairfield, Conn.) and Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain) and senior Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) placed fifth in 2:53.48, the third-fastest time in school history. Lockman’s lead-off 100 free of 43.89 ranks eighth on UVA’s all-time list.

In the men’s 1,650 free, sophomore Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) finished third in 15:11.47, while redshirt sophomore Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) and sophomore Matthew Hrabchak (Concord, Mass.) placed fifth and sixth. Junior Cece Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) placed sixth in the women’s 1,650 free in 16:31.35.

In platform diving, freshman Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) finished sixth on the men’s side with 281.95 points, while junior Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) placed eighth on the women’s side with 210.05 points.

“Today was a good day for us, as we had another opportunity to get a tower event (platform) under our belt and perform the new dives that we learned a few weeks ago,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “Overall, it was a solid meet. We did a lot of good things, but we need to work on being more consistent and rebounding from dives that didn’t go our way.”

Quinn finished sixth in the men’s 200 back in a time of 1:43.45, while freshman Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) won the B final in a time of 1:43.69, which ranks ninth on the Cavaliers’ all-time list.

In the men’s 200 fly, sophomore Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) finished sixth in 1:44.61. Whiteside touched seventh in the men’s 100 free in 43.46, fifth on Virginia’s all-time list.

In the women’s 100 free B final, freshman Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) clocked a time of 48.53, which ranks fourth on UVA’s all-time list, while junior Laine Reed (Austin, Texas) finished in 49.00, which is ninth.

Up next, the Cavalier diving corps will compete at the Tennessee Diving Invite Jan. 3-5. The full UVA squads will be in action for their final home meet against Virginia Tech Jan. 13-14.

Florida State Press Release

Athens-Ga. – The 2016 Georgia Fall Invite came to a close on Sunday night at the Gabrielsen Natatorium, but not before the Florida State swimming and diving teams could write a little more history.
 
“We’re just very happy with a great weekend of racing,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better first semester out of this team. I appreciate their effort and commitment to everything we’ve thrown at them. This weekend was a huge step forward.”
 
After junior Natalie Pierce set a new school record in the 100 breast on Saturday night, her classmate Christina Loh etched her name on the FSU record books by taking down the oldest swimming mark.  Loh first swam a time of 2:12.16 in prelims to erase Emma Dutton’s 2:12.76 that was set in 2004.
 
However at final, Loh had her work cut out for her as she stood behind the blocks at finals and watched Pierce lower the mark to 2:11.20 after winning the B final.
 
Swimming in the top heat, she came back even faster touching with a time of 2:10.55, claiming back the record.
 
“Breaking the 200 breast school record three times today was fun between those two,” Studd added.
 
Sophomore Meg Brown swam in a pair of two consolation finals on Sunday, winning the 200 back for ninth place with a time of 1:56.31, which was a new personal best. She followed that performance with 10th place showing in the 200 fly, clocking 1:59.03.
 
In addition to Brown, junior Ariel Barber (2:00.04) and sophomore Fabiana Ingram (2:06.79) swam in the B heat, touching in 15th and 16th respectively.
 
On the boards, freshman Ayla Bonniwell led the Seminoles once again, scoring 221.70, placing fifth. Junior Blaire Mulka finished in ninth place with a total of 208.50.
 
Sunday’s finals started with the 1650 free and junior Alex Wittman placed 10th with a time of 16:49.15. Senior Katy Stringfield followed in 13th at 16:58.60 while rookie Manuella Ribas Andrade was 14th (16:59.16). Sophomore Daniella Van den Berg was just behind in 15th with a time of 17:03.26.
 
The Seminoles closed out the night by posting a time of 3:20.88 in the 400 free relay as senior Lydia Ware led off with a mark of 49.60 after she set a new personal best by winning the C final of the individual at 49.38. 
 
The men’s team was fueled by a big performance from junior Connor Kalisz, who finished third in the 200 back with a new best time of 1:41.73, which was just off the school record of 1:41.11 set by Andy Hodgson back in 2009. 
 
With that time, Kalisz will expect to earn his first-career bid to the NCAA Championships in March.
 
“Connor’s swim was huge,” Studd said. “It was a big highlight and that should be able to make it to the NCAA meet.”
 
In addition, senior Jason Coombs also stood out, placing second in the 200 breast with a time of 1:55.27.
 
Freshman Max Polianski posted another top eight finish, placing seventh in the 200 fly with a time of 1:45.03.
 
Senior Dylan Grisell took to his specialty, winning platform with a score of 371.35. Junior Tyler Roberge finished third at 337.65 while freshman Aidan Faminoff contributed seventh place points with a score of 273.35. 
 
The Seminoles finished the meet with the 400 free relay, senior Jason McCormick, junior Joseph Plechy along with sophomore Kanoa Kaleoaloha and Emir Muratovic placing fourth at 2:53.46. 
 
Prior to the relay, McCormick was sixth in the 100 free (43.40), while Muratovic finished eighth (43.88) after he swam his career best in prelims of 43.72. Kaleoaloha placed 10th also breaking the 44-second barrier at 43.79 and Plechy clocked a 44.03 after turning in his best performance in prelims at 43.91.
 
Both teams finished the meet in fifth place, as the women scored a tally of 403 points, while the men amassed 539.5.

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