SWIMMING & DIVING: Men and Women Take First-Place Honors at UGA Fall Invitational

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SWIMMING & DIVING: Men and Women Take First-Place Honors at UGA Fall Invitational


Basil Orr
(Photo by John Kelley)

 

The Georgia men’s swimming and diving team took first-place honors as the UGA Fall Invitational at Gabrielsen Natatorium concluded on Sunday.

The Bulldogs rolled up 939.5 points, outdistancing California (913) and Auburn (833.5).

The Georgia women placed second with 926 points, trailing Virginia’s 1,006.5. Auburn came in third with 755 points.

Georgia also swam Auburn in a dual meet within the invitational. The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 SEC) topped the Tigers 168-132 and the Lady Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 SEC) defeated the Lady Tigers 183-95. The Lady Bulldogs extended their UGA all-sports record to 98 straight dual or tri meet wins at home dating back to Nov. 8, 1995. The Lady Bulldogs also sit at 27-0-1 in their last 28 dual meets.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way things went this weekend,” Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. “We saw really good swims across the board and I was pleased with the toughness we showed in the races. I am really proud of our teams. We reached a lot of the goals we set coming into the invite.”

Pace Clark won the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA automatic qualifying standard time of 1:40.66. Mick Litherland came in third in 1:43.44, followed by Gunnar Bentz sixth in 1:44.11, Ty Stewart seventh in 1:44.16 and Powell Brooks 14th in 1:46.74.

Matias Koski claimed second in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 14:58.36, followed by Kevin Litherland in third in 15:02.90, Garrett Powell fourth in 15:07.37 and Aidan Burns ninth in 15:28.74.

Michael Trice and Matias Koski tied for second in the 100-yard freestyle in 43.01.

In the 200-yard backstroke, Taylor Dale finished third in 1:41.38, while Jay Litherland came in sixth in 1:43.36, Powell took seventh in 1:43.98 and Aidan Sweeney got to the wall in 1:48.23 for 15th.

James Guest came in sixth and Basil Orr was 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke with times of 1:58.43 and 2:02.48, respectively.

Spencer Madanay came in ninth on platform with 263.10 points.

The Bulldogs finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Koski, Dale, Bentz and Trice stopped the clock in 2:53.89. Clark, Jay Litherland, Kevin Litherland and Powell took seventh with a time of 2:57.28 and Mick Litherland, Stewart, Alex BeMiller and Reed Wynn claimed ninth in 2:58.64.

Olivia Smoliga won the 100-yard freestyle and reached the NCAA automatic qualifying standard with a time of 47.69. Meaghan Raab won the B final for ninth in 48.56 and Shauna Lee took 12th in 49.58.

Hali Flickinger won the 200-yard butterfly with an A-cut time of 1:52.82. Megan Kingsley followed in second with a time of 1:54.29, while Courtney Weaver (1:59.25) was sixth. Caitlin Casazza won the consolation final in 1:58.92 to take ninth.

Brittany MacLean finished second in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 15:46.72, earning an A cut. Stephanie Peters claimed third in 16:09.62, while Rachel Zilinskas took eighth in 16:35.00.

Hali Flickinger came in second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:52.84. Kylie Stewart took third in 1:53.10 and MacLean placed seventh in 1:56.86.

Annie Zhu paced Georgia in the 200-yard breaststroke as she stopped the clock in 2:08.50. Emily Cameron placed sixth in 2:12.22.

Kelly Thatcher led the Lady Bulldogs on platform, posting 221.25 points. Allison Greene took 11th with 176.30 points and Natalie Wallace claimed 13th with 143.10 points.

The Lady Bulldogs won the 400-yard freestyle relay as Smoliga, Raab, MacLean and Flickinger stopped the clock in 3:13.46. Lee, Stewart, Anna Kolanowski and Annie Williamson claimed fifth in 3:19.52, while Samantha Fazio, Cameron, Kingsley and Peters came in ninth in 3:22.90.

Georgia’s teams will be idle until the UGA Diving Invitational Jan. 3-5 and dual meets at Texas A&M and Texas on Jan. 8-9, respectively.

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.