Jan. 22, 2005
ATLANTA – Sophomore Vesna Stojanovska broke the school record in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a NCAA `B’ qualifying standard of 1:49.22 and posted a second NCAA `B’ cut time in the 500 free (4:52.05) to lead the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to a sweep over Clemson, 150.5-92.5 (men) and 162-81 (women), on Saturday afternoon in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The women finished first in 11 of 13 events, while the men tallied wins in 10 of the 13 events. The victory over Clemson was the first in the women’s four-year history of the program.
“I’m very excited about the way we swam this afternoon,” said head coach Seth Baron. “We had some very impressive swims today and improved on our times, which we should do at this time of the year. It’s a great way to start the second half of the season and a very good win over a talented Clemson squad that finished one spot ahead of us at last year’s ACC Championship meets.
“I’m happy for our senior women who finished their ACC dual meet careers with a victory. We look to use this momentum for a good dual meet next Saturday against Emory and North Florida and carry it over to the conference meet in a month from now in our home pool.”
Junior Jason Howard led the men’s team with a NCAA `B’ standard of 1:38.90 in the 200 free and finished first in the 100 free with a lifetime-best time of 45.35. Junior Sam Morgan also tallied a pair of first-place finishes for the Yellow Jackets in the men’s 500 (4:30.05) and 1000 freestyle (9:11.74) events, finishing with a season-best time in the 1000 free.
The Rambling Wreck picked up a sweep in the women’s 50 sprint freestyle as seniors Moeko Wallis and Jaclyn Keys finished first and second with times of 24.14 and 24.39, respectively, and sophomore Natanya Harper finished third with a time of 24.62.
Sophomore Ryan Bishop led the Jackets in the 200 individual medley with a season-best time of 1:51.72 to finish in first place. The women picked up a 1-2 finish with senior Lisa Hancock and junior Liz Foster with times of 2:09.45 and 2:09.65, respectively.
Junior Laurissa Prystaj posted a NCAA Zone qualifying standard of 276.37 to finish first on the women’s three-meter springboard and posted a first-place finish on the one-meter board with a score of 252.90. Freshman Evan Stowers swept the men’s springboards with a season-best NCAA Zone qualifying mark of 316.88 and tallied 302.70 points to win the three-meter board.
Harper tallied a first-place finish for Tech in the women’s 100 free with a time of 53.11, while teammate Wallis finished second with a season-best time of 53.15. Juniors Meghan DeVinney and Ashley Kracke posted first-place finishes for the Jackets in the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke with times of 2:08.00 and 2:06.42, respectively.
In the men’s 200 fly, senior Matt Figh finished first with a time of 1:53.22, while freshman Jason Bourgeois finished second with a season-best time of 1:53.23.
The women’s 400 medley relay team of Anna Saum, Alison Walker, Meghan DeVinney and Harper began the meet with a victory over the Tigers with a time of 3:54.55. The men’s 400 medley relay team of Jeremy Raines, Alex Williams, Onur Uras and Ryan Riebesell swam a season-best time of 3:26.13 to finish second.
The Yellow Jackets will host Emory and North Florida for their final dual meet of the season on Saturday, Jan. 29. Tech will also host the men’s and women’s ACC Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 16-19 and Feb. 23-26 in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
-GT SWIMMING & DIVING-
