March 11, 2005
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Rob Miller, Sam Morgan, Vesna Stojanovska and Elizabeth Stowe received invitations to swim at the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, March 17-19 (women) and March 24-26 (men), at Purdue University and the University of Minnesota, announced on Friday afternoon.
“Overall, we are very excited for both the men and women,” said head coach Seth Baron. “We only took two athletes to the championship meet last season and now we have four going, including two from the women’s program, which is the most in its four-year history. It’s a step in the right direction for our men’s and women’s programs. Our athletes have worked hard all season long.”
Miller, a freshman from Alpharetta, Ga., makes the NCAA meet after shaving 15 seconds off his best time in the mile at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships with a NCAA `B’ standard time of 15:16.10, finishing in fifth place. Miller will also swim the 500 free at nationals after posting a NCAA `B’ cut time of 4:27.11 at the ACC meet.
“They’ve worked hard and have really swum well over the last couple of weeks,” said distance coach Stuart Wilson about Miller, Morgan and Stowe. “Their confidence has grown this season, after dropping so much time, and really has them believing in what they can accomplish. Sam probably has the best shot at finishing in the top eight, but they all look good right now and are looking forward to competing at nationals.”
Morgan, a 2004 All-American in the mile, won his first ACC title at the conference meet hosted in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Gainesville, Ga., native clocked a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 14:54.71 to make his third straight NCAA Championships. Morgan will also compete in the 500 free and 400 individual medley races after tallying NCAA `B’ cut times of 4:21.49 and 3:52.31 at the ACC Championships.
Stojanovska will compete in her second straight Women’s NCAA Championships after posting a 10th-place finish in the 200 butterfly last season to garner All-America honors. A native of Skopje, Macedonia, Stojanovska won the 200 fly (1:59.27) at the ACC Championships and finished second in the 200 free (1:47.67) and fifth in the 500 free (4:47.67). The sophomore will compete in all three events for the Jackets at Purdue.
Stowe, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., cut almost 40 seconds off her top time at the ACC meet to finish third in the women’s mile with a lifetime-best time of 16:28.08, garnering All-ACC honors. She will also swim the 500 free at nationals for Tech after posting a NCAA `B’ cut time of 4:50.52 at the conference championship.
Junior Laurissa Prystaj, sophomore Tony Burkhardt and freshmen Stephanie England and Evan Stowers will try and earn an invitation to the championship meet at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships, hosted by Tech. The meet will run Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, and 13 men and 11 women will earn spots at NCAAs.
-GT SWIMMING & DIVING-
