Oct. 25, 2014
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams posted impressive ACC victories over Florida State on Saturday at the GT Aquatic Center, with the women edging the No. 25 Seminoles, 152-148, and the men winning convincingly, 183-116.
The double-dual meet also featured NC State, and the 19th-ranked Wolfpack women defeated the Yellow Jackets, 189-106, while the NC State men beat Tech, 161-122. The Tech men are now 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, while the women’s record moved to 4-4, 2-2.
The women’s win over the Seminoles marks the Yellow Jackets’ first against their ACC rival (1-12), while it was just the second in program history for the men (2-35).
Men’s Highlights
• Senior Andrew Kosic and NC State’s Simons Billis highlighted the meet, with each sprinter coming in ranked in the NCAA’s top-10 in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free and the duo did not disappoint.
• The pair tangled first in the 200 free, with Billis winning, followed by Kosic in second in a time of 1:38.18.
• The 50 free and 100 free were classics, with Billis (20.00) nipping Kosic (20.01) by .01 to win the 50 and by Billis (44.35) out-touching Kosic (44.44) at the wall by .09 to take the 100.
• Sophomore Ben Southern enjoyed a strong meet, posting a pair of second-place finishes in both the 100 fly (48.44) and the 200 fly (1:48.06).
• Southern teamed with Mark Sarman, Brian Woodbury and Nico van Duijn to finished second in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:30.53.
• Sarman was second in the 200 IM, leading three Jackets in the top four spots.
• Woodbury was second for the Jackets in the 100 back (50.32).
• Yuval Safra and Elliott Brockelbank finished second and third, respectively, in the 500 free.
• Omar Eteiba finished third on the 3-meter board with a score of 321.85.
Women’s Highlights
• Junior Chiara Ruiu anchored the 400 free relay, which beat out Florida State for second place, and clinched the women’s meet in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Ruiu also collected an impressive second-place finish in the 200 IM.
• Junior Darelle Cowley had a strong meet, recording a pair of second-place finishes in both the 100 breast (1:06.01) and the 200 breast (2:18.91).
• Reigning ACC Diver of the Week Shannon Lumbra continued her hot streak, winning the 3-meter springboard with a score of 295.10 and finishing second on the 1-meter (285.60).
• Kate Woolbright was third in the 1,000 free (10:20.18).
• Freshman Alex Rieger posted a second-place finish in the 200 back (2:02.30).
• Efrat Rotsztejn collected third-place finishes in both the 200 IM and 200 breast.
Quotes from head coach Courtney Shealy Hart
• “That was just a great college dual meet between some strong ACC teams. The FSU and NC State women are each ranked in the top 25 and I loved the fact that we kept clawing. We didn’t back down and that is a huge step for us. It was an exciting meet and I’m proud of our effort. We just need to keep improving and keep our momentum going.”
• “Shannon Lumbra had another strong meet, Darelle Cowley swam very well and I can’t be any happier for Chiara Ruiu. The women’s meet with FSU came down to the last event, and we were trailing them on the last leg of the relay. She had a great final leg and put in position to beat them.”
• “Andrew (Kosic) just continues to swim very well. He’s swimming some fast times right now and was in a couple great races today.”
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets have next week off, then host Georgia and SCAD in a double-dual meet on Friday, Nov. 7 at the GT Aquatic Center. The meet begins at 4 p.m.
