Dec. 4, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech swimming and diving teams return to action this weekend at the 2003 Georgia Fall Invitational this weekend at Gabrielsen Natatorium, Dec. 5-7. Other teams participating in the three-day event will be Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Penn State and Virginia Tech. The championship format meet will begin Friday with preliminaries at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 3 p.m. each day. The whole meet can be followed via live stats at Georgia Invitational.
“We are very excited to end the first half of our season at this invitational,” said head coach Seth Baron. “Teams such as Georgia, Alabama, Minnesota, Penn State and Virginia Tech makes for a very competitive meet. Our athletes should jump at the opportunity to race against schools from the Big 10, SEC and Big East.
“This event mirrors the ACC and NCAA Championships and will be a good test for our athletes. It should give us a good idea of where we are at midway through our season.”
Heading into the final event of the 2003 calendar year, freshman Vesna Stojanovska (Skopje, Macedonia) remains the only Tech swimmer with NCAA qualifying times. Stojanovska has NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, along with the 200 butterfly.
Divers Laurissa Prystaj (Fairport, N.Y.), Tony Burkhardt (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Paul McCarty (Ypsilanti, Mich.) all have NCAA Zone B Diving marks on the springboard. Prystaj has qualified in both the one- and three-meter diving events, while Burkhardt and McCarty have high enough marks on the one-meter board only.
Georgia enters this weekend’s invitational with top 10 rankings for the men and the women. The Lady Bulldogs are currently No. 2 in the country, while the men remain No. 7. Minnesota is the only other team that enters the meet with combined rankings, as the men are No. 9 and the women are No. 24. The Penn State women are the final team boasting national recognition as they stand at No. 13 currently (all rankings according to www.collegeswimming.com.)
The Rambling Wreck will not be in action again until after the New Year when Tech travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a dual meet with the Alabama Crimson Tide on Jan. 10. The meet is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start in the Alabama Aquatic Center.
