Feb. 15, 2017
Day Three Results (PDF)
THE FLATS — Georgia Tech swimming and diving continued its record setting pace on Wednesday, as the Yellow Jackets set a total of seven school records and 10 NCAA `B’ qualifying times on day three of the 2017 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center. The women’s team is in 11th-place overall with a total of 256 points.
The Yellow Jackets men’s team is in fifth-place with 36 points after two diving events.
“I thought we had a great day,” said head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “We came out strong this morning which we talked about last night. We put ourselves in good position and we scored in every single event tonight. We know we’ve got to come out fighting tomorrow which we certainly will do.”
The final day of the women’s swimming & diving championships will start with the prelims at 10 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m. Both women’s and men’s platform dives will also take place on Thursday.
Women’s Highlights
Records continued to fall on Wednesday morning, as Kira de Bruyn set a new school record in the 400 IM prelims, while Laura Branton posted a new Tech record in the 100 fly prelims. The duo would break their own records later on in the night session in the finals, while senior Maddie Paschal would break her own record from 2016 in the 100 back in the finals and then re-break it less than an hour later with a time of 54.05 in the first leg of the record setting 400 medley relay performance.
Tech’s de Bruyn advanced to the finals of the 400 IM with her time of 4:12.99, both an NCAA `B’ qualifying mark and a career best time. Her mark placed her sixth overall and earned her a spot in the `A’ finals heat.
In the `A’ finals, de Bruyn rewrote the record from the morning session, with an NCAA `B’ cut and new career-best time of 4:12.69. She finished sixth overall, scoring 24 points for the Jackets.
Freshman Kristen Hepler also recorded a new career-best time of 4:22.33 in the 400 IM prelims to place 25th overall, missing out on the finals by just one spot. Her time is the fourth-best mark for the event in the program’s history.
In the 100 fly prelims, Branton registered a new school record of 53.06 to place 15th overall to advance to the finals with her NCAA `B’ qualifying time.
In the finals, Branton bested her time from the prelims to set a new school record of 52.64 for a 12th-place finish, scoring 15 points for Tech.
Freshman Chloe Miller and junior Kaitlin Kitchens both posted top-10 times in the 100 fly prelims as well, as Miller touched the wall with an NCAA `B’ time of 54.45 for the fourth-best time in school history, while Kitchens’ time of 54.93 was the seventh-best time in Tech history. Both times were career best marks for the Tech swimmers.
Fellow freshman Maddie Oliver also set a new career best time of 56.36 in 100 fly prelims.
In the 200 free prelims, Iris Wang earned a spot in the `A’ finals heat with her sixth-place finish and a time of 1:45.87, also an NCAA `B’ qualifying time, while freshman Sara al Khatib turned in a new career-best time of 1:54.38 in the preliminary event.
Wang registered an NCAA `B’ cut of 1:46.30 in the 200 free `A’ finals. She touched the wall eighth, tallying 22 points for the Jackets.
Redshirt-senior Chiara Ruiu placed 20th overall with her time of 1:01.84 in the 100 back prelims to qualify for the finals, while Hepler turned in another career-best time of 1:03.34 to place 28th in the 100 back prelims, which was also the seventh-best time in Tech history.
Ruiu finished 21st overall in the 100 breast, notching four points for Tech.
Paschal qualified for the finals in the 100 back with an NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 54.44 and a 23rd-place showing in the prelims, while sophomore Sara Gilbert posted a new career-best time of 55.01 to place 28th overall in the morning session. Gilbert’s time was also the sixth-best in school history for the 100 back event.
Paschal went on to break her own school record in the finals with a time of 54.06, en route to a 19th-place finish.
Also swimming in the 100 back prelims were Caroline Lee (55.79), Miller (56.19) and Alex Rieger (56.39). Miller’s time was a new career best mark for the freshman in the 100 back.
The Yellow Jackets capped off the night with a new record in the 400 medley relay, which was started by a record setting time on the first leg of the event in the 100 back. The team of Paschal, Ruiu, Branton and Wang set a new 400 medley relay school record with a time of 3:37.26 and placed in eighth-place overall.
Paschal set the tone early in the first leg of the relay event, setting a new school record time of 54.05 in the 100 back.
Men’s Highlights
After a hiatus on Tuesday, the men’s diving championships returned to action with the 3-meter springboard event in which Tech’s Matt Casillas placed seventh overall in the prelims to advance to the finals with a score of 341.40, an NCAA Zone Diving Championship qualifying mark.
Casillas would go on to pick up a seventh-place finish in the finals with a score of 341.40 in the night session, totaling 23 points for the Yellow Jackets’ men’s team.
Senior Omar Eteiba finished 14th overall with a score of 315.15 in the prelims, while sophomore Nolan Mallet placed 28th with his score of 260.40 in the morning session.
Tech Tidbits
* The team of Maddie Paschal, Chiara Ruiu, Laura Branton and Iris Wang set a new Tech record in the 400 medley relay with their time of 3:37.26.
* Junior Kira de Bruyn set a new Tech record with an NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 4:12.99 in the 400 IM prelims.
* De Bruyn broke her own record in the `A’ final of the 400 IM with an NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 4:12.69.
* Sophomore Laura Branton set a new school record with an NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 53.06 in the 100 fly prelims.
*Branton broke her record from the 100 fly prelims with a new Tech-best time of 52.64.
* Senior Maddie Paschal set a new school record in the 100 back finals with a time of 54.06. The time is also an NCAA `B’ cut mark and a career best for the Tech record holder.
* Paschal then reset the school record in the 100 back with a time of 54.05 in the first leg of the 400 medley relay event.
* Sophomore Iris Wang turned an NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 1:46.30 in the 200 free finals.
* Freshman Kristen Hepler turned in a new career-best time of 4:22.33 in the 400 IM prelims. Her time is the fourth-best time in school history for the individual medley event.
* Hepler went on to set a new career-best time of 1:03.34 in the 100 breast prelims, which ranks as the seventh-best time in Tech history.
* Sophomore Sara Gilbert registered an NCAA `B’ cut time and the sixth-best mark in school history at 55.10 in the 100 back prelims.
* Freshman Chloe Miller recorded the fourth fastest time in Tech history in the 100 fly prelims with her NCAA `B’ qualifying time of 54.45.
* Miller also set a new career-best time of 56.19 in the 100 back prelims.
* Junior Kaitlin Kitchens registered the seventh-fastest time in school history in the 100 fly prelims with her career-best time of 54.93.
* Freshman Maddie Oliver turned in a new career-best time of 56.36 in the 100 fly prelims.
* Freshman Sara al Khatib set a new career-best mark of 1:54.38 in the 200 free prelims.
Laura Branton took part in breaking 3️⃣ of the SEVEN Tech records today. pic.twitter.com/MckljpWRcg
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) February 16, 2017
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