Nov. 21, 2009
ATLANTA – After two full days of competition at the 2009 Georgia Tech Invitational, both the Yellow Jacket men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams remained in fourth place overall, as the men’s squad has 308 points while the women have 209.5 points.
Overall, Florida State remained in first place on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Seminole men have 696 points, while the women’s squad has 654.5 points.
Things started off on the night with the women’s 200-medley relay, as the team of Heidi Hatteberg, Christine Chuang, Lisa Pucci and Agatha Kwasnik finished sixth in a time of 1:44.74 to earn the Yellow Jackets 26 points. In the men’s 200-medley relay, Matt Tang, Jeremy Jackson, Eric Chiu and Nigel Plummer finished third after hitting the wall in 1:30.93. The effort earned the Yellow Jacket men’s squad 32 points.
Next up in the men’s 400-IM, junior Kevin Morgan earned Tech nine points with a ninth place finish after hitting the wall in 4:07.90. Next in the women’s 100-fly, Christine Chuang finished in a tie for seventh with a time of 56.11 to earn 11.5 points for the Yellow Jackets. Jordan Evans finished 13th in the event after hitting the wall in 56.43 to earn four points, while Erin O’Donnell finished 14th in 56.58 to pick up three points.
In the men’s 100-fly finals, Chiu was Tech’s top finisher in seventh after hitting the wall in 49.84 to earn Georgia Tech 12 points. Tang finished in 50.50 to finish in a tie for 11th and earn 5.5 points, while Travis Wagner finished 15th in 50.72 to earn two points.
Next in the women’s 200-free, Kwasnik finished third in 1:49.72 to earn the Yellow Jackets 16 points, while teammate Keren Siebner finished right behind Kwasnik in fourth after hitting the wall in 1:50.30 to earn 15 points. Sophomore Sarah Broadley earned the Jackets 11 points with an eighth place finish in a time of 1:51.59 as well.
In the women’s 100-breast, Lisa Pucci was the Yellow Jackets’ top finisher placing in seventh in a time of 1:05.64 to earn the women’s team 12 points, while Morgan Trickett hit the wall in 1:06.51 to finish 13th and garner four points. In the men’s 100-breast, Matthew Vaughan hit the wall in 56.71 to finish fifth overall and earn 14 points. Jeremy Jackson finished right behind Vaughan in the event, placing in a tie for sixth in 57.03 to pick up 12.5 points for Tech.
Next in the 100-back, Kwasnik hit the wall in 56.94 to finish ninth and earn nine points, while Hatteberg finished in 57.44 to place 10th and earn seven points. On the men’s side, Ilia Ayzenshtok finished in sixth place after hitting the wall in 50.09 to earn the Jackets 13 points. Tang finished ninth in 51.19 to earn nine points.
In the women’s three-meter springboard dive, junior Michele Bertolino was Tech’s high finisher in eighth position with a 252.85 performance in the finals to earn the Jackets 11 points. Meanwhile, in the men’s one-meter springboard dive, freshman Brandon Makinson finished fifth to earn the Jacket 14 points after posting a 312.50 effort in the finals.
The final two events of the evening were the women’s and men’s 800-medley relay. On the women’s side, the team of Lexi Weber, Broadley, Siebner and Kwasnik registered a third place finish after hitting the wall in 7:27.43 to earn 32 points for the Yellow Jackets. On the men’s side, the team of Ralph Long, Gal Nevo, Tang and Wagner finished fifth in 6:48.73 to earn 28 points for the Jackets.
The Georgia Tech Invitational concludes tomorrow at the Aquatic Center with preliminaries getting underway at 9 a.m., and finals starting at 3 p.m. Fans are reminded that live stats will be available at http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/livestats/c-swim/.
