Jan. 30, 2004
ATLANTA – Sophomore Sam Morgan (Gainesville, Ga.) posted a Georgia Tech Aquatic Center pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:14.83 and captured the 500 free (4:33.40) to lead the Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving team this afternoon against No. 21 Kentucky. Leading the women’s swimming and diving team for Tech was sophomore Megan DeVinney (Avondale, Ariz.) with a first-place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:04.58) and swam a leg of the winning 200 medley relay team. Kentucky defeated Tech by a score of 126-109 on the men’s side, while the Wildcats defeated the Jackets 127.5-107.5 on the women’s side.
“Kentucky came in here pretty well prepared,” said head coach Seth Baron. “They took this meet very seriously, as we did, but we’re not going to sacrifice our training for ACC’s for a dual meet. We had some improvements from the last couple weeks and that shows us that we’re moving in the right direction.
“Kentucky was a great opponent to have at this point in time for us to measure where we are in our preparation. To be within 17 points against the 21st-ranked team in the country on the men’s side tells us that we are getting to where we want to be.
“We had some unfortunate injuries on the women’s side, but no excuses, Kentucky came in and did a great job.”
The women’s 200 medley relay team of Anna Saum (Toledo, Ohio), Alison Walker (Marietta, Ga.), DeVinney and Natanya Harper (Atlanta, Ga.) opened the dual meet with a victory in the medley relay with a time of 1:48.08.
Also picking up wins on the women’s side for Tech was junior Moeko Wallis (Columbus, Ga.) and sophomore Elizabeth Foster (Frankfort, Ky.). Wallis tied for first in the 50 free (24.26) and Foster captured the 100 free (53.28) for the Yellow Jackets.
Freshman Ryan Bishop (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) tallied a first-place finish for the Rambling Wreck in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:06.32.
Sweeping the 500 free for the Yellow Jackets was Morgan, senior Eduardo Oliver (Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior Matt Figh (Montgomery, Ala.). Oliver finished second behind teammate Morgan with a time of 4:38.21, while Figh finished third with a time of 4:41.64.
The men’s 200 free relay team of Teemu Kettunen (Jarvenpaa, Finland), Brian Huff (Marietta, Ga.), Jeremy Raines (Americus, Ga.) and Jason Howard (Snellville, Ga.) won the event to close the meet with a time of 1:24.66.
Leading the diving competition for the Jackets was senior Paul McCarty (Ypsilanti, Mich.). McCarty tallied a Tech season-best score of 308.77 on the one-meter springboard.
Jessica Siegle led the Wildcats this afternoon with a pool record in the 200 backstroke (2:02.99) and a first place tie in the 50 free (24.26). Other pool records for Kentucky were Steven Manley in the 200 individual medley (1:50.90), Jerram Chudleigh in the 200 fly (1:49.06) and Daniel Cruz in the 100 free (45.68).
Tech will host Emory for Senior Day Saturday, Jan. 31, in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The final home dual meet is scheduled to begin at Noon and can be followed on www.ramblinwreck.com.
