Feb. 16, 2018
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Two school records and three top-12 finishers powered Georgia Tech to an impressive third day of the ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
“I thought we had a really good morning and started out well,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “I thought Megan [Young] and Iris [Wang] getting the school records showed that and I’m proud of both of them for their performances today. Now we’ve got to look to tomorrow, where we’re going to have to come out and battle hard in each event and leave nothing in the tank.”
The Yellow Jackets finished day three with 235 points and currently are 11th overall.
Tech returns for the final day of the ACC Women’s Swimming Championships on Saturday, Feb. 17, beginning with prelims at 10 a.m.
Women’s Highlights
Georgia Tech started its day off on a mission from the very beginning. Senior Megan Young scorched the school record in the 100 back prelims, finishing 11th overall (first in her heat) with a time of 53.24 – also good for an NCAA B qualifying time. Her performance breaks the record of 54.05 that was set by Maddie Paschal in 2017.
Young followed up her prelim effort with a 53.27 time in the finals to finish second in the B finals and 10th overall.
Junior Iris Wang broke her own school record in the 200 free finals, swimming to an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:45.53 and placing 12th overall. She advanced to the B finals by finishing 12th with a time of 1:45.83.
Also in the 200 free, senior Kaitlin Kitchens advanced to the finals off a career-best NCAA B time of 1:47.15. She then finished eighth in the C finals with an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:47.95.
Senior Kira de Bruyn then crushed her season-best mark in the 400 IM finals by recording a time of 4:15.34 (NCAA B time) to finish 12th overall. She advanced to the B finals where she finished 16th overall with a time of 4:16.63.
In the 100 fly finals, senior Morgan Lyons set a season-best NCAA B qualifying time of 53.83 to finish third in the C finals and 19th overall after a time of 54.27 in the prelims. Laura Branton advanced from the prelims with a 54.59 time before turning in a mark of 54.60 to finish seventh in the C finals.
Florina Ilie topped her season-best mark in the 100 breast prelims, finishing with a time of 1:01.92 (tied-16th) to force a swim-off for the final B finals position. There, the junior fought to a 1:01.59 time that would secure her spot by less than 0.30 seconds. Once in the finals, Ilie posted a 15th-place finish with another NCAA B time of 1:02.36.
In the 400 medley relay, the Yellow Jackets’ team of Young, Ilie, Branton and Wang placed 11th with a time of 3:40.17.
In the 3-meter diving prelims, sophomore Carly Doi finished 24th overall with a total score of 235.55. Freshman Paige Gohr finished the day with a total score of 204.80.
The new 100 back record-holder Megan Young on her impressive race and looking forward to tomorrow #ACCWSD pic.twitter.com/j2BDz6pbbe
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) February 17, 2018
Tech Tidbits
* Senior Megan Young broke the school 100 back record in the prelims, swimming a time of 53.24 (NCAA B time) to finish 11th and advance to the B finals. The performance eclipses the previous record of 54.05 that was set by Maddie Paschal in 2017. She continued to impress in the finals where she turned in another NCAA B time of 53.27 to finish 10th overall.
* Junior Iris Wang broke her own school record in the 200 free finals, recording an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:45.53 and finishing 12th overall. She advances to the B finals after finishing 12th in the prelims with an NCAA B time of 1:45.83.
* Junior Laura Branton recorded a season-best NCAA B qualifying time of 53.83 in the 100 fly B finals.
* Senior Morgan Lyons recorded a season-best NCAA B qualifying time of 54.27 to advance to the C finals in 100 fly.
* Senior Kira de Bruyn turned in a season-best NCAA B time of 4:15.34 in the 400 IM finals to finish 12th overall. She advanced to the finals off a prelim time of 4:16.63 (16th) – also good for an NCAA B qualifying time.
* Senior Kaitlin Kitchens swam a career-best NCAA B time of 1:47.15 in the 200 free prelims. She then turned in another NCAA B qualifying time of 1:47.95 to finals eighth in the C finals (24th overall).
* Junior Florina Ilie turned in a season-best NCAA B qualifying time of 1:01.92 in the 100 breast prelims to finish 16th and advance to the B finals. She then recorded another NCAA B time of 1:02.36 to finish 15th overall in the finals.
* Sophomore Lindsay Wallace set a new personal record in the 200 free prelims, swimming a time of 1:50.13.
* Sophomore Kristen Hepler recorded a new career-best mark in the 100 breast prelims with a time of 1:02.90.
* Sophomore Caroline Lee tied her career-best mark in the 100 back prelims, swimming an NCAA B qualifying time of 54.49.
* Junior Sara Gilbert turned in a new personal-record time of 54.75 in the 100 back prelims, also for an NCAA B qualifying time.
* Freshman Allie Paschal also set a new personal record in the 100 back prelims, recording an NCAA B time of 54.88.
For the latest information on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Swimming & Diving, follow us on Twitter ( @GTSwimDive), Instagram (@GTSwimDive), and Facebook (Georgia Tech Swimming & Diving) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
