Jan. 19, 2008
ATLANTA – Elizabeth Stowe, Christine Chuang, Noah Copeland and Mickey Malul won two events apiece as Virginia Tech swept Georgia Tech in an ACC swimming dual meet Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Hokie men’s team won 159.5-102.5 while the No. 22-ranked women’s squad took home a 177.5-84.5 victory. There was no diving in the meet.
“This is the first meet since the (Georgia Tech) Invite and we are a little rusty,” said Georgia Tech head coach Stu Wilson said. “Noah Copeland, Elizabeth Stowe, and even Jing Li, are the ones that set the tone. We knew that Virginia Tech was a strong team, so we knew they would beat us at some events, but we thought we would win some of the others.”
The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay. The Tech men’s team of Matt Tang, Mickey Malul, Onur Uras and Mauricio Sousa finished second in a time of 1:31.43 while on the women’s side Ryann Kopaka, Lisa Pucci, Christine Chuang and Agatha Kwasnik placed third in 1:47.84. Elizabeth Stowe gave the Yellow Jackets their first win of the day in the 1,000-yard freestyle. She finished in 10:09.19, more than 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
In the 200-yard free, a monster come-back by Kwasnik enabled her to finish second in 1:52.18, just .07 seconds out of first. On the men’s side, Noah Copeland gave the Jackets their first win of the day as he won the 200-yard free in 1:39.45. For the Jackets, Travis Wagner also placed third with a time of 1:42.40.
In the men’s 100-yard backstroke, Way Joe Lee (51.78) placed second and Johnny Hagaman (51.87) was third for the Jackets as the men’s team hung close with the Hokies. Malul then gave the Jackets another victory as he won the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.24. Tech women placed 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly as Chuang won the event in 2:05.36 followed by Jing Li (2:05.57). The men’s 200-yard fly saw Uras finish second in 1:53.64 and Ralph Long place third (1:55.03).
The men’s 50-yard free saw a tie for first place as Sousa and Virginia Tech’s Kaan Tayla both touched the wall in 20.81.Kwasnik earned another second place finish as she swam the 100-yard free in 51.78, while Copeland won the men’s event in 45.49.
Malul continued the men’s come-back as he won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:07.93. Lee also placed third in event (2:09.37.). In the women’s 500-yard free, Stowe (4:59.23) and Li (5:00.41) placed first and second, respectively for the Jackets.
Chuang picked up another win in the 100-yard fly as she touched the wall in 57.09. In the men’s 100-yard fly, Travis Wagner (50.22) and Uras (50.71) finished second and third for Tech, while in the 200-yard individual medley, Lee gave the Jackets a second-place finish as he touched the wall in 1:56..30.
The final event of the meet was the 400-yard free relay. In the women’s event, the team Chuang, Katherine Locker, Thea Kromer and Kwasnik placed second in a time of 3:34.75. The men also earned a second-place finish as Copeland, Wagner, Garrett Robberson and Uras touched the wall in 3:05.12.
Next Saturday, the Yellow Jackets will host Emory and Vanderbilt in the final meet of the regular season. The 11 seniors will be honored and Tech will also be participating in “Seconds For The Cure.” The Georgia Tech women’s swimming and diving team is partnering with the Atlanta Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in an effort to raise awareness and funds to help fight the cause of breast cancer.
Tech head coach Stu Wilson will establish times for each student-athlete in the various events that they will try and break. Fans, alums, parents and family members can then pledge an amount of money they wish to donate for every second the student-athlete finishes below that established time. Pink t-shirts will also be sold to allow spectators to show their support for the fight against breast cancer.
Live stats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com. A full recap and results will be available after the conclusion of the day’s events.
