Dec. 7, 2003
ATHENS, Ga. – Sophomore Sam Morgan (Gainesville, Ga.) swam a NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time of 15:31.18 in the 1650-yard freestyle to finish third and help the Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving team finish fourth (415 points) at the Georgia Invitational in Gabrielsen Natatorium. The women’s swimming and diving team also ended the invitational in fourth place with 286 points. The ninth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers won the men’s competition with 1201.50 points, while No. 2 Georgia captured the women’s competition scoring 1454 points.
Swimming in the finals of the 1650 free for the Yellow Jackets was senior Eduardo Oliver (Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior Michelle Maguire (Conway, Ark.). Oliver finished sixth with a season-best time of 15:45.60 in the event, while Maguire also tallied a season-best time (17:16.86) to end the race in ninth place. Maguire also competed in the finals of the 200-meter backstroke for the Jackets, ending in 12th place with a time of 2:21.10.
Sophomore Jason Howard (Snellville, Ga.) tallied a 15th-place finish for the Jackets in the 100-meter free with a time of 52.13. Howard swam a season-best time of 46.66 in the preliminaries of the 100-yard free to qualify for the finals.
Junior Matt Figh (Montgomery, Ala.) recorded a Tech season-best time of 1:52.80 in the prelims of the 200-yard butterfly and finished fifth in the finals of the 200-meter fly with a time of 2:04.24.
On the three-meter springboard, junior Amy Sutton (Hoover, Ala.) and sophomore Laurissa Prystaj (Fairport, N.Y.) placed in the top 16. Prystaj led the way with 419.25 points to finish in 10th place, while Sutton scored 397.65 points to finish 13th on the three-meter board.
Georgia Tech will return to the pool after the New Year at Alabama on Jan. 10 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Yellow Jackets and Crimson Tide will have a combined dual meet beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
WOMEN
#2 Georgia, 1454
#13 Penn State, 841
#24 Minnesota, 836.50
Georgia Tech, 286
Alabama, 210.50
Virginia Tech (divers only), 4
MEN
#9 Minnesota, 1201.50
#7 Georgia, 1185
Penn State, 573.50
Georgia Tech, 415
Alabama, 252
Virginia Tech (divers only), 16
