Nov. 7, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell to nationally-ranked Virginia this afternoon, 133-95 men, and 139-98 women, at the Uva Aquatic and Fitness Center. Leading the Yellow Jackets were sophomore Laurissa Prystaj (Fairport, N.Y.) and freshman Vesna Stojanovska (Skopje, Macedonia), winning two events each, while sophomore Sam Morgan (Gainesville, Ga.) and freshman Ryan Bishop (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) each picked up wins for the Jackets. The Rambling Wreck men and women fall to 1-1 on the season.
“I was very pleased with how our women’s team competed today,” said head coach Seth Baron. “We are a three-year program and we were right there with the No. 17 team in the country. Even though we came out on the losing end, I was proud of the way our women swam.”
“The men looked really sharp in some areas and weak in others,” said Baron. “Overall, we did a nice job against the top team in the ACC and ninth-ranked team in the nation.”
Prystaj won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events for the Yellow Jackets. She scored 254.03 points on the one-meter board and 267.30 on the three-meter board. Stojanovska continued to impress with wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 200 butterfly. She swam a NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time of 2:02.98 in the 200 fly and broke her school record, set on Oct. 25, in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.39.
“Laurissa (Prystaj) was sharp on the boards winning both the one and three-meter events,” said Baron. “Vesna (Stojanovska) was sharp again for us, winning the 200 fly with a NCAA qualifying time and breaking the school record in the 200 free for the second time this year.”
On the men’s side, Morgan captured the 500 free with a time of 4:38.64 and Bishop won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:07.15. He also finished second in the 200 individual medley (1:54.01) and third in the 200 backstroke (1:55.93).
Other solid performances for the Jackets were juniors Moeko Wallis (Columbus, Ga.) and Matt Figh (Montgomery, Ala.). Wallis had a pair of runner-up finishes in the 50 and 100 free, ending with times of 24.46 and 53.03, respectively. Figh had a third-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.38.
Senior Eduardo Oliver (Jacksonville, Fla.) swam to a second-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:47.31, while sophomore Meghan DeVinney notched a runner-up finish in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.21.
The Yellow Jackets will travel to Maryland, Saturday, Nov. 8, for an Atlantic Coast Conference dual. The meet is scheduled to start at Noon.
