ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s men’s swimming & diving squad won its first ACC dual meet since joining the league in 1979-80 with a 149-82 win over Duke in Durham, N.C. The Yellow Jackets took eight of the 13 first place finishes on the way to improving to 6-6 on the year and 1-0 in conference action.
Tech last beat a member of the league on Feb. 2, 1974, when it downed Clemson 57-56 in a non-conference dual meet. Tech had not beaten a conference opponent since joining the league in 1979-80, although it did gain a forfeit from Clemson in January of 1995.
"It was a great win for us and a big momentum booster for our program," said head coach Seth Baron, who is in his second year at Tech. "It was a great team performance with our upperclassmen being at the forefront as contributors. We won both the diving and relays events and gained victories in the close races, which made the difference. It is a big lift in confidence for us heading to Clemson."
Tech senior diver Kevin Brooks (Plantation, Fla.) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, while Tech’s 400 Medley Relay and 400 freestyle relay teams both took victories.
The Yellow Jackets broke open the meet by consecutively winning the 200 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 200 Individual medley and the 1-meter diving competition. Freshman Leo Salinas (Monterrey, Mexico) won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:46.09, and he took a second in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Jay Cerceo (Gainesville, Fla.) won the 50 freestyle in 21.86, while freshman David Laitala (Richardson, Texas) captured the 200 individual medley in 1:56.14, which is the fastest time swam in that event this year by a Jacket and fourth best in school history. Brooks won the 1-meter diving with a total of 239.625 points, while freshman Mark Baldwin (Kennesaw, Ga.) was second with 231.6 points. Brooks won the 3-meter event with 301.8 points, while Baldwin was second with 219.25 points. Senior Ed Brinkman (Midland, Ga.) captured the 100 freestyle in 47.47 to round out Tech’s first place finishes and he was third in the 50 freestyle.
The 400 Medley Relay team of Laitala, Theral Mackey, James Nozar and Matt Reed won in a time of 3:29.93, while the 400 Freestyle Relay team of Brinkman, Cerceo, David Silver and Jason Williams claimed a win in 3:11.62.
Tech is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Clemson for a 2 p.m., dual meet.
Meet Results:
400 Medley Relay: 1. GT-A (Laitala, Mackey, Nozar, Reed), 3:29.93; 2. Duke, 3. GT-B, 3:39.71, 4. Duke, 5. GT-C, 3:45.69.
1,000 Free: 1. C. Wise (Duke), 9:47.27, 2. Hank Longmire (GT), 9:58.10, 3. S. Feeney (Duke), 4. Matt Wolczynski (GT), 10:04.11, 5. A. Moore (Duke), 6. Brady Skaggs (GT), 10:10.73.
200 Freestyle: 1. Leo Salinas (GT), 1:46.09, 2. B. McGill (Duke), 3. Ryan Shanteau (GT) 1:46.70, 4. David Silver (GT), 1:46.85, 5. A. Thomas (Duke), 6. B. Clark (Duke).
50 Freestyle: 1. Jay Cerceo (GT), 21.86, 2. J. Newhouse (Duke), 3. Ed. Brinkman (GT), 21.98, 4. Jason Williams (GT), 22.30, 5. C. McHugh (Duke), 6. Matt Reed (GT), 22.43.
200 Individual Medley: 1. David Laitala (GT), 1:56.14, 2. Carl Nylander (GT), 1:56.71, 3. B. Oles (Duke), 4. Dustin Thorn (GT), 2:00.77, 5. M. Rotblat (Duke), 6. Glenn Goldstein (GT), 2:05.25.
1-Meter Diving: 1. Kevin Brooks (GT), 239.625, 2. Mark Baldwin (GT), 231.60.
200 Butterfly: 1. C. Wise (Duke), 1:57.19, 2. Charles Gersbach (GT), 1:58.27, 3. Brady Skaggs (GT), 1:58.52, 4. C. Fleizach (Duke), 5. James Nozar (GT), 2:01.70, 6. S. Gaber (Duke), 7. P. Tzur (Duke), 8. J. Fennessy (GT).
100 Freestyle: 1. Ed Brinkman (GT), 47.47, 2. Jay Cerceo (GT), 48.31, 3. Brady Skaggs (GT), 48.37, 4. B. McGill, 5. Matt Reed (GT), 49.93, 6. A. Thomas (Duke), 7. B. Clark (Duke), 8. M. Lynch (Duke).
200 Backstroke: 1. C. Fleizach (Duke), 1:55.96, 2. Glenn Goldstein (GT), 1:50.67, 3. Carl Nylander (GT), 1:58.99, 4. R. Harsch (Duke), 5. Hank Longmire (GT), 2:03.34, 6. T. Berenberg (Duke).
500 Freestyle: 1. C. Wise (Duke), 2. Leo Salinas (GT), 4:44.97, 3. Ryan Shanteau (GT), 4:53.78, 4. Matt Wolczynski (GT), 4:55.50, 5. A. Moore (Duke), 6. Mark Schilling (GT), 4:59.64, 7. S. Feeney (Duke), 8. R. Fisher (Duke).
3-Meter Diving: 1. Kevin Brooks (GT), 301.8, 2. Mark Baldwin (GT), 291.25.
200 Breastroke: 1. M. Rotblat (Duke), 2:08.03, 2. Carl Nylander (GT), 2:13.25, 3. Theral Mackey (GT), 2:13.49, 4. J. Suseko (Duke), 5. B. Oles (Duke), 6. Michael Smith (GT), 2:22.59.
400 Freestyle Relay: 1. GT-A (Brinkman, Cerceo, Silver, Williams), 3:11.62, 2. Duke-A, 3. GT-B (Thorn, Cunningham, Salinas, Nozar), 3:20.08, 4. Duke-B, 5. Duke-C.
