Oct. 6, 2017
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech swimming & diving opened up the 2017-18 season with a sweep of the Pittsburgh Panthers, as the women’s team defeated Pitt 183.5-116.5 and the men’s team swarmed past the Panthers 168.0-132.0 on Friday afternoon at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
In what was the Jackets’ “Pink Meet” for the season, Tech had multiple individual wins by a number of different swimmers and divers on both the men’s and women’s teams in the conference dual meet win.
“I’m very happy with the way that we performed,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “I think our women came out and did a fantastic job from start to finish. I think our men had a little bit more of a challenge on their hands but they obviously rose to the occasion. I’m super proud of the way we raced and came together as a team. I’m looking forward to going back to work here and then traveling to Chicago in two weeks and continuing our season.”
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road for back-to-back dual meets at Notre Dame and Northwestern on Oct. 20 and 21. Tech’s next home meet is schedule for Saturday, Oct. 28, versus Delta State at 11 a.m. ET.
Women’s Highlights
The Yellow Jackets opened up the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 200 yard medley relay, as the team of Allie Paschal, Florina Ilie, Laura Branton and Kaitlin Kitchens touched the wall in first place with a time of 1:43.96. Finishing runner-up with a time of 1:44.65 was the Jackets’ squad of Megan Young, Catriona MacGregor, Chloe Miller and Megan Hansen.
Sophomore Emily Ilgenfritz placed second in the women’s 1000 free with a time of 10:15.92, while freshman Camille Long scored a point for the home team with her sixth-place time of 10:26.73.
Ilgenfritz recorded another runner-up finish in the women’s 500 free with her time of 5:02.62, while Long (5:04.67) and Lindsay Wallace (5:06.46) placed third and fifth, respectively, to also score points for the Jackets.
In the women’s 200 free, Iris Wang picked up the win with her time of 1:48.69, while Wallace touched the wall in fifth place with her time of 1:53.69. Wang went on to take first place overall in the women’s 50 free with a time of 23.15, placing just ahead of fellow teammates Kitchens (23.47), Hansen (24.16) and Morgan Lyons (24.30) who touched the wall in second, third and fourth overall, respectively.
Wang’s team-high third win of the day came in the women’s 100 free, as the junior recorded a first-place time of 50.05 to hold off Tech’s Kitchens and her time of 51.35 for the win.
Also in the women’s 100 free, Hansen (52.58) placed fourth overall followed by fellow teammate and newcomer Celine Nugent (52.79) in fifth.
Paschal (55.84) and Young (56.49) touched the wall in first and second place overall in the women’s 100 back, while sophomore Caroline Lee placed fourth with her mark of 56.86.
Lee went on to take runner-up honors with a time of 2:01.90 in the women’s 200 back, finishing three spots in front of fellow Jacket Paschal and her time of 2:02.77.
Tech had two freshmen and a junior score points in the women’s 100 breast, as newcomers MacGregor (1:04.97) and Julia Shuford (1:05.80) finished in second and fifth, respectively, while Ilie touched the wall in third with her time of 1:05.31.
MacGregor secured her second runner-up finish on the day in the women’s 200 IM with her time of 2:05.19, leading a trio of Tech freshmen with top five finishes including Nugent (2:08.93) in fourth and Shuford (2:10.92) in fifth.
Shuford scored a second-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:19.15, touching the wall in front of fellow teammates Ilie (2:22.46) and Kristen Hepler (2:22.84).
The women’s 200 fly was dominated by the Jackets, as Branton (2:03.34), Ilgenfritz (2:04.20), Maddie Oliver (2:04.53) and Miller (2:06.21) claiming the top-four spots in the race.
The domination continued in the 100 fly, as Branton (55.34) posted her second win of the meet, leading a swarm of Jackets that placed second (Miller – 56.83), fourth (Lyons – 57.99) and fifth (Oliver – 58.06).
Freshmen Camryn Hidalgo swept the women’s diving events, taking first place in the 1-meter dive with a score of 300.90 and earning the win in the 3-meter dive with a total score of 3:01.13.
Fellow Californian and sophomore Carly Doi placed also scored for Tech in both diving events with a third-place finish in the 1-meter dive (252.90) and a fourth-place showing in the 3-meter dive (264.98).
The relay team of Wang, Ilgenfritz, Hansen and Kitchens closed the meet out on a high note in the 400 free relay, taking first place overall with a time of 3:26.40 to add an exclamation point to the team win.
Men’s Highlights
The men’s team kicked off the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as the relay unit of Rodrigo Correia, Albert Zhi, Christian Ferraro and Jeffrey Murray turned in a time of 1:31.32, almost a full two seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Three Jackets in Brennan Day (9:36.47), Colt Williamson (9:40.55) and Joonas Koski (9:41.90) finished second, third and fourth in the men’s 1000 free, while freshmen Caio Pumputis (1:37.50) and Zhi both scored in the men’s 200 free with second and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Zhi also posted a fifth-place finish in the men’s 100 free with a time of 46.15.
In the men’s 500 free, Williamson recorded a third-place finish with his time of 4:41.27, while Day also scored for the Jackets with his fifth-place time of 4:44.28.
Pumputis’ first win as a Jacket would come in the 200 breast, as the freshman recorded an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:58.34 in the win, while senior Alex Kimpel also scored for Tech with his time of 2:05.15, which was good enough for fourth place overall.
The Tech freshman posted his second career win in the men’s 200 IM, as Pumputis touched the wall first with his time of 1:49.11.
Correia (48.20) and Brad Oberg (50.80) placed first and second in the men’s 100 back, which was immediately followed by freshman Jonathan Yang‘s victory in the men’s 100 breast with his time of 56.83. Correia went on to earn the first-place win in the 100 free with a time of 44.49, finishing ahead of three Pitt swimmers.
Ferraro recorded his first intercollegiate win in the men’s 200 fly, as the first-year Jacket touched the wall in a time of 1:47.14, an NCAA B qualifying time. Sophomores Clay Hering (1:48.79) and Tim Slanschek (1:52.47) finished in fourth and fifth place in the 200 fly to also score points for the Jackets. Slanschek also finished fifth in the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:55.04.
Ferraro’s second win of the meet came in the 100 fly, as he touched the wall in first place overall with his time of 48.47, just missing the NCAA B qualifying mark. Tech’s Hering (49.95), Oberg (50.07) and Slanschek (51.29) finished third, fourth and fifth overall in the event, respectively.
Fellow freshman Corben Miles (21.02), sophomore Aidan Pastel (21.12) and Murray (21.41) earned second, third and fifth-place honors, respectively, in the men’s 50 free, while in the men’s 200 back, Koski (1:50.63) and freshman Leon Warnakulasuriya (1:53.16) placed second and fifth overall to score for the home team.
Junior Matt Casillas swept the men’s diving events on the afternoon, taking first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 343.50 and first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 305.63, while Nolan Mallet and Henry Carman placed third and fourth overall in both diving events.
In the last race of the dual, the men’s 400 free relay squad of Correia, Zhi, Ferraro and Pumputis capped off the meet with a first-place finish with a time of 3:00.37.
Tech Tidbits
* Caio Pumputis turned in an NCAA B cut time of 1:37.50 in the men’s 200 free event and an NCAA B mark of 1:58.34 in the men’s 200 breast.
* Rodrigo Correia posted an NCAA B cut time of 48.20 in the men’s 100 back.
* Christian Ferraro record an NCAA B cut time of 1:47.14 in the men’s 200 fly.
* Megan Young recorded a new personal-best time of 56.49 in the women’s 100 back.
* Matt Casillas recorded a new personal-best score of 343.50 in the 1-meter dive.
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.
Freshman diver Cami Hidalgo talks about the Jackets’ sweep in all four diving events (two women & two men) on Friday in the win over Pitt! pic.twitter.com/Bk9w3UHwDC
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) October 6, 2017
Co-captain Rodrigo Correia is excited for his team’s start to the season with the wins over Pitt today! #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/9hA99eXuyA
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) October 6, 2017
