Feb. 7, 2011
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Some of the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads traveled to Virginia Tech on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the VT Invitational in Blacksburg. The meet was highlighted by two top-2 finishes by junior Johnnie Hermes and three top-5 finishes by freshman Jake Johnson.
Hermes recorded three season best times at the meet. His 400-IM time of 4:00.44 was good enough for first place, his second place 200-IM time of 1:53.23 and his 200-Breast first place prelim time of 2:02.37 was not only a season best, but also a career best.
Johnson took part in four finals on the day, a team-high, recording a second place finish in the 100-Back (51.19), fourth place finish in the 50-Free (21.04), a third place showing in the 100-Free (45.58) and a fifth place finish in the 200-Back (2:01.24).
Also doing well at the meet were Colin Schouten and Brian Robbins who went 1-2 in the 200-Fly with times of 1:51.73 and 1:52.66 respectively. Schouten also competed in the finals of the 500-Free finishing in second with a time of 4:36.4 while Robbins took fourth in the 100-Fly (53.32).
Michael Vallecoccia was the only Jacket to compete in the 200-Free finals earning a second place showing with a time of 1:47.33. The senior also took fifth in the 500-Free (4:52.38) and third in the 200-Back (1:56.38.
Freshmen Sam Morgan and Ben Shepperd also competed in the meet. Morgan took home third place honors in both the 500-Free (4:44.13) and 200-Fly (1:56.16) while Shepperd finished third in the 50-Free with a time of 20.86 after winning the prelims in the same event with a time of 20.77.
Hillary Yarosh represented the women at the meet as she took part in two finals on the day earning a fourth place finish in both the 50-Free with a time of 24.54 and the 100-Free in 52.81.
The rest of the swim team will return to the pool when they host the ACC Championships from February 16-26. The first week of competition (Feb. 16-19) will include the women’s championship and men’s and women’s swimming and diving championship. The meet will round out from Feb. 23-26 with the men’s championships at the GT Aquatic Center.
