Jan. 23, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams head north this weekend in search of their first Atlantic Coast Conference victories of the season. The Jackets face Duke at Taishoff Aquatic Center at 5 p.m. Friday and take on NC State at its William Casey Aquatic Center at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Tech’s men enter the weekend with a 2-5 overall mark (0-2 ACC), while the women stand 3-4 (0-2 ACC). Both teams are coming off losses to Clemson and Alabama in their last action.
Duke’s women (6-4, 0-3 ACC) come in to Friday’s action having won their last two meets, defeating in-state rivals Davidson and UNC Wilmington. The Blue Devil men stand 2-6 (0-3 ACC) and fell to the Seahawks in their last action. The meet will feature a family reunion for Tech sophomore Lisa Hancock, as her sister Lauren ranks as one of Duke’s top swimmers.
Tech’s men trail the all-time series with Duke, 19-25, while this meet marks the first-ever meeting between the women’s squads.
Both the NC State men and women enter Saturday’s meet on losing streaks. The women are 5-6 overall (1-4 ACC) and have lost four consecutive dual meets, while the men’s squad has lost two in a row since starting the season 6-0. The women fell to North Carolina last time out, while the men lost to Virginia on January 11.
Last season, the Yellow Jacket men downed the Wolfpack, 146.5-89.5, in Atlanta, while the women fell to NC State, 138-102. Tech’s men trail the all-time series with NC State by a count of 4-10.
Leading the way for the Tech men this weekend will be senior All-American Shilo Ayalon, who met the NCAA “B” qualifying standard in the 1650-yard freestyle against Alabama. He owns the Jackets’ top times in four events. Seniors James Salazar (backstroke) and Tomonori Tsuji (breaststroke) should also have an impact for Tech. Junior Paul McCarty enters as the team’s top diver.
Sophomore Moeko Wallis, who owns the team’s best marks in the 50, 100 and 200 free, leads the women’s squad. Hancock, freshman Elizabeth Foster and sophomore Michelle Maguire also own club-best performances in multiple events. Rookie Laurissa Prystaj leads the team’s diving efforts.
Following this weekend’s action, Tech concludes the dual meet portion of the season against Maryland and North Carolina in Chapel Hill on February 1.
-GT-
