Nov. 16, 2017
THE FLATS – Twoschool records pushed Georgia Tech swimming & diving to an impressive day one in the Georgia Tech Invitational on Thursday at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
At the conclusion of day one, the women are in fourth place, tallying 247.5 points while the men also sit in fourth overall with a total of 227 points.
“I was really happy with the way we stepped up today,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “We are taking every session one at a time. We stepped up this morning, but I wanted to see a little bit more tonight and obviously we saw that. We set two school records and came really close on our relay. And then Iris [Wang] also tied the school record [in the 50 free]. So I thought we did a good job tonight. They’re racing tough in the competition. We have top-20 programs here and we’re doing a great job.”
The Yellow Jackets continue action in the second day of the Georgia Tech Invitational on Friday, Nov. 17. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. The diving finals will begin at approximately 6 p.m.
Women’s Highlights
The 500 free allowed Emily Ilgenfritz to start and end the day with a bang. Ilgenfritz set a new school record, finishing third with an NCAA B time of 4:46.38 after turning in an impressive fourth-place performance (4:49.92) in the prelims. Her finals time breaks the previous record of 4:47.36 set by Vesna Stojanovska in 2005.
Also reaching the finals was Tamir Gonen who recorded a 4:54.57 time – good for 12th. Gonen went on to win the B finals in the afternoon session with a personal-best 4:50.98 time.
Making the B finals and also setting new personal-bests in the 500 free were Lila Best and Camille Long, who finished 18th and 19th, respectively. Best recorded a 4:57.39 time while Long tabbed a 4:58.16 time. Sophomore Lindsay Wallace rounded out Tech’s advancers with a 4:59.79 time and 22nd finish to qualify for the C finals.
Best finished sixth in the B finals, eclipsing her earlier personal record of 4:55.17. In the C finals, Wallace took first place with an impressive 4:54.75 mark, setting a new personal record.
In the 1-meter diving event, freshman Camryn Hidalgo qualified for the finals with a prelim score of 296.85 before finishing third overall with a 281.70 score. Sophomore Carly Doi made the finals with a 240.90 score before finishing sixth overall with a 255.50.
Rounding out the 1-meter top 10, freshman Paige Gohr qualified for the finals with a 226.25 score before finishing 10th overall with a score of 219.90.
In the 200 IM, Catriona MacGregor and Kristen Hepler made the B finals with career-best efforts. MacGregor finished 13th with a time of 2:03.04 time while Hepler finished 18th with a 2:04.09 time. Kira de Bruyn also turned in a fine performance with a C-finals time of 2:05.61 (27th).
In the 200 IM B finals, MacGregor took first place, setting a new personal-record with a NCAA B time of 2:01.15. Hepler finished 10th in the B finals with a 2:06.93 time while de Bruyn finished fourth (2:04.44) in the C finals.
Iris Wang led the Yellow Jackets in the 50 free, finishing fifth overall with an NCAA qualifying time of 22.71 in the prelims to make it to the A finals where she finished ninth, tying her own school record with a 22.69 time.
Kaitlin Kitchens and Laura Branton reached the B finals, recording14th and 19th finishes, respectively. Kitchens recorded a 23.15 time while Branton finished at 23.35. Kitchens then finished fifth in the B finals (23.10) before Branton finished tied-9th in the B finals with a tied-personal record of 23.32.
In the finals of the 200 free relay, the Yellow Jackets swarmed to a season-best performance as the team of Wang, Branton, Morgan Lyons and Kitchens finished fourth with a time of 1:31.44.
Concluding day one with the 400-medley relay, the Georgia Tech team of Caroline Lee, Florina Illie, Branton and Wang finished fourth with a season-best 3:37.95. In the leadoff leg, Lee set a new 100 back personal record of 54.88.
Men’s Highlights
Junior Colt Williamson would eclipse his own school record in the A finals of the 500 free when he finished second with a time of 4:18.78 after taking first place in the prelims with a 4:21.65 time – both NCAA B qualifying times.
Sophomore Joonas Koski set a personal-best and NCAA B qualifying time of 4:23.36 for second in the prelims. He then went on to finish fifth in the A finals with another NCAA B qualifying time of 4:24.83.
Making the B finals in the 500 free was freshman Christian Ferraro, who finished 12th with a career-best time of 4:28.32, while Moises Loschi and Brennan Day also made the B finals, finishing 13th (4:28.65) and 17th (4:30.38), respectively.
Austin Whalen and Clay Hering turned in times of 4:34.24 and 4:34.46, respectively, to finish 21st and 23rd and advance to the C finals. Hering finished second in the C finals with a 4:32.03 time.
In the 200 IM prelims, freshman Caio Pumputis swam to a second-place finish with a 1:45.68 time in the finals after a third-place finish in the morning prelims (1:46.58) – both good for personal bests and NCAA B qualifying times. Tim Slanschek used his eighth-place prelim time of 1:49.03 (NCAA B time) to finish seventh in the A-finals with another NCAA B time of 1:49.04.
Rodrigo Correia and Alex Kimpel advanced to the B finals in the 200 IM with 1:49.42 and 1:51.13 times, respectively, while Jonathan Yang, Joseph Portillo and Leon Warnakulasuriya made the C finals.
In the 200 IM finals, Correia took second in the B finals with a 1:47.30 NCAA B time while Yang finished third in the C finals with a personal-best time of 1:51.62.
In the 3-meter diving event, junior Matt Casillas used a 318.80 score to advance to the finals where he finished third with a score of 350.30. Freshman Jacob Kreider also qualified for advancement with a 317.65 before finishing ninth overall with a score of 273.85.
Leading the men in the 50 free was Noah Harasz, who finished 13th overall with a 20.29 time. Also making the B finals was freshman Corben Miles, who tallied a career-best 20.47 time en route to an 18th-place finish. Aidan Pastel made the C finals with a 20.69 time (23rd).
In the 50 free finals, Harasz finished fourth in the B finals (20.27) before Miles set a new personal record, finishing eighth in the B finals with a 20.63 time. Pastel finished sixth in the C finals with a 20.60 time.
In the finals of the 200 free relay, Correia, Franco Reyes, Pumputis and Harasz finished third with a season-best 1:19.70 time.
Finishing the day with the 400-medley relay, Brad Oberg, Albert Zhi, Loschi and Ferraro finished fourth with a season-best time of 3:12.82.
Tech Tidbits
* Sophomore Emily Ilgenfritz turned in a school record-breaking time of 4:46.38 in the women’s 500 free finals – also good for an NCAA B time. The time breaks the previous record of 4:47.36 set by Vesna Stojanovska in 2005.
* Junior Colt Williamson turned in a school record-breaking time of 4:18.78 in the men’s 500 free finals after recording an NCAA B qualifying time of 4:21.65 in the men’s 500 free prelims. He previously set the record in the spring of 2017 (4:19.19).
* Junior Iris Wang tied her own school record in the 50 free finals, recording a 22.69 time – good also for an NCAA B qualifying time.
* Sophomore Tamir Gonen recorded a personal-best time in the women’s 500 free prelims, finishing 12th with a 4:57.57 time. She then went on to eclipse that mark, winning the B finals with a 4:50.98 time.
* Junior Lila Best set a new personal-best in the women’s 500 free prelims, finishing 18th with a 4:57.39 time. She then reset her career-best with a 4:55.17 time in the B finals (16th).
* Freshman Camille Long set a new career-best time of 4:58.16 in the women’s 500 free (19th).
* Sophomore Joonas Koski turned in an NCAA B qualifying time of 4:23.36 in men’s 500 free prelims – also a career-best. He then recorded an NCAA B qualifying time in the 500 free finals, finishing fifth with a 4:24.83 time.
* Freshman Christian Ferraro tallied a personal-best time of 4:28.32 in the men’s 500 free prelims.
* Sophomore Austin Whalen recorded a personal-best time of 4:34.24 in the men’s 500 free prelims.
* Freshman Catriona MacGregor turned in a personal-best time of 2:03.04 in the women’s 200 IM prelims. She then eclipsed that personal record with an NCAA B qualifying time of 2:01.15 to win the B finals.
* Sophomore Kristen Hepler recorded a personal-best time of 2:04.09 in the women’s 200 IM prelims.
* Sophomore Chloe Miller tallied a personal-best time of 2:06.54 in the women’s 200 IM prelims.
* Freshman Julia Shuford recorded a personal-record time of 2:06.93 in the women’s 200 IM prelims.
* Junior Florina Ilie recorded a personal-best in the women’s 200 IM prelims with a 2:08.78 time.
* Freshman Caio Pumputis turned in a personal-best time of 1:46.58 in the men’s 200 IM prelims – also a NCAA B qualifying time (third). He then eclipsed that PR with a 1:45.68 time in the finals (second).
* Sophomore Tim Slanschek turned in an NCAA B qualifying and personal-best time of 1:49.03 in the men’s 200 IM prelims (eighth). He followed up that with an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:49.04 in the finals.
* Junior Rodrigo Correia turned in an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:47.30, finishing second in the B finals of the men’s 200 IM.
* Jonathan Yang recorded a personal-best 200 IM prelims time of 1:52.23 (25th). He then eclipsed that PR with a 1:51.62 in the finals, finishing third in the C finals.
* Caroline Lee recorded a new personal-best 50 free prelims time of 23.83.
* Catriona MacGregor also turned in a personal-best time in the women’s 50 free prelims with a time of 23.83.
* Megan Young recorded a personal-best time of 24.30 in the women’s 50 free prelims of 24.30.
* Lila Best tallied a new personal-best time of 23.90 in the women’s 50 free prelims.
* Laura Branton tied her personal-best time of 23.32 in the women’s 50 free finals.
* Corben Miles recorded a personal-best time of 20.47 in the men’s 50 free prelims.
* Jeffrey Murray set a new personal-record in the men’s 50 free prelims with a time of 21.02.
* Jonathan Vater set a new personal-record in the men’s 50 free prelims with a time of 21.34.
* Brennan Day turned in a new career-best in the men’s 500 free B finals when he finished fifth with a 4:28.08 time.
* Women’s 400-medley relay time of 3:37.95 is a season best and second best in school history.
* Caroline Lee set a personal-best in the leadoff leg of the women’s 400-medley relay with a 54.88 100 back time.
* Grace Mauldin set a new personal record in the 100 back, finishing the first leg of the women’s 400-medley relay with a time of 55.75.
* Sara Gilbert recorded a new personal-best in the 100 back, finishing her leadoff leg of the women’s 400-medley relay with a 54.87 time.
* Colt Williamson set a new personal-best in the 100 back, finishing his leadoff leg of the men’s 400-medley relay with a 47.61 time.
* Austin Daniel recorded a new career-best in the 100 back, finishing the first leg of the 400-medley relay with a 50.12.
* Leon Warnakulasuriya turned in a new personal-best in the 100 back, finishing the first leg of the 400-medley relay with a 50.52.
Emily Ilgenfritz set the new school record in the women’s 500 free but was more excited about how her team swam in the finals tonight. pic.twitter.com/XUInxKvKGk
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) November 17, 2017
Junior co-captain Colt Williamson broke his own GT record in the 500 free and was pleased with his team’s effort on Day 1 of the GT Invite! #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/VMP7zSzCdk
— Ga Tech Swim & Dive (@GTSwimDive) November 17, 2017
