Virginia Tech Teams Top Georgia Tech, Maryland

BLACKSBURG, Virginia, January 21. THE Virginia Tech men's and women's swimming and diving teams defeated Maryland and Georgia Tech at the War Memorial Pool, Saturday. The women defeated Maryland, 160-77, while beating Georgia Tech, 154-88. For the men, the Hokies toppled the Terrapins, 190-48, while routing the Yellow Jackets, 160-83.

This is the first time the Hokie men have defeated Georgia Tech, while the women have won over the Jackets in all three meetings. The Tech men won 10 events during the double-dual, while the women claimed six. Seniors Gus Calado, Pete Cancila, Stephen Jensen, Neil Savage, Lauren Dillon and Liane Bianco also were honored during the meet.

Calado won every event he competed in during the meet. His first win came in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking in a time of 9:25.75 for the top honor. Griffin Lutterbein finished the same event in third, with a time of 9:32.41, while Ben Miller took fifth in 9:51.52.

Zac Czaplicki was the runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle, just behind Georgia Tech's Noah Copeland. Czaplicki's time was recorded at 1:39.86, while Copeland set a pool record at 1:38.77. Chip Hughes and John Riley finished in tandem behind Czaplicki.

Scott Beard earned the top spot when he finished the 50-yard freestyle in 20.49. Ian deToll and Jake Bova were third and fourth, respectively, in the same event. deToll clocked in at 20.90, while Bova touched the wall in 20.91.

Savage, Jensen and Scott Harkins finished 2-3-4 in the 200-yard individual medley. Savage stopped the clock at 1:54.50, while Jensen finished at 1:54.79. Harkins' time was recorded at 1:56.56. Calado's second win of the day was in the 200-yard butterfly. He finished the event in 1:51.09.

The Hokies claimed the Top 3 spots in the 100-yard freestyle. Kaan Tayla had the fastest time of the three Tech swimmers, touching the wall in 45.26. Beard was barely a stroke behind at 45.37, while Bova finished just after at 45.75.

Calado's final win of the day came in the 200-yard backstroke. He led the field with a time of 1:51.04. Jimmy McLaughlin was third in the event, while Ben Prue took fourth and Kevin Koehr was fifth.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Czaplicki led a 1-2 finish for the Hokies. The junior stopped the clock at 4:34.16 for the top spot. Savage took second in 4:40.31. Hughes finished the same event in fourth place. Harkins had the top finish for Tech in the 200-yard breaststroke. He swam the race in a time of 2:09.69 for fourth-place. Jensen was just behind his teammate for fifth.

Mikey McDonald took the top spot on both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events. On the 1-meter, his score of 353.80 set a new pool record, while on the 3-meter he finished with a score of 344.05. Both scores qualify for the 2007 NCAA Zone Championship meet. Chris Waldheim's score of 268.30 on the 1-meter earned him a third-place finish.

The men took home wins in both relays competed during the meet. In the 400-yard medley relay, the Hokie relay teams took both first and second. The team of Beard, Jonathan Huss, deToll and Tayla swam to the first-place finish in 3:24.80, while the team of Koehr, Harkins, McLaughlin and Cancila took second in 3:26.54. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Tayla, Czaplicki, Bova and Cancila combined for a time of 3:03.86, and a first-place finish.

The 400-yard medley relay team of Sarah Ameen, Jessica Botzum, Becky Horning and Sara Smith opened up the women's meet with a bang. The quartet clocked in a time of 3:47.97 for a first-place finish. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Sara Shapiro was the top Tech finisher. She swam the event in 10:22.30 for third. Beth Byrum finished the event in fourth in 10:26.64, while Lauren Dillon took fifth in 10:43.07.

Kelly deMarrais was the top finisher for Tech in the 200-yard freestyle. Her time of 1:54.39 earned her fourth place. Stephanie Jones took fifth in the event (1:54.78).

Sara Smith earned her first of two wins and her first of two NCAA "B" cut times in the 50-yard freestyle. She swam the two laps in 22.83. Jordan McHorney was two spots behind her teammate, finishing third in 24.18, while Ameen took fourth in 24.42.

Millie Campbell led a Hokie 1-2 finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Her time of 2:05.44 earned her medalist honors. Botzum was only a stroke behind, claiming second in 2:06.12. Claire Dickey finished fourth in the event. Julie Sablik and Megan Newell were the top Tech finishers in the 200-yard butterfly. Sablik finished fourth, while Newell took fifth place.

Smith set a pool record in her second win of the day. Her time of 50.10 broke her own record of 50.48 that she set on Dec. 2, 2006. The time also gave Smith her second NCAA provisional time of the day. Courtney Walsh and McHorney rounded out the Top 5 in the event, with Walsh's time of 53.21 earning fourth-place and McHorney's time of 53.25 taking fifth.

The women claimed the Top 4 spots in the 200-yard backstroke. deMarrais led the sweep, having stopped the clock at 2:03.49. Shapiro finished in 2:06.95 for second place, while Dickey took third in 2:07.62. Allison Luttermoser made it four in the Top 5, with a time of 2:07.79. Jones and Byrum took second and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle. Jones finished in a time of 5:00.23 for second, while Byrum took fourth-place with a time of 5:08.74.

Heather Fulton earned third-place on the 3-meter springboard event after recording a score of 268.80, while in the 1-meter, she took fourth with a score of 229.60. Lara Beth Elder had opposite finishes, taking third on the 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter. Julia Bradford finished fifth on both events.

Botzum's time of 2:17.19 in the 200-yard breaststroke earned her a win, a provisional time and a school record. She broke Virginia's Jenny Steiner's record of 2:18.18, set in 2005. Botzum now owns both breaststroke pool records. Campbell finished seconds behind for second (2:20.06), while Jessica Earl finished fifth in 2:27.51.

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of McHorney, Luttermoser, Walsh and Jones wrapped up the event for Tech, with a second place finish in a time of 3:32.26.

Both the men and women travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., on Jan. 27. The meet begins at 11 a.m., and will serve as the last tune-up for the women's team before the ACC championships, Feb. 14-17.

FINAL TEAM SCORES
MEN
Georgia Tech: 186, Maryland: 52
Virginia Tech: 160, Georgia Tech: 83
Virginia Tech: 190, Maryland: 48

WOMEN
Maryland: 136, Georgia Tech: 94
Virginia Tech: 154, Georgia Tech: 88
Virginia Tech: 160, Maryland: 77

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