Georgia Women, Cal Men Win Team Titles, 17 More NCAA ‘A’ Cuts Posted at Georgia Fall Invitational

Photo Credit: Griffin Scott

ATHENS – The University of Georgia women and University of California men earned narrow victories in the team standings as the Georgia Fall Invitational came to a close tonight at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens. Georgia took home the women’s title with 916 points, only nine points ahead of California (907). Virginia took third with 748 points. The California men topped the field with 921 points, just five in front of host Georgia (916). Auburn scored 641 points to take third. Seventeen more NCAA A cuts were posted during tonight’s final session in one of the fastest invitationals of the fall semester.

Virginia’s Leah Smith, who just missed setting an NCAA record in the 500 free on night one, had another outstanding swim in the 1650 free. Although she didn’t get close to the NCAA record this time, Smith still won by almost nine seconds with a 15:42.75, the fastest time in the country this season. Georgia’s Brittany MacLean, who set the NCAA record of 15:27.84 at the 2014 NCAA Championships, took second in 15:51.73, while California’s Cierra Runge wrapped up third in 15:57.70. Smith and MacLean were both under the A cut of 15:56.18 in the race.

Georgia swept the top two spots in the men’s mile, led by Matias Koski in 14:54.38. Kevin Litherland finished second in 14:56.32, while California’s Janardan Burns wrapped up third in 15:10.15.

A trio of swimmers dipped under 1:50 in the women’s 200 back final, led by California’s Elizabeth Pelton in 1:49.00. Teammate Missy Franklin had the fastest final 50 of the whole field to pull within .23, as she finished in 1:49.23. Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew swam a 1:49.94 to finish third. Along with Georgia’s Kylie Stewart, who took fourth in 1:52.20, those four swimmers all swam under the A cut and are now ranked first through fourth in the country.

Ryan Murphy of California earned his ticket to NCAAs in the men’s 200 back with an A cut time of 1:39.32 in the final. Auburn’s Joe Patching will also be headed to NCAAs in the event with a second place time of 1:40.75. Tynan Stewart of Georgia swam a 1:41.40 to finish third.

After turning fourth at the halfway point of the women’s 100 free, Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga came storming home to out-touch Cal’s Farida Osman for the win, 47.92 to 47.93. Both just missed the automatic qualifying time of 47.85. Madeline Locus, also of Georgia, came in third at 48.32, slightly off her prelim swim of 48.16.

The men’s 100 free final turned out to be just as close, with three swimmers finishing within .07 of each other. Michael Trice of Georgia flipped first at the 50 and hung onto his lead, hitting the wall first in 43.20. California teammates Seth Stubblefield and Tyler Messerschmidt battled for second, with Stubblefield coming out ahead, 43.23 to 43.27.

Virginia’s Laura Simon continued her stand-out meet by sweeping the breaststroke events. After just missing the A cut in the 100 by .03, she blew through the qualifying time in the 200 by eight tenths with a 2:06.90. Georgia’s Annie Zhu touched second in 2:08.87, while Cal’s Marina Garcia took third in 2:09.16.

Nicolas Fink of Georgia got under the A cut in the men’s 200 breast, dipping under the 1:53.68 time standard with a 1:53.45. Virginia’s Yannick Kaeser just missed the cut with a 1:53.79 for second, while Cal’s Chuck Katis rounded out the top three finishers in 1:55.00.

Florida State’s Chelsea Britt doubled up in the 100 and 200 fly at the meet, winning the 200 tonight in an A cut time of 1:53.68. Georgia’s Hali Flickinger, the top seed after prelims, missed the A cut by .01 with a 1:54.46. Cal’s Noemie Thomas claimed third in 1:54.63.

Georgia’s Chase Kalisz picked up his second automatic NCAA qualifying time of the meet in the men’s 200 fly, stopping the clock at 1:42.22 to clear the 1:42.85 standard. Teammate Tynan Stewart nearly made the cut as well but came up just shy with a 1:42.91. Connor Knight of Florida State swam a 1:43.03 for third.

Virginia Tech swept the women’s platform diving competition, with Kaylea Arnett (288.85), Ashley Buchter (278.50) and Kelli Stockton (276.75) finishing first through third. Auburn’s Fraser McKean scored 413.70 points to win the men’s platform, ahead of Virginia’s JB Kolod (404.60) and Virginia Tech’s Kyle Butts (330.80).

California wrapped up the meet with a dominant performance in the women’s 400 free relay, as Missy Franklin, Camille Cheng, Elizabeth Pelton and Farida Osman swam five seconds under the A cut with a 3:11.15. Georgia’s Madeline Locus, Olivia Smoliga, Hali Flickinger and Chantal Van Landeghem also posted an A cut with their 3:12.72. Cal’s B team of Jasmine Mau, Kaylin Bing, Rachel Bootsma and Rachael Acker also got under the A standard with a 3:14.42.

Two teams got under the A standard in the men’s 400 free relay, led by Georgia’s Matias Koski, Nicolas Fink, Gunnar Bentz and Michael Trice in 2:51.87. Auburn also made the time, with Arthur Mendes, Michael Duderstadt, Jacob Molacek and Kyle Darmody touching in 2:52.47. Cal’s A relay was disqualified, but the B team of Justin Lynch, Will Hamilton, Kyle Gornay and Fabio Gimondi finished third in 2:54.23.

Results: Georgia Fall Invitational

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