Auburn Defeats Host Yellow Jackets in Final of Georgia Tech’s Dual Meet Tournament
Georgia Tech held its annual dual meet tournament over the weekend, hosting ACC rival Florida State along with SEC teams Auburn, South Carolina and Kentucky, Big Ten teams Minnesota and Penn State and George Washington University out of the A-10. Both Auburn and the host Yellow Jackets went 2-0 during Friday’s action to set up a showdown in Saturday afternoon’s championship meet.
In that finale, Auburn convincingly outscored Georgia Tech by a 462-324 margin. The Yellow Jacket men had the edge over the Tigers (225-169) but a dominant 293-99 effort for the Auburn women proved decisive.
Auburn’s team of Abigail Heizer, Isabel Iwasyk, Isabella Ekk and Rosalie Reef placed first in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.83, finishing a second clear of the top GT squad. After that, Lora Komoroczy grabbed first in the 100 backstroke in 51.74 before Zetta Grace Bartee dominated the 200 butterfly (1:55.63) and Zoey Zeller cruise to a win in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.45). Ekk placed first in the 100 free in 48.61, with Reef and Iwasyk completing the Auburn sweep, and Juliette Landi won 3-meter diving (170.15).
Sammie Hamilton led another 1-2-3 sweep for Auburn in the 500 free, posting a time of 4:44.70. Similar story in the 50 free, with Heizer winning in 22.55 ahead of Komoroczy and Reef. Zoey Zeller swam the top time in the 200 IM at 1:58.73, and Chloe Brothers led the way in 1-meter diving (153.15). The Tigers’ team of Komoroczy, Annika Finzen, Bartee and Isabella Ekk topped the 400 medley relay by four seconds in 3:34.64.
Auburn’s men, meanwhile, came through in the 200 free relay with Warner Russ, Mike Rice, Matthew Hamilton and Nicolas Gama posting a time of 1:17.56. Russ later swam a time of 19.39 for the top spot in the 50 free, and Gabriel Machuco won the 200 IM in 1:44.15.
Georgia Tech’s Ricky Balduccini was first in the 100 back in 46.46, and teammate Berk Erturk topped the 200 fly in 1:43.31 as the Yellow Jackets finished 1-2-3-4. Kerem Ilyem crushed his competition by 3.58 seconds in the 200 breast, clocking 1:53.11, and Balduccini had another first-place finish in the 100 free, going 42.54. Erturk was also a double winner, swimming a time of 4:21.41 for a narrow win over Auburn’s Daniel Krichevsky (4:21.67).
In diving, Max Fowler won 3-meter (219.00) and 1-meter (212.40), and the team of James Sorensen, Ilyem, Brodie Johnson and Balduccini closed out the meet with a strong performance in the 400 medley relay, checking in at 3:08.13.
Auburn got to the final with wins over George Washington (593-197) and Kentucky (473.5-314.5) during Friday’s action. Among the highlights for the Auburn women Friday were Komoroczy going 52.10 in the 100 fly and Sharafutdinova winning the 100 back in 53.93. Landi won all four diving events on the day. For the men, Russ swam a time of 19.51 in the 50 free while Johnson topped the 100 fly (46.23) and Bedsole the 100 back (46.92).
Georgia Tech, meanwhile, came out on top of Florida State 493-358 before edging South Carolina 396-376. Meric Uygun starred Friday for the Yellow Jackets, winning one breaststroke race at each meet while swimming winning times of 1:59.21 and 1:59.21 in the 200 IM. Ilyem was another breaststroke standout, going 1:53.44 in the 200 breast during the morning session.
Third-Place Meet
South Carolina edged Kentucky by three points in the consolation meet Saturday morning, winning by a score of 393 to 390.
In that meet, the Gamecock women secured wins from Taylor Grimley in the 100 backstroke (53.54) and Agatha Marcondes Amaral in the 200 breast (2:11.54) before Kate Murray topped the 100 free (49.47) and Ellery Ottem led the way in the 500 free (4:46.49). Diver Kyleigh Kidd won on 3-meter (146.20), and the 400 free relay team of Farrah Klein, Elizabeth Goodwin-Birnie, Taylor Grimley and Ottem swam a time of 3:35.83 to take home first place in the 400 medley relay.
Kentucky’s women won the 200 free relay in 1:30.51 with a team of Zea Wetzlaughk, Laura Revilla Garcia, Valeria Terin and Gabrielle Idle-Beavers. Billie Sherratt followed with a top result in the 200 fly (1:57.96). Wetzlaugk returned for a first-place result in the 50 free (22.54) while Hayden Penny came from behind to win the 200 IM (1:58.49) and Avery Giese won 1-meter diving (150.90).
For the men, South Carolina relied on Einar Margeir Agustsson taking first place in the 200 breast, holding off Kentucky’s Adomas Garcia by three tenths in 1:57.51. The Gamecocks also had Noah Stasik winning 3-meter diving (177.50) as well as 1-meter (178.70) and Pierre Largeron topping the 500 free in 4:17.55, holding off Carson Hick of the Wildcats by seven hundredths.
Kentucky relied on stellar efforts from its men’s team to keep the meet close. Lysander Osman, Falemana Tuufui, Justin Peresse and AJ Terry crushed all competition in the 200 free relay (1:17.42) before Devin Naoroz fired off a win in the 100 back (46.07) and Jabvier Lopez-Guillen secured a come-from-behind triumph in the 200 fly (1:46.51). Tuufui topped the 100 free in 42.37 while Osman won the 50 free (19.65) and Felix Dressel-de Bruyn scorched the field in the 200 IM (1:47.74). The Kentucky team of Osman, Gatulis, Lopez-Guillen and Tuufui finished off the meet with another win in the 400 medley relay (3:07.45).
Other Results
During the first session Friday morning, South Carolina defeated Minnesota 423.5-366.6 while Kentucky surpassed Penn State 540.5-218.5. That afternoon, Minnesota won 410-380 over Florida State while Penn State took down George Washington 413-373.