Georgia Women Dominating , Georgia and Minnesota Men In Dead Heat In Athens

ATHENS, Ga, December 6. THE Georgia swimming and diving teams continued to perform well during the second day of the 2003 Georgia Fall Invitational at Gabrielsen Natatorium Saturday. The Lady Bulldogs won five of six events to finish with a commanding 1010.50 points. In the men’s meet, #9 Minnesota leads with 817 points, holding a slight lead over the host team, Georgia, with 782 points.

WOMEN’S MEET

The Lady Bulldogs continued to build on Friday's lead, as Georgia went 1-2 in the opening event – the 200-meter medley relay – as the foursome of Neka Mabry, Lindsey Ertter, Mary DeScenza and Kara Lynn Joyce finished first with an NCAA provisional time of 1:52.92. The team of Tricia Harm, Gretchen Corliss, Andrea Georoff and Paige Kearns touched second in 1:54.80.

Georgia continued to pack the championship heats, as six Lady Bulldogs swam in the 400-meter individual medley, sweeping the top four spots. Katie Yevak and Melissa Klein each posted NCAA automatic qualifying times, finishing first and second, respectively. The 100-meter butterfly saw four Lady Bulldogs post NCAA B-cut times, including event winner DeScenza.

DeScenza won her second event of the night with an automatic time of 1:59.42 in the 200-meter freestyle. Arsenault, Joyce and Julie Hardt claimed spots two through four in the event.

The Lady Bulldogs increased their lead as Ertter took top honors in the 100-meter breaststroke, as she posted an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:08.30. Klein finished third, while senior Virginia Pate finished fifth. Mabry picked up an individual event victory as she touched the wall first in the 100-meter backstroke with a consideration time of 1:01.58. Arsenault added points to the Lady Bulldogs' cause with a third-place finish.

Georgia got valuable points in the diving well, as three divers finished in the top 16. Emily Hunter finished eighth, followed by Brooke Bassham in ninth and Sara Hershman in 14th.

The Lady Bulldogs put themselves in a great position heading into the final day of competition by sweeping the top two spots in the final relay of the night. The team of Joyce, Hardt, DeScenza and Arsenault touched first in the 800-meter freestyle relay with a provisional time of 8:06.96. The foursome of Maust, Kearns, Ertter and Grams finished second in 8:15.93.

"I think the race of the meet for the women was the 200 free," added Bauerle. "Ertter did a great job for us again tonight. She is really coming around for us. Mary was great as usual. She won back-to-back events, and that is a tough double to win at this level. Our ladies are a tough group, and that can take you far."

Minnesota opened the second-day finals with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Megan Moore, Melissa Schold, Sarah Bohlsen and Katy Coombe clocked a time of 1:56.19. Minnesota's B team of Katie Wind, Julia Quinn, Juleen Rodakowski and Sara Vine finished fifth with a time of 1:58.13.

Carol Crouthamel finished eighth in the 400 individual medley A Final. Crouthamel added a time of 4:57.89 in the event, respectively.

Rodakowski placed second in the 100 fly race with a provisional qualifying time of 1:01.16.

Kate Hardt added a sixth-place showing in the 200 free event with a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:01.92. Coombe finished eighth in 2:07.01.

Schold finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke competition when she clocked a provisional qualifying time of 1:11.02. Quinn added a seventh-place finish in the event with a time of 1:12.24. Moore placed fourth in the 100 back finishing in 1:03.65.

The Minnesota swimmers ended the night with a third-place finish in the 800 free. Hardt, Moore, Coombe and freshman Valerie Tukey earned 32 points for Minnesota when they finished in 8:19.20.

In 3-meter diving action, Rebecca Cornthwaite finished third with a score of 503.50. Abbie Bowden was fourth with a score of 476.55, while Shannon Jackson finished fifth adding a 442.50 score.

MEN’S MEET

Minnesota had 15 swimmers in tonight's finals and four won events. The Gophers' 200 medley relay team of Adam Mitchell, Sean Kelly, Neil Osten and Terry Silkaitis won the event in 1:40.15, followed by Georgia's A team in 1:40.23.

Ryan Plummer led the Gophers in the 400 individual event finishing in a provisional qualifying time of 4:18.96. Diego Urreta placed fourth in the race in 4:22.88, while David Moulder finished eighth in the A Final in 4:31.66.

The Maroon and Gold's strongest event of the night was the 100-meter butterfly where five Gophers reached the A Final. Lucas Peterson won the race with a time of 54.40 and earned 20 points for Minnesota. Osten ended the competition with a time of 55.15 and a third-place showing, while Brian Gettelfinger was right behind Osten in fourth. Freshmen standouts Andrew VanMeter and Daniel Berve finished seventh and eighth, respectively with times of 55.83 and 55.95.

Silkaitis led Minnesota in the 200 free race placing second overall with a provisional qualifying time of 1:49.35. Sean McCaffrey finished fifth overall also with a NCAA provisionally qualifying time of 1:50.34. Travis Beckerle added a seventh-place showing in a time of 1:52.45.

Nathan Bernier and Kelly finished sixth and seventh in the 100 breast with times of 1:03.67 and 1:04.09.

The Gophers ended the second night with a first-place finish in the 800 free relay. Mitchell, McCaffrey, Beckerle and Silkaitis ended their night with a provisional qualifying time of 7:20.45 and earned 40 points for Minnesota.

In 1-meter diving competition, Ben Herdt finished fifth with a score of 278.80, while Shawn Kennedy added a 12th-place finish with a score of 244.25.

Junior Robert Margalis did his part in keeping the Bulldogs close, as he won two events on the night. He clocked provisional times of 4:16.50 to win the 400-meter individual medley and 1:49.26 to claim top honors in the 200-meter freestyle.

Randy Lam and Brent McAuliffe finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 400-meter individual medley, while Damien Alleyne took third in the 200-meter freestyle. Cameron Hollinger won the consolation final, finishing ninth overall, with a time of 1:52.79. Although Minnesota's Lucas Peterson touched first in the 100-meter butterfly, the Bulldogs had six scorers in the event, led by a runner-up finish by sophomore Peter Verhoef in 54.40.

Georgia cut into the Gophers' lead by sweeping the top four spots in the 100-meter breaststroke, led by senior Kyle Salyards' provisional time of 1:01.46. Scott Gardner finished second, while Jeff Parsley and McAuliffe took third and fourth, respectively. Peter Osborn was the top finisher for the Bulldogs in the 100-meter backstroke, touching the wall in third with a time of 55.73.

In the diving well, Georgia grabbed the top two spots, as freshman Chris Colwill took top honors in the 1-meter event with an overall score of 352.00, while junior Todd Avery was close behind in second at 349.25. Freshman Genya Gouzeev finished ninth.

In the only final of the men's 800-meter freestyle relay, Georgia and Minnesota were neck and neck for the majority of the race, but the Gophers took a slight lead in the final 100 meters for the win. The Bulldog team of Margalis, Alleyne, Matthew Owen and Hollinger took second with an NCAA provisional time of 7:22.79.

"Robert did a great job getting two wins on a tough double," offered Bauerle. "We stayed close today and gave ourselves a shot (to win the invitational tomorrow). We will just have to see what happens. The effort is there. We could not be happier with how hard we are swimming."

"We had a very good night for both the men and women," said Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle. "We had some outstanding swims today. On the men's side, we cut into (Minnesota's) lead today, and if we can cut a little more tomorrow, we are going to have a real good meet."

Day Two Scores:
MEN
1. Minnesota, 817
2. Georgia, 782
3. Penn State, 406
4. Georgia Tech, 370
5. Alabama, 165
6. Virginia Tech (divers only), 7

WOMEN
1. Georgia, 1010.50
2. Minnesota, 569.50
3. Penn State, 548
4. Georgia Tech, 272
5. Alabama, 140
6. Virginia Tech (divers only), 4

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