With multiple top national times, the University of Georgia swimming and diving team remained unbeaten with a sweep of the Auburn Tigers Friday afternoon at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The No. 4 Georgia women topped No. 19 Auburn, 173-125, in the early session, followed by a 177-118 victory for the eighth-ranked men over the 22nd-ranked Tigers. Overall, the Bulldogs earned 23 wins during the afternoon meet.
Women’s Meet – Georgia 173, Auburn 125
In the women’s meet, junior Callie Dickinson turned in a career day with three race victories. For the second consecutive week, she took the 200 backstroke (1:58.81) and 100 butterfly (53.99), posting the sixth-fastest time nationally this season in the 200. She also added her first win of the season in the 200 butterfly, notching a B-cut time of 1:58.00, ranking her fifth nationally.
Senior Courtney Harnish was victorious in the 200 and 500 freestyle for the second-straight meet, posting times of 1:47.57 and 4:48.66 respectively. Fellow senior Danielle Della Torre also turned in a double dip, winning the 200 breaststroke with a national-best time of 2:10.91, as well as the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.56. Della Torre and sophomore Zoie Hartman remained a dominant 1-2 force in the breaststroke events, with Hartman winning the 100 with a B-cut time of 1:00.53.
Senior Gabi Fa’amausili earned a win in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.48, while freshman Maxine Parker took the 100 freestyle for the third-consecutive week, posting a time of 50.14. In the closing 400 freestyle relay, the A team of Parker, Fa’amausili, Hartman, and Harnish swam as exhibition competitors, posting the event’s fastest time at 3:19.93, the second-fastest mark nationally.
Elsewhere, senior Sammie Burchill (100 backstroke – 55.70), junior Dakota Luther (200 butterfly – 1:58.28), sophomore Jillian Barczyk (500 freestyle – 4:51.11), and freshman Sloane Reinstein (200 freestyle – 1:49.87) all notched runner-up finishes for the Bulldogs.
At the diving well, freshman Meghan Wenzel grabbed her first collegiate win in the 1-meter competition, narrowly edging out junior Ellie Crump (265.65) with a Zone-qualifiyng mark of 268.28. Earlier, on the 3-meter, Wenzel took second with a Zone cut of 294.38, followed by Crump in third at 269.48.
The Tigers started the meet strong with a victory in the 200 medley relay from Valerie Tarazi, Carly Cummings, Abigail Gibbons and AJ Kutsch, followed by a 1-2 finish from Emily Hetzer and Averee Preble in the 1,000 freestyle. Both Hetzer and Preble finished under the 10:00 mark.
Kutsch later earned another victory in the 50 free, finishing in 22.80 seconds.
As the meet went on, some of the Auburn freshmen made an impact in their collegiate debuts. Gibbons finished third in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Meghan Lee placed second in the 200 backstroke. Hannah Ownbey finished second in the 200 IM. And Brynn Curtis placed fourth in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
“I think you saw a lot of our younger athletes in the freshmen and sophomore classes really step up and perform and swim tough,” Gary Taylor said. “They swam hard today for our women’s side, and we got some good wins and some good performances.”
Men’s Meet – Georgia 177, Auburn 118
The men’s meet proved to be a showcase for the Bulldogs’ outstanding depth. Following an opening 200 medley victory, senior Greg Reed opened the individual events with a winning time of 9:00.49 in the 1,000 freestyle. Reed later added a victory in the 500 freestyle, notching a B-cut of 4:22.52, the fourth-fastest time nationally. Freshman Jake Magahey continued the outstanding start to his career with a B-cut of 1:35.76 in the 200 freestyle, the second-fastest time in the nation this season and the top mark in a four-way Bulldog sweep.
Senior Javier Acevedo remained unbeaten in backstroke events, taking the 100 with a B-cut of 47.51, while sophomore Ian Grum earned his first win of the season with a B-cut of 1:44.55 in the 200. Fellow sophomores Dillon Downing and Zach Hils commanded the sprint events, taking the 50 (50.24) and 100 (44.70) freestyle respectively.
In the butterfly events, senior Camden Murphy and freshman Luca Urlando continued to dominate, with Urlando taking the 200 at 1:45.05 and Murphy winning the 100 at 47.09. Additionally, senior Jack Dalmolin took first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:59.23. While not victorious on the afternoon, junior Andrew Abruzzo performed solidly, finishing second in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle, along with a third-place B-cut in the 200 fly.
At the well, senior Zach Allen earned his third-consecutive win on the 1-meter, posting a Zones cut of 348.15. On the 3-meter, he nearly notched a season-best mark, placing second with a Zones-qualifying score of 345.15.
Auburn Freshman Reid Mikuta earned the team’s first victory, swimming a 55.17 to take first in the 100 breaststroke. Mikuta later placed second in the 200 breaststroke. He also swam the breaststroke leg on the men’s 200 medley team, which finished second to start the meet.
Auburn had a strong showing in the 50 freestyle where sophomores Nik Eberly and Cole Bruns finished second (20.56) and third (20.67) with junior Matthew Yish taking fourth place (20.71). Eberly also scored points with a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly.
Sophomore Lleyton Smith, who qualified for NCAAs a year ago, scored points in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, finishing second and third respectively.
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Georgia & Auburn Swimming & Diving. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.
