Gamecocks Continue Competition at Georgia Tech Invitational

Nov. 18, 2016

ATLANTA ââ’¬” The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs held their positions through day two of the Georgia Tech Invitational on Friday. The men remain in fourth place out of seven teams, while the women are fifth among 11 squads.

First up in the Friday night finals was the 200-yard medley relay. The women’s group of Emily Cornell, Kersten Dirrane, Jordan MacDonald and Christina Lappin turned in a time of 1:41.84 to place sixth, while the men’s quartet of Will Countie, Nils Wich-Glasen, Caleb Tosh and Jonathan Boland touched the pad in 1:29.35, good for fourth place.

Both Carolina teams had strong performances in the 400-yard IM. Emma Barksdale took second with a B cut time of 4:10.83. The men placed three in the top 10, all with B cut marks. Tomas Peribonio led the Gamecocks with a third place finish after a time of 3:48.16, and was followed by Cody Bekemeyer who tied for fifth with a time of 3:51.60 and Jack Smith finished seventh in 3:52.91.

Top Gamecock finishers in the 100-yard butterfly were Christina Lappin, who placed ninth in 54.63, and Jonathan Boland, who posted a time of 47.91, good for fourth place and a B cut.

Heather Merritt swam the 200-yard freestyle in 1:48.28 for a sixth place finish. The men turned in two more B cut marks in the 200-yard freestyle as Fynn Minuth finished sixth in 1:37.30, while Akram Mahmoud took eighth after a time of 1:37.87.

South Carolina turned in three more B cut times in the 100-yard breaststroke. Kersten Dirrane finished second in 1:01.06 on the women’s side, while Nils Wich-Glasen took first after swimming a time of 52.75 and Jeremiah Bohon finished seventh in 55.22.

Emily Cornell turned in a B cut time of 54.72 to finish fifth in the women’s 100-yard backstroke, while Jonathan Boland swam into ninth place with a time of 48.85 in the men’s 100-yard backstroke.

In the diving competition on Friday, Julia Vincent and Jordan Gotro continued to dominate for the Gamecocks. Vincent scored 313.95 in the 1-meter for first place, while Gotro posted a 372.55 mark in the 3-meter to take the top spot. Mikaela Lujan took sixth place in the 1-meter after scoring 274.00.

Friday’s competition wrapped up with the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Gamecock women finished third, with Christina Lappin, Edith Lingmann, Emma Barksdale and Heather Merritt finishing in 7:16.50, while the men’s group of Tomas Peribonio, Fynn Minuth, Akram Mahmoud and Jonathan Boland touched in 6:33.20, good for third place.

After two days of competition, Auburn leads the women’s team standing with 760 points, while South Carolina is in fifth with 449 points. Alabama leads the men’s competition with 850 points, while the Gamecocks are in fourth with 586.5 points.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH McGee Moody
We had another good night tonight. Emma Barksdale and Nils Wich-Glasen had some big swims. Our relays are really starting to shape up. We are looking to close out the meet on a high note tomorrow.

HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt
We had another great day today. This team is doing a lot of great things here. I have seen many changes and some outstanding dives from everyone. Julia had another solid performance, winning the 1-meter. Mikaela had a great 1-meter performance, placing in the top six. Jordan won the 3-meter, beating out Auburn to win the event. Tomorrow we have our first major platform competition of the year. I am looking forward to seeing how we do. Hopefully we will see repeat performances and take two more wins.

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