Carolina Wraps up a Successful Meet at Georgia Tech

Nov. 19, 2016

ATLANTA ââ’¬” The South Carolina swimming and diving program wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule Saturday night at the Georgia Tech Invitational. The men would take fourth overall in the three-day meet with 880.5 total points, the women held fourth with 710 points.

The distance groups made sure to open the day with a bang for the Gamecocks. Akram Mahmoud, Cody Bekemeyer and Tomas Peribonio each finished in the top-10 and swam fast enough to earn B cuts in the 1650-yard freestyle. Mahmoud took first with a time of 14:55.31, while Bekemeyer finished third after a time of 15:07.23. Peribonio swam a time of 15:14.55, good for eighth place. Emma Barksdale also earned her B cut as she led the women, coming in fifth with a time of 16:20.13.

At the start of sprints, Carolina placed three in the top-10 of the 200-yard backstroke. Emily Cornell and Heather Merritt led the women as they each earned B cuts, with Cornell finishing sixth after a time of 1:58.36 and Merritt coming in eighth with a time of 1:59.08. Bryce Kananowicz finished highest for the men with a time of 1:46.85 to take seventh place.

Edith Lingmann swam into ninth place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.43, while Jonathan Boland finished eighth for the men after a time of 44.35.

The women would put a trio in the ‘A’ final of the 200-yard breaststroke. Kersten Dirrane earned a first-place finish and B cut with a touch in 2:11.09. Barksdale, who also earned a B cut, finished seventh in 2:13.95, while Brittany Oxley took 10th with a time of 2:17.40. The men added two B cuts to the list as Nils Wich-Glasen finished second with a time of 1:54.86 and Jeremiah Bohon swam into sixth after a time of 1:59.22.

South Carolina placed three in the top-10 of the men’s 200-yard butterfly with Fynn Minuth and Caleb Tosh each earning B cuts. Minuth finished highest for the Gamecocks as he took fourth place with a time of 1:46.18. Tosh came in seventh after swimming a time of 1:46.77 and Jack Smith took ninth with a time of 1:48.58.

The Gamecocks continued to control the diving competition as Allyson Nied took first in the platform with a mark of 300.75, and Marissa Roth posted a score of 235.75 to take fifth, both scoring high enough for zone diving standards. Jordan Gotro finished third for the men in the platform dive and earned a zone diving standard mark with a score of 330.10.

To close out the meet, the women placed sixth in the 400-yard relay, while the men finished fourth.

Auburn won the overall team title on the women’s side, Alabama would win for the men. The Gamecocks will race next in the New Year, taking on Tennessee at home on January 7.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH McGee Moody
We closed out the meet today on a high note. They outperformed my expectations this week. To have as much speed as they had, given the amount of training we have been doing, is remarkable. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Gamecock swimming and diving program. These athletes make my job a lot of fun.

HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt
Today was a repeat from yesterday. This team is diving very well this early in our season. Allyson Nied won the platform with over 300 points and broke her school record. Marissa Roth had a solid performance today, hitting most of her dives. Jordan Gotro had another stellar day, taking third on the platform. He had a great meet, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives and finishing third on the platform. The whole team did so well. Our women’s team remains undefeated and winning the most points is a hard thing to do at an invite of this caliber. Things are going in a good direction, and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

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