2018 Georgia Fall Invitational: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2018 GEORGIA FALL INVITATIONAL

• November 29 – December 1, 2018
• Athens, Georgia
• Ramsey Center, University of Georgia
• SCY (25y)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Thursday & Friday Finals)

Day 2 finals at the 2018 Georgia Fall Invitational will be a busy session with five individual events and two relays on the schedule for both men and women.

This morning’s prelims were highlighted by Cal freshman Reece Whitley making the NCAA ‘A’ Standard in the men’s 100 breast in a time of 51.49, and we also saw an impressive double from Michigan freshman Maggie MacNeil, a couple of fast 100 fly swims on the men’s side from Zheng Quah and Camden Murphy, and a stacked field in the women’s 200 free see five go sub-1:45. For a full prelim recap click here.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay Timed Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:36.75

1. California, 1:35.65
2. Michigan, 1:36.06
3. Virginia, 1:37.66

The Cal women got by Michigan by four-tenths of a second to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:35.65, coming just .05 shy of NC State’s nation-leading time.

Keaton Blovad gave the Golden Bears the lead on the backstroke leg with a 24.16 opening split, and then Miranda Tucker (26.83) evened things out for the Wolverines as the two teams were separated by just .03 at the 100 mark.

Katie McLaughlin (22.94) and Maggie MacNeil (22.89) had near identical splits on fly, and then it was Abbey Weitzeil who had a blazing 21.00 anchor to give Cal the win over Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey (21.43). Both teams were under the NCAA ‘A’ time of 1:36.75, with the Wolverines clocking 1:36.06 for 4th in the country.

Virginia took 3rd in 1:37.66, with Georgia 4th in 1:38.16, with both teams receiving quick 21-second anchors from Morgan Hill (21.56) and Veronica Burchill (21.71). Catie Deloof also brought home 5th place Michigan ‘B’ in 21.69.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay Timed Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:24.56

1. California ‘A’, 1:23.42
2. California ‘B’, 1:24.12
3. Michigan, 1:25.60

Just like they did in the 400 medley relay, the Cal men had their ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams go 1-2 in the 200 medley, led by the ‘A’ squad that saw Daniel Carr (21.27), Reece Whitley (23.49), Paweł Sendyk (19.93) and Michael Jensen (18.73) combine for a nation-leading time of 1:23.42.

Cal ‘B’ actually also beat out Georgia Tech, who had the previous top time in the country at 1:24.23, in 1:24.12 as all four of their swimmers were slightly slower than the ‘A’ team: Bryce Mefford (21.43), Carson Sand (23.55), Zheng Quah (20.24) and Ryan Hoffer (18.90). Both teams were also well under the ‘A’ cut of 1:24.56.

Michigan claimed 3rd in 1:25.60, with notably quick splits from Jacob Montague (23.63) on breast, Miles Smachlo (20.38) on fly and Gus Borges (18.89) on free, while Georgia (1:26.23) took 4th and Virginia (1:26.42) was 5th. Camden Murphy (20.70) and Zach Fong (20.57) were both sub-21 for those teams on the fly leg.

Women’s 400 IM Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:04.16

1. Sarah Darcel, CAL, 4:09.06
2. Victoria Kwan, MICH, 4:11.05
3. Sammie Burchill, UGA, 4:11.43

Cal sophomore Sarah Darcel blew away the women’s 400 IM field on the front half, opening a lead of over two seconds on the fly (54.90) and then turning at the 200 three seconds clear of Georgia’s Sammie Burchill. She went on to win by two seconds in 4:09.06, two and a half seconds slower than she was at this meet last year (4:06.58), but still under what it took to get invited to NCAAs last year (4:09.75).

Michigan freshman Victoria Kwan, who is still just 17, turned half a second behind Burchill for 2nd after the breaststroke and then overtook her on the freestyle, touching 2nd in 4:11.05 with Burchill 3rd in 4:11.43. Kwan, a Canadian native (where they swim SCM), swam her first ever yards 400 IM this morning in 4:16.57, so this swim was technically a five second best time. Burchill’s swim was her 3rd fastest ever, having done a best time at this meet in 2017 in 4:10.81.

Erin Earley of Virginia was 4:14.53 for 4th, a tenth faster than she was here last year, while UGA freshman Maddie Homovich dropped from 3rd this morning (4:14.92) to 7th tonight in 4:17.46.

Men’s 400 IM Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:39.37

1. Charlie Swanson, MICH, 3:39.58
2. Sean Grieshop, CAL, 3:42.80
3. Mike Thomas, CAL, 3:43.43

Michigan’s Charlie Swanson sat just six-tenths back of early leader Trenton Julian at the halfway mark of the men’s 400 IM final, and then made his move on the breaststroke as he split 1:00.95 to open up a lead of nearly four seconds. He would go on to finish in 3:39.58, four-tenths off his lifetime best (3:39.16) and two off the NCAA ‘A’ Cut (3:39.37).

Sean Grieshop (3:42.80) and Mike Thomas (3:43.43) of Cal both went by their teammate Julian on the freestyle, as did Wolverine Ricardo Vargas (3:45.04) as Julian ended up 5th in 3:45.17 (which was still a best time after setting one this morning in 3:45.49). Grieshop was eight-tenths off his PB of 3:42.80.

Tommy Cope, who was the top seed from this morning in 3:42.65, ended up scratching out of the final.

Georgia’s Tal Davis swam a lifetime best by almost a full second out of the B-final, putting up an impressive 3:45.46.

Women’s 100 Fly Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 51.03

1. Maggie MacNeil, MICH, 49.97
2. Veronica Burchill, UGA, 51.35
3. Katie McLaughlin, CAL, 52.01

Maggie MacNeil threw down the first sub-50 100 fly of the season in a time of 49.97, improving her previous mark of 50.09 from the ACC/B1G Challenge by a tenth. USC’s Louise Hansson had tied that 50.09 this morning at the Texas Invite, and will be swimming the event a bit later on tonight.

MacNeil’s swim moves her from 6th to 4th all-time in the event.

Veronica Burchill of Georgia swam a lifetime best of 51.35 for 2nd, taking down her 51.48 from last season’s NCAAs, and Katie McLaughlin of Cal took 3rd in 52.01. McLaughlin was 51.78 at this meet one year ago.

Morgan Hill of Virginia also had a big swim for 4th in 52.16, dropping nearly a second from her best time that was set in prelims (53.11). Before that her best was a 53.33 from their dual with Louisville in early November.

Men’s 100 Fly Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.24

1. Camden Murphy, UGA, 45.55
2. Zheng Quah, CAL, 45.58
3. Andrew Seliskar, CAL, 45.59

Camden Murphy and Zheng Quah ended up both being a little bit slower than prelims in what turned out to be a razor-thin close final in the men’s 100 fly, as Golden Bear teammates Andrew Seliskar and Ryan Hoffer turned dead-even with a slight lead at the 50 in 21.32, but Murphy and Quah would charge back. Murphy closed faster than anyone, splitting 23.90, as he touched in a time of 45.55 to win after turning 6th at the 50.

Quah was .03 back in 45.58, with Seliskar 3rd in 45.59 and Hoffer 4th in 45.77. Murphy and Quah were 45.38 and 45.47 respectively this morning, but the swim for Seliskar was a new best time and his first time sub-46. Murphy’s prelim swim currently has him 1st in the nation.

Women’s 200 Free Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:43.17

1. Siobhan Haughey, MICH, 1:41.77
2. Robin Neumann, CAL, 1:43.38
3. Morgan Hill, UVA, 1:44.47

Siobhan Haughey out-split the field on all four 50s as she posted the fastest time in the country in the women’s 200 free in 1:41.77, improving on her 1:42.63 from three weeks ago at the College Challenge. This is her fastest performance ever at this point in the season, edging past her 1:41.83 done here last year.

Cal’s Robin Neumann held on to 2nd the entire race as she tied her best time exactly in 1:43.38, falling just two-tenths shy of the NCAA ‘A’ cut. Morgan Hill followed up her 100 fly PB with her 2nd fastest swim ever here for 3rd, touching in 1:44.47 to hold off a hard charging Katie McLaughlin (1:44.58) who closed in 25.87.

Courtney Harnish (1:44.75) and Catie Deloof (1:44.89) also went under 1:45, with Harnish’s swim falling about three-tenths shy of her lifetime best.

Men’s 200 Free Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:32.12

1. Patrick Callan, MICH, 1:33.89
2. Bryce Mefford, CAL, 1:34.79
3. Mokhtar Al-Yamani, MICH, 1:35.51

Patrick Callan broke free of Bryce Mefford with a final 50 of 24.34 to win the men’s 200 free in 1:33.89, his 2nd time breaking 1:34 after going 1:33.52 this March.

Mefford, who owns a best of 1:32.84, was over a second better than this morning to take 2nd in 1:34.79, while Callan’s Wolverine teammate Mokhtar Al-Yamani (1:35.51) snagged 3rd.

Women’s 100 Breast Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 58.79

1. Miranda Tucker, MICH, 59.09
2. Jamie Yeung, MICH, 59.77
3. Sofia Carnevale, UGA, 1:00.15

Miranda Tucker led a 1-2 finish for Michigan in the women’s 100 breast, clocking 59.09 to rank her 5th in the country and also put her almost a full second faster than she was here last season (59.98).

Her teammate Jamie Yeung recorded her second consecutive best time for 2nd in 59.77, moving past Georgia’s Sofia Carnevale and California’s Abbey Weitzeil with a strong back-half of 31.65.

Carnevale, a transfer from UNLV who has a best of 59.8, took 3rd in 1:00.15, and Weitzeil was 4th in a personal best of 1:00.43.

Men’s 100 Breast Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 51.73

1. Reece Whitley, CAL, 51.77
2. Carson Sand, CAL, 52.48
3. Jacob Montague, MICH, 52.89

Cal freshman Reece Whitley was three-tenths slower than this morning but still won the men’s 100 breast comfortably in 51.77.

His teammate Carson Sand swam his fastest-ever time outside of an NCAAs or Pac-12s (4th fastest ever) for 2nd in 52.48, and Wolverine Jacob Montague also slipped under 53 seconds in 52.89.

After scratching out of the 400 IM, Cope took 4th here in a new best of 53.12.

Women’s 100 Back Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 50.99

1. Maggie MacNeil, MICH, 51.31
2. Keaton Blovad, CAL, 51.95
3. Marcie Maguire, UVA, 52.90

MacNeil followed up her stunning 100 fly swim with a scorching 51.31 to win the women’s 100 back, improving on her prelim PB of 51.71 (which was her first time ever swimming the event).

Keaton Blovad of Cal broke 52 seconds for the third time in her career to take 2nd in 51.95, just off her best of 51.83, and UVA’s Marcie Maguire tied her PB of 52.90 right on the nose for 3rd.

Men’s 100 Back Final

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.12

1. Daniel Carr, CAL, 46.58
2. Cooper Wozencraft, UVA, 47.45
3. Ethan Young, CAL, 47.58

A pair of scratches from Quah and Mefford left Daniel Carr to an easy win in the men’s 100 back, as he went 46.58 to top Virginia’s Cooper Wozencraft (47.45) by over eight-tenths of a second.

Carr, Wozencraft and 3rd place finisher Ethan Young (47.58) of Cal all added between 0.15 and 0.24 from this morning.

Women’s 800 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 7:02.52

1. California, 6:59.25
2. Georgia, 7:01.29
3. Michigan, 7:01.67

The Cal women prevailed in a tightly contested 800 free relay, posting the top time in the country of 6:59.25 as they overtake Pac-12 rivals Stanford (6:59.66).

Abbey Weitzeil landed them a small lead on the opening leg with a split of 1:44.61, and then they held onto it the rest of the way with legs from Neumann (1:43.96), Darcel (1:46.89) and McLaughlin (1:43.79).

Georgia was right with them as it was a two-team race at the halfway mark, but a 1:41.83 split from Michigan’s Haughey put them just ahead of the Bulldogs heading into the anchor leg. Olivia Carter closed in 1:45.12 to beat out Maggie MacNeil (1:45.73) and get Georgia 2nd place in 7:01.29, with the Wolverines 3rd in 7:01.73.

Georgia had notable splits from Harnish (1:44.69) on the lead-off and Burchill (1:44.02), while Haughey was the only Michigan swimmer to crack 1:45.

All three teams got under the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 7:02.52.

Men’s 800 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 6:18.46

1. California, 6:14.65
2. Michigan, 6:18.79
3. Georgia, 6:22.56

Andrew Seliskar continued his incredible meet with a 1:30.86 200 freestyle on the lead-off of Cal’s relay, making him the 4th man to break 1:31 and the 3rd fastest performer in history. He improves on his previous best of 1:31.28 from the 2018 NCAAs.

That gave the Bears a big lead, and then rolled it all the way home with splits from Mefford (1:35.58), Zheng (1:34.05) and Thomas (1:34.16) as they won in 6:14.65 to pass Florida (6:15.04) for the top time in the nation and get well under the ‘A’ cut of 6:18.46.

Runners-up Michigan narrowly missed that cut in 6:18.79, with all four swimmers splitting 1:34. Felix Auboeck (lead-off) and Patrick Callan tied for the fastest split in 1:34.66.

Georgia took 3rd in 6:22.56, with Javier Acevedo swimming his first race of the day on the lead-off with a new personal best of 1:33.99.

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

1. Michigan, 678
2. California, 578.5
3. Georgia, 554
4. Virginia, 405
5. UCLA, 281.5
6. Harvard, 71

MEN

1. California, 791
2. Michigan, 715
3. Georgia, 555
4. Virginia, 322
5. Harvard, 45