The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bounced back after a season-opening defeat at Penn State on Friday to beat Navy in Annapolis on Saturday. The meet was swum in short course meters (Lejeune Hall pool is 25 meters x 50 meters) so the times are a little different, but the Jackets took it in stride as the men took the contest 175.5-122.5, while the women won 162-130.
Women’s Meet
The Georgia Tech women won the first 13 events in a row. Maddie Paschal, Efrat Rotsztjen, Morgan Lyons, and Erika Staskevicius got things started with a combined 1:57.32 in the 200 SCM medley relay. The Naval Academy’s Kaitlyn O’Reilly, Hannah Gillcrist, Kenzie Margroum, and Maddie Thompson were second in 1:59.14.
The Jackets’ Kate Woolbright then won the 800 SCM free in 9:06.11, while her teammate Chiara Ruiu took the 200 SCM free in 2:07.38. Paschal won a tight 100 SCM back over Navy’s O’Reilly, 1:04.79 to 1:05.07. In the 100 SCM breast, Rotsztjen just edged out Navy’s Gillcrist 1:13.12 to 1:13.42.
Georgia Tech’s Kate Brandus led wire-to-wire in the 200 SCM fly, staying just in front of Navy’s Jenny Smith the entire race and touching in 2:21.07 to Smith’s 2:21.72. The Jackets’ sprinter Alex Rieger came away with the 50 SCM free crown in 26.91, while her teammate Shannon Lumbra took first in 1-meter diving.
Ruiu picked up her second win with a 58.67 in the 100 SCM free. Fourth at the halfway mark, she closed well to touch out Navy’s Thompson (58.85) and Brianna Bilunas (59.24), as well as her Georgia Tech teammate Staskevicius (59.19), all of whom were ahead of her at the 50.
Not long after her 50 free, Rieger was back with another victory, this time in the 200 SCM back (2:16.65). Her teammate Darelle Cowley then won the 200 SCM breast with a solid 2:36.24. Woolbright beat her teammate Ruiu in the 400 SCM free 4:26.59 to 4:27.47. Navy’s Smith was just behind them. Brandus got a double when she edged Gillchrist in the 100 fly, 1:03.95 to 1:04.42.
Navy won the 3-meter diving with Julie Jesse’s 254.40 points. The Midshipmen’s O’Reilly picked up a 2:25.03 win in the 200 SCM IM, and the Naval Academy’s 400 SCM relay of Margroum, Bilunas, Gillcrist, and Thompson won the final event with 3:59.37.
Men’s Meet
The men’s meet was more even, with Georgia Tech and Navy trading event wins all afternoon.
The Yellow Jackets put the first tick in the W column with their 1:40.82 victory in the 200 SCM medley relay (Brian Woodbury, Mark Sarman, Ben Southern, and Andrew Kosic). The Midshipmen quartet of Joseph Lane, Marlin Brutkiewicz, Jonathan DeBaugh, and Dain Bomberger took second in 1:41.82.
Georgia Tech’s Yuval Safra won the 800 SCM free by nearly three seconds over Navy’s Alex Nickell, touching in 8:15.86. Nickell’s teammate Thomas Duvall evened the score, though, with a 1:51.88 in the 200 SCM free to beat Georgia Tech’s Nico van Duijn. The Jackets’ Woodbury went 56.26 to take the 100 SCM back crown, while Brutkiewicz of Navy won the 100 SCM breast with 1:02.94.
Navy’s DeBaugh won an exciting 200 SCM fly over a hard-charging Ben Southern, who nearly caught him over the last 50. In the end DeBaugh got his hand to the wall first, 2:01.89 to 2:01.98. Georgia Tech’s Kosic clocked a 22.43 in the 50 SCM free to win decisively over Bomberger. The Jackets also earned 9 points for a win in 1-meter diving with Brad Homza’s score of 328.35. Homza also won 3-meter diving with 353.55 points.
Kosic came back after the break to win the 100 SCM free in 50.01; Navy’s Duvall was 1.2 seconds back. Georgia Tech swept the 200 SCM back podium, with Robert Borowicz leading the way in 2:03.13. Brutkiewicz logged Navy’s first double with a 2:18.33 victory in the 200 SCM breast; he finished nearly three seconds ahead of the field thanks to a tremendous final 50 meters. Teammate Duvall followed up with a double of his own, winning the 400 SCM free in 3:58.79. He, too, was trailing going into the final 50.
Georgia Tech’s van Duijn avenged his second-place finish in the 200 free with a victory in the 100 SCM fly, going 54.72. Fellow Yellow Jacket Safra came from behind to win the 400 SCM free in 4:31.28. He was third at the 300 and third at the 350 but managed to out-touch both teammate Ben Southern and Midshipman Young Tae Seo over the last 50 meters.
Georgia Tech’s Kosic, Noah Harasz, Taylor Wilson, and van Duijn pulled in the last win of the session with a 3:22.70 in the 400 SCM free relay.
On the women’s side, the last couple of races were exhibitioned, Efrat Rotsztjen was first in the 200 IM, Shannon Lumbra was first in the 3 meter and the team of Staskevicius, Ruiu, Cowley, and Rieger were first in the 400 free relay!