Gunnar Bentz Nabs 100 Fly Victory in 2017-18 Season Debut

GEORGIA VS. LSU

• Results
• Hosted by Georgia
• Saturday, January 13th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• MEN: Georgia 170, LSU 122
• WOMEN: Georgia 186, LSU 108

After missing meets for the first half of the season due to a collar bone injury, Gunnar Bentz returned to competition on Saturday for the Georgia Bulldogs. SEC rival LSU traveled to Athens to face off with Georgia, with the Bulldogs topping the Tigers on both the men’s and women’s sides. Bentz picked up a victory in the 100 fly, using his front half speed to clip teammate Mick Litherland 48.10 to 48.25. Bentz also placed 2nd in the 200 free, touching in 1:39.22 behind Georgia’s Walker Higgins (1:38.18).

Javier Acevedo and Greg Reed picked up multiple individual wins for the Bulldogs. Reed swept the distance freestyles, posting a 4:26.01 in the 500 free and a 9:04.48 in the 1000 free. That was Reed’s 2nd fastest swim ever in the 1000 free. Acevedo, on the other hand, swept the backstrokes with a 48.03 in the 100 back and a 1:45.49 in the 200 back.

Megan Kingsley picked up a pair of wins for the UGA women. Kingsley first won the 200 fly, setting the pace early on as she dominated with a 1:57.88 to teammate Chelsea Britt‘s 1:59.45. Kingsley returned for the 200 IM, once again leading from start to finish as she hit the wall for a 3-second win in 2:02.29.

PRESS RELEASE – GEORGIA:

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia swimming and diving teams swept Southeastern Conference opponent LSU on Saturday at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

The No. 6 Lady Bulldogs picked up a 186-108 decision to improve to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC. Georgia’s women are undefeated in their last 23 conference meets with a 22-0-1 mark dating back to 2013. The 11th-ranked Bulldogs posted a 170-122 victory to move to 6-1 and 1-1.

“It was a good day across the board,” said Jack Bauerle, Georgia’s Tom Cousins Swimming and Diving Head Coach. “Everyone raced hard and I was pleased with the efforts. Nothing spectacular, but all in all, I was really pleased with things today. We definitely can build off of this as we head toward our championships.”

Javier Acevedo and Greg Reed were double winners for the Bulldogs. Acevedo swept the backstroke races in 48.03 and 1:45.49, while Reed had the top time of 4:26.01 in the 500 freestyle and he took the 1,000 freestyle in 9:04.48.

Fifteen-time All-American and 2016 Olympian Gunnar Bentz made a successful return from September shoulder surgery by winning the 100 butterfly in 48.10. Camden Murphy was victorious in the 100 freestyle as he touched in 45.28, while Walker Higgins took the 200 freestyle in 1:38.18. The Bulldogs swept the breaststroke races with James Guest in the 100 (54.29) and Basil Orr in the 200 (2:00.73). Mick Litherland won the 200 butterfly in 1:48.92 and Jay Litherland claimed the 200 individual medley in 1:48.75.

Acevedo, Guest, Murphy and Alex BeMiller won the 200 medley relay with an effort of 1:28.25. The 400 freestyle relay top time was posted by BeMiller, Acevedo, Bentz and Murphy in 3:00.35.

Megan Kingsley won twice to pace the Lady Bulldogs. She touched the wall in 1:57.88 in the 200 butterfly and had the fastest time of 2:02.29 in the 200 individual medley.

Georgia swept the freestyle events as Gabi Fa’amausili won the 50 (22.97), Meaghan Raabtook the 100 (50.06), Veronica Burchill claimed the 200 (1:47.98), Jordan Stout won the 500 (4:51.71), and Courtney Harnish took the 1,000 (9:48.86).

Both backstroke races went to the Lady Bulldogs as Kylie Stewart won the 100 in 53.14 and Meryn McCann won the 200 in 1:58.99. Chelsea Britt claimed the 100 butterfly in 53.82 and Danielle Della Torre took the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.32.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Stewart, Della Torre, Britt and Burchill reached the wall in 1:41.58. In the 400 freestyle relay, Fa’amausili, Stewart, Harnish and Raab had the top time of 3:23.59.

Georgia will entertain Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 20, at noon. The seniors will be recognized in a pre-meet ceremony. The meet will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.

PRESS RELEASE – LSU:

ATHENS, Ga. – The LSU swimming and diving team came up short against Georgia today, with the men losing by the score of 170-122 and the women falling 186-108.

“Georgia certainly isn’t the team that you want to ease back into competition against, but as I told the team, this is the SEC and this is what we signed up for,” explained LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “We may have been a little more fatigued than I thought we would be, but we looked great last night when we got into town.”

The highlights of the day for the Tigers came in the diving well, where Juan Celaya-Hernandez and Lizzie Cuicombined to win all four springboard events.

Celaya-Hernandez got back to his winning ways, winning the one-meter springboard with a score of 393.00 and the three-meter after posting a 413.55.

Cui was also able to take home gold twice after scoring a 321.15 on one-meter and a 360.45 on three-meter. Cui’s score on three-meter was her best score of the season.

While Cui and Celaya-Hernandez won the events, other divers made personal and season-best marks.

Makayla Robillard was able to set a personal-best on three-meter after topping 300 for the first time in her career. Robillard dove to second place with a score of 300.08.

Rileigh Knox and Matthew Phillip were also able to set season-high scores today. Knox set a season-high on the one-meter with a score of 270.75 and a third-place finish. Phillip set his season-high on three-meter, scoring a 342.15 while also finishing third.

“I’m very happy across the board with our performances,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer. “At this point, we want to be setting personal and season-best performances. These are good projections looking forward!”

In the pool, the women were led by junior Summer Spradley, who won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.07. Spradley also finished sixth in the 100 freestyle and was the second leg of the 200 medley relay team that took silver. Spradley was joined by Grace Horton, Helen Grossman, and Haylee Knight to race to a time of 1:43.64.

The men were led by senior Joao Mescolote, who was able to win the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.70, beating Goergia’s Alex Bemiller by .2 seconds.

Mescolote also finished fifth in the 100 freestyle after posting a time of 46.26. Mescolote swam in both relays, anchoring the 200 medley relay team that finished second after recording a time of 1:29.49, and leading off the 400 free relay team to a time of 3:05.36.

Meanwhile, freshman Braden Nyboer set a personal record in the 1000 freestyle as he finished fifth with a time of 9:47.55.

“This is about switching back into meet mode for us,” said Geyer. “There were definitely some pieces that I liked within the results and we just need to put them together over the next few weeks.”

Next up for the Tigers is a dual meet against Texas A&M at 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 20th at the LSU Natatorium.

For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @LSUswimdive.

Wins:

Men:

50 free- Joao Mescolote (20.70)

1 meter- Juan Celaya-Hernandez (393.00)- NCAA Zones Qualification

3 meter- Juan Celaya-Hernandez (413.55)- NCAA Zones Qualification

Women:

100 breast- Summer Spradley (1:03.07)

1 meter- Lizzie Cui (321.15) NCAA Zones Qualification

3 meter- Lizzie Cui (360.45) NCAA Zones Qualification

Other NCAA Zones Qualificatons:

1 meter- Matt McClellan (334.05)

1 meter- Rileigh Knox (270.55)

1 meter- Makayla Robillard (266.03)

3 meter- Makayla Robillard (300.08)

3 meter- Matt McClellan (350.48)

3 meter- Matthew Phillip (342.15)

NCAA B-Cuts:

100 back- Karl Luht (48.12)