Michigan’s Haughey Drops 1:53.4 200 IM at Georgia Invitational

2017 GEORGIA FALL INVITATIONAL

• Live Results
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• NCAA Qualifying
• Hosted by Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
• 25 Yards
• Invite Format

The 2017 Georgia Invitational kicked off on Friday with the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 400 medley relay. Several NCAA ‘A’ cuts were made, including a 1:53.48 in the 200 IM for Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey and a 4:12.02 for the Wolverines’ Felix Auboeck in the 500 free.

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS:

500 Free:

Michigan’s Rose Bi and Georgia freshman standout Courtney Harnish put on a show in the 500 free. Bi held a nearly 3-second lead going into the final 100, but Harnish kicked it into another gear to try to run her down with a 53.58 split on the final 100. In the end, Bi still led by over half a second, winning in 4:35.02 to Harnish’s 4:35.69 as they both met the NCAA ‘A’ cut. That was a huge swim for Harnish, as she dropped nearly 4 seconds from her lifetime best.

Michigan freshman Sierra Schmidt was a few tenths shy of her prelims time with a 4:38.91 for 3rd place, but should be safely in for NCAAs. Cal’s Katie McLaughlin should be in as well with her 4:39.45. Michigan’s G Ryan swam a 4:39.72 to win the B final and earn a likely spot at the national meet. The Bulldogs’ Meryn McCann was a tenth under the 2017 NCAA invite mark with her 4:41.74.

200 IM:

Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey is still on fire. She dropped a full second from her best time to win the 200 IM, meeting the NCAA ‘A’ standard with a 1:53.48. That put her nearly 2 seconds ahead of the field, as Georgia’s Meaghan Raab was 2nd in 1:55.37. The Wolverines’ Clara Smiddy joined her under the 1:56 mark with a 1:55.74 for 3rd. Smiddy had the edge over Raab up front, but Raab reeled her in on the free leg.

Virginia’s Jen Marrkand (1:56.42) came from behind to out-touch Cal freshman Sarah Darcel (1:56.69) for 4th. They were both under the 2017 NCAA invite time. Cal’s Keaton Blovad was also under the mark with her 1:57.08 for 6th.

50 Free:

Though she didn’t match her 21.44 from prelims, Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil secure the win tonight in a quick 21.60. Virginia’s Caitlin Cooper swam to her first sub-22 in the event individually with a 21.92 for 2nd place ahead of Cal’s Amy Bilquist (22.03). They were the only 3 swimmers to swim below the 2017 NCAA invite mark of 22.23, but Michigan’s Catie Deloof was just a tenth shy of that with a 22.33 for 4th place.

Relays:

In the 200 free relay, Cal (1:27.10) and Virginia (1:27.93) each had 3 women swim sub-22 as they swam well under the NCAA ‘A’ mark.Michigan (1:28.57) also qualified for NCAAs, while Georgia (1:28.91) was just 2 tenths shy of the automatic standard. Weitzeil threw down a 21.30 anchor leg for the fastest split of the field, while Michigan’s Haughey put up a 21.59 for the 2nd fastest split. Interestingly, McLaughlin was Cal’s 2nd fastest swimmer, but she was on the B relay and turned in a 21.63 anchor split.

The Bears (3:30.45) and Wolverines (3:31.88) went 1-2 in the 400 medley relay, both qualifying for NCAAs along with the 3rd place Georgia Bulldogs (3:32.39). Michigan held the lead through the front half after Miranda Tucker‘s 59.79 breast split, but Noemie Thomas roared back for the Bears with a 50.50 fly leg to outsplit Michigan’s Vanessa Krause (52.85) by over 2 seconds. Haughey put up a scorching 46.88 on the free leg, but couldn’t close the gap on Cal’s Weitzeil (47.69).

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS:

500 Free:

Michigan’s Felix Auboeck, one of the top contenders for the national 500 free title, took a commanding lead in the 500 free. After taking the lead from Georgia’s Jay Litherland at the 150-yard mark, he continued to build his lead as he won in an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 4:12.02. Litherland wound up battling for 2nd with Cal freshman Sean Greishop, using his closing speed to out-touch Grieshop in 4:16.30 to Grieshop’s 4:16.36. Both men were under the 2017 NCAA invite standard by a few tenths.

200 IM:

In the 200 IM, Auburn’s Hugo Gonzalez was narrowly shy of the NCAA ‘A’ standard and should be a lock for the national meet. Gonzalez went up against All-American IMer Andrew Seliskar of Cal. He came from behind with a 29.70 breast split to close the gap on Seliskar and really took off on the free leg to win it in 1:42.02. Seliskar (1:43.13) wasn’t quite as fast as his 1:42.63 from prelims, but he was able to hold off teammate Michael Thomas (1:43.20) for 2nd place.

Thomas’ swim clipped his best time and should safely qualify him for NCAAs alongside Seliskar. Michigan’s Evan White was a tenth under the 2017 invite mark with his 1:44.24, while Cal’s Zheng Quah was a couple tenths short of the mark with a 1:44.58 for 5th place.

50 Free:

Cal freshman star Ryan Hoffer swam to a season best 19.13 to get his hand to the wall ahead of All-American teammate Pawel Sendyk (19.17). A tight race for 3rd saw Michigan’s Paul Powers (19.21) out-touch Auburn’s Zach Apple (19.23) and Cal’s Justin Lynch (19.27). All 5 men were under the 2017 NCAA invite time of 19.43. Cal’s Michael Jensen also swam below the mark with a 19.36 for 6th place.

Relays:

Cal bookended the meet with relay wins, with Hoffer playing a key role. In the 200 free relay, Hoffer contributed an 18.59 on the 2nd leg, marking the fastest split of the field ahead of teammate Michael Jensen‘s 18.69 anchor leg. Both Cal (1:15.73) and Michigan (1:16.65) met the NCAA ‘A’ standard, with James Peek anchoring the Wolverines to 2nd in an 18.89 split.

The Bears were the only team to make the NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 400 free relay, though Georgia (3:07.94) cut it close. Cal’s A relay (3:05.45) and B relay (3:06.03) were well under the mark. Hoffer anchored the A team to victory in 41.94, though Jensen’s 41.78 on the B relay was slightly faster. The big difference maker was the fly leg, where Justin Lynch put up a 45.03 for the A team to Zheng Quah‘s 45.92.