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Dec. 4, 2005

Complete Results

ATHENS, Ga. – University of Virginia swimmers captured 11 top-five finishes on Sunday (Dec. 4) during the final day of competition in the UGA Fall Invitational, which was held at Gabrielsen Natatorium. The 13th-ranked Cavalier men took third place in the meet with 602 points, while the 20th-ranked UVa women finished fourth with 459 points.

Tenth-ranked Tennessee won the men’s meet with 1,025.5 points, while 11th-ranked Georgia was second with 984 points. Virginia was third with 602 points, followed by Harvard (590.5) and South Carolina (472). In the women’s meet, top-ranked Georgia won with 1,007.5 points and sixth-rated California was second (905). Seventh-ranked UCLA finished third with 763 points, followed by Virginia (459) and South Carolina (448).

Third-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/ Split) earned a sweep of the breaststroke events when he led UVa to a top three sweep in the 200 breast. Rogulj, who won the 100 breast Saturday, took the 200 breast with a NCAA B time of 1:59.21. Second-year Ryan Hurley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) clocked a time of 1:59.99 (NCAA B) to claim second place and second-year PJ Sullivan (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) was third in 2:01.14. Second-year Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) took sixth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:05.22.

In the 1650 freestyle, fourth-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) was the runner-up with a time of 15:07.31, while third-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) touched in a time of 15:26.56 to finish third. Both swimmers bettered the NCAA B qualifying standard. Third-year Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) placed third in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:47.74 (NCAA B). First-year Bjorn Falk (Wilton, N.H./High Mowing) rounded out the men’s top five finishers with a fifth-place performance in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.25 (NCAA B). Mellors was also 11th in the 200 back in 1:50.66. UVa finished 10th in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:06.18. Second-year Bryan Stahl (Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands), Mellors, Hirniak and Millen swam legs on the relay.

In the women’s meet, fourth-year Brielle White (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside School) turned in her second NCAA automatically qualifying time of the weekend. White was runner-up in the 200 backstroke with a NCAA A time of 1:57.27. On Saturday, White automatically qualified for the 100 backstroke at NCAAs with her winning time of 53.63. Fourth-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda Md./Good Counsel) took third place in the 1650 freestyle with a NCAA B time of 16:33.47. Third-year Rory Schmidt (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia) was seventh in the 1650 free with a time of 16:51.27. Fourth-year Elaine Bennett (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) claimed fifth place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:17.94 (NCAA B). Third-year Jenny Steiner (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) also swam in the “A” final of the 200 breast and took eighth place with a time of 2:20.79.

Second-year Jess Lewis (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) turned in a time of 51.38 to finish sixth in the 100 free. Lewis also led off UVa’s fifth place 400 freestyle relay that posted a time of 3:24.85 (NCAA B). Third-year Katy Bland (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville), second-year Stephanie Glover (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) and second-year Amber Bialas (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) also swam legs on the relay.

The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to action January 7 when they compete in the Matt Gribble Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla.

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