Prelims: Day Two at the Georgia Invite

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ATHENS, Ga. – A total of 10 Virginia swimmers earned spots in the championship finals after the completion of preliminaries on day two of the Georgia Invitational, which was held Saturday at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.

“We had some swims that were really exciting but overall I thought our team lacked the enthusiasm and energy that you need to have in this third session of a championship meet,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “There was a little bit of a lack of focus on the part of several of the younger swimmers. That is the reason we go to a meet like this, so we can address issues such as this that we use as a teaching tool for meets down the road.”

In the last event of the morning, the 100 backstroke, sophomore Jack Murfee punched a ticket to the final with a seventh-place swim, touching in 48.71. Three more Cavaliers – Parker Camp (49.40), Matt Murray (49.91) and Kyle Dudzinski (49.94) earned spots in the consolation final this evening.

Junior Meredith Cavalier clocked a ‘B’ time of 52.67 to finish fourth overall in the women’s 100 backstroke. She will be joined by Charlotte Clarke in the final heat after Clarke went 53.31 to earn the eighth and final spot. Both Erika Stewart (54.19) and Emily Dicus (54.44) will compete in the consolation final.

Sophomore Taylor Grey was seventh in the 100 breaststroke to claim a finals slot after he touched in a NCAA ‘B’ time of 55.41. Tom Casey, who finished in 56.82, will swim this evening in the consolation final.

Junior Christine Olson also earned a berth in the consolation final of the 100 breaststroke with her ‘B’ time of 1:02.09 for 13th in the preliminaries.

Senior Peter Geissinger earned a berth in the final of the 100 butterfly after he finished eighth during preliminaries with a mark of 48.74. Murray (49.56) will compete in the consolation final while David Ingraham (50.24) will be in the bonus final.

Freshman Ellen Williamson swam her way into the 100 butterfly final, finishing eighth in the preliminaries with a ‘B’ mark of 53.84. Classmate Sarah White is one of three more Cavaliers who will compete in the consolation final; she finished in a time of 54.68. Dicus (55.18) and Clarke (55.41) will join her in the heat, while Riley Flanagan (55.68) and Shaun Casey (55.93) are set to compete in the bonus final.

A pair of Cavalier men will swim in the 400 individual medley final. Bradley Phillips recorded a NCAA ‘B’ time in the morning, touching in 3:53.43, while Jan Daniec was seventh in 3:54.98. Ingraham (3:55.93) and Nick Montes de Oca (3:56.52) will swim in the consolation final; Nathan Hart (4:01.04) and Matt Houser (4:02.31) will swim in the bonus final.

Virginia placed four swimmers in the consolation final of the 400 individual medley, led by Olson’s ninth-place prelim finish in a ‘B’ time of 4:15.93. Hillary Petersen (4:18.30) and Alison Haulsee (4:19.50) also recorded ‘B’ cuts in the prelims. Megan Fox (4:19.88) will join them in the heat while Stewart (4:23.54) and Shaun Casey (4:23.43) earned spots in the bonus final.

The men’s 200 freestyle final will have two Virginia swimmers in David Karasek (1:36.78) and Parker Camp (1:37.58) both notched ‘B’ marks to earn spots in the heat. Karasek’s time was the second-fastest out of the preliminaries. Meanwhile, Tom Barrett (1:38.67) is set to swim in the consolation final. Geissinger was 23rd overall in 1:40.48.

In the women’s 200 freestyle, Lauren Perdue and Rachel Naurath are each back in the consolation final. Perdue was 10th out of the morning in 1:46.76, while Naurath was 13th in 1:47.26. Caroline Kenney (1:47.86) will compete in the bonus final. All three times in the event were NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

The Cavaliers began the morning with a time trial in the men’s 200 freestyle relay. Barrett, Geissinger, Pearce and Karasek finished in a NCAA ‘B’ time of 1:20.12.

The 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays will also be held tonight. Finals begin at 5 p.m.