Virginia Closes 2012 as Georgia Fall Invitational Concludes
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Dec. 2, 2012
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ATHENS, Ga.—The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed action at the Georgia Fall Invitational Sunday afternoon (Dec. 2) at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
The No. 9 Cavalier men finished second with 702 points, behind No. 3 California (856) and ahead of No. 11 Georgia (662.5), No. 16 Auburn (615.5), Penn State (507.5), Harvard (311), Virginia Tech (180 – diving only) and Texas (61.5 – split squad).
The No. 10 women placed third with 630 points, behind No. 3 Georgia (991) and No. 2 Cal (876). No. 9 Auburn was fourth with 539 points, followed by Penn State (482), Harvard (265) and Virginia Tech (134 – diving only).
“Overall, we’re competing with and against some of the best teams in the country,” head coach Mark Bernardino said. “It showed us where we need to improve and what we need to do to be better tacticians, better technicians and more intelligent racers. Hopefully we’ll take a lot from this weekend as we move forward.”
Freshman Courtney Bartholomew automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the women’s 200 back with a time of 1:53.03, finishing second. That time ranks third on UVa’s all-time list. The only swimmer to defeat Bartholomew was Elizabeth Pelton of California, who set an American record in 1:48.90.
“She’s had two of the better backstroke swims in the country this year, one of them in the same race that the American record was set,” Bernardino said. “It’s a great achievement anytime you automatically qualify for NCAAs.”
In the women’s 1650 free, sophomore Kelly Offutt placed second in a time of 16:21.56, while junior Caroline Kenney touched third in 16:27.10. Junior Rachel Naurath (6:30.28), freshman Hanne Borgersen (16:30.61), sophomore Alison Haulsee (16:35.84) and freshman Haley Durmer (16:38.99) finished sixth through ninth.
Sophomore Shaun Casey placed fourth in the women’s 200 fly in 1:56.97, while classmate Sarah White (1:58.43), Naurath (1:58.96) and Haulsee (1:59.52), touched sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Senior Tom Barrett (44.03) touched fifth in the men’s 100 free, while classmate Lauren Perdue (49.32) was seventh in the women’s 100 free.
In the men’s 200 back final, freshman Luke Papendick (1:44.00), senior Brady Fox (1:44.65) and junior Parker Camp (1:45.56) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Junior Taylor Grey finished fifth in the men’s 200 breast in 1:57.52, while freshman Yannick Kaeser (2:00.21) placed eighth.
Junior Jan Daniec (15:08.80) placed sixth in the men’s 1650 free, while junior Brad Phillips (15:23.98) and freshman Chris Webb (15:26.97) finished 14th and 15th, respectively.
In the women’s 200 breast, senior Christine Olson touched seventh in 2:14.61.
Junior Nathan Hart placed eighth in the men’s 200 fly in 1:49.76.
The women’s 400 free relay of Naurath, junior Emily Lloyd, Perdue and Bartholomew placed sixth in a time of 3:18.40, while the men’s relay of Barrett, Camp, senior Matt Murray and sophomore Charlie Rommel finished seventh in 2:58.01.
Freshman Becca Corbett (222.10) finished eighth in the women’s platform diving, while sophomore Laura Gartrell (197.15) and freshman Katie Warburg (173.40) placed 13th and 16th overall.
In the men’s platform diving, sophomore JB Kolod (266.35) placed ninth, while freshmen Carl Buergler (264.40), Jordan Sacks (246.30) and Colby Shinholser (228.30) came in 11th, 13th and 16th, respectively.
“Overall, it was a good showing for the divers,” diving coach Rich MacDonald said. “This was a great experience for such a young team. It should make us that much more competitive when it really matters in February and March. There was some things we could have done better that we learner here, so we will go back and work hard to fix them.”
The Cavalier divers return to the pool Jan. 3-5 for the Tennessee Diving Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn., before the entire team faces North Carolina at UVa’s Aquatic and Fitness Center on Jan. 19.