ATHENS, Ga. – On the final day of the Georgia Invitational, the LSU swimming and diving team finished strong by meeting the fourth NCAA A standard of the meet in the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay Friday inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The last tally in team performances saw the LSU men finishing in fourth place with 593 points, while the LSU women were fourth with 574 points.
The LSU men’s team accomplished an NCAA A cut in four of the five relays during the Georgia Invitational with the final one coming in the 400-yard freestyle relay. A team of Stepan Goncharov, Jere Hribar, Andrew Garon, and Griffin Curtis placed third with a time of 2:49.00. The time met the NCAA A standard (2:49.79), automatically qualifying the relay team for the NCAA Championships.
The LSU men also achieved NCAA A standard times in the 200-medley, 400-medley, and 200-free relay events.
The Tigers opened the finals session in the 200-yard back. Valeriia Egorova (1:54.44) and Zoe Carlos-Broc (1:55.84) competed in the A final and finished in sixth and eighth place, respectively. In the B final, Nicole Santuliana finished in 14th place with a time of 1:56.10. Lauren Bernardo and Helen Sava both raced in the C final, finishing back-to-back at No. 20 and No. 21.
For the men’s event, Curtis swam in the A final and touched seventh with a time of 1:43.35. Additionally, Kilian Bishop placed 16th with a time of 1:52.26.
In the 100-yard free, Michaela de Villiers took sixth place with a time of 49.01, while Megan Barnes (11th – 49.41) and Sabrina Lyn (15th – 49.54) competed in the B final. In the C final, three Tigers raced with Reagan Osborne winning with a time of 49.27 and placing 17th overall. Anastasia Bako (49.84) and Jessie Liao (50.84) claimed 21st and 24th, respectively.
On the men’s side, Hribar took second place with a time of 41.95, and Goncharov placed fourth with a time of 42.22.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Megan Braman was LSU’s top finisher, placing 17th with a time of 2:16.29. Chloe Cheng placed 18th with a time of 2:16.34, and Saskia Blasius claimed 21st with a time of 2:21.71. In the men’s event, Mitch Mason finished in 10th place with a time of 1:55.31 and Levin Thome placed 11th with a time of 1:56.15. In the C final, Max Eckerman (2:00.19) claimed 21st place, and Ezra Dickerson (2:06.78) placed 23rd.
For the 200-yard butterfly, Jenna Bridges and Sofia Sartori finished in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Bridges touched the wall with a time of 1:56.91, while Sartori clocked a 1:57.46. In the B final, Giulia Zambelli placed ninth, Lillian Tichenor claimed 11th, and Reagan Sweeney finished in 15th place.
Jacob Pishko finished in eighth place for the event with a time of 1:45.40.
On the boards, Carson Paul won on platform with a score of 423.65, sweeping all three events at the Georgia Invitational. Thomas Dowling claimed ninth place with a score of 316.80, and Zayne Danielewicz placed 14th with a final score of 268.25.
On the women’s platform, Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant placed fifth with a score of 237.00, and Maggie Buckley finished sixth with a score of 226.55.
The Tigers return to action at the Gabrielsen Natatorium when the LSU diving squad competes at the Georgia Diving Invitational. The meet runs from January 3 through January 5.