No. 11/13 Swim & Dive Finishes Second and Fourth in Georgia Invitational
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 11/13 LSU swimming and diving team capped off the Georgia Invitational with the women finishing in second place (708), behind Florida (1044.5), while the men placed fourth (578.5), trailing Florida (947), Georgia (799), and Florida State (759.5) on Friday Night at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The Tigers set a pair of school records on the day, highlighted by Sofia Sartori breaking her own time in the 200-fly, coming in at 1:53.29, and the men’s 400-free relay squad, who set the school record, clocking a time of 2:47.73.
A total of 21 Tiger swimmers advanced to the Friday night finals from the morning prelims. Jere Hribar, Stepan Goncharov, Michaela de Villiers, and Sabrina Lyn made the A Final of the 100-free. Sartori, Giulia Zambelli, Caleb Ellis, and Stuart Higdon made the A Final of the 200-fly. Nicole Santuliana and Zoe Carlos-Broc made the A Final of the 200-back, and Carlos-Broc also made the A Final of the 200-IM.
Simon Meubry, Albert Bouley, Jon Avdiu, Avery Littlefield, Megan Barnes, Anastasia Bako, Jacob Pishko, Collin Quickstad, Lauren Bernardo, Chloe Cheng, and Saskia Blasius reached the B or C Final in their respective events.
In the first finals event, Carlos-Broc placed fourth overall, posting a time of 1:57.85. Cheng placed 10th (2:01.27); Bernardo came in 15th (2:02.30); and Blasius followed in 21st (2:05.21). On the men’s side, Quickstad placed 14th, recording a time of 1:50.41.
De Villiers took second in the 100-free, coming in at 48.03 – a personal best for the senior. Lyn followed right behind for fifth in a personal-best time of 48.82. Littlefield (48.82), Bako (49.11), and Barnes (49.26) finished in 10th, 12th, and 14th place, respectively.
Hribar also notched second in the 100-free. The junior put up the second-best time in the NCAA (41.15), trailing only Josh Liendo from Florida, the winner of the event Friday night. Goncharov recorded a time of 42.50 for fifth. Meubry put together a personal best time of 42.78 for 11th. The freshman’s time slides into fourth all-time in program history. Bouley followed in 19th with 43.75, and Avdiu came in 23rd with a time of 44.18.
The 200-fly saw Sartori win the event with a school-record time of 1:53.29. She broke her own record, which she set earlier this year against Alabama and Florida State. The senior’s time ranks in the top five in the NCAA this year. Zambelli followed right behind her to finish second, clocking in at 1:54.79. On the men’s side, Higdon took fifth with a personal best 1:44.66. Ellis came in seventh (1:45.54); Pishko finished 10th (1:45.77); and Quickstad placed 20th (1:49.48).
Santuliana put up a personal-best 1:54.55 to finish fourth in the 200-back. Carlos-Broc recorded a time of 1:56.39 for seventh. Bernardo came in 15th with a time of 2:01.52.
The night ended with the 400-free relay, where the women’s A-team of de Villiers, Littlefield, Lyn, and Barnes touched the wall second with a time of 3:14.46. On the men’s side, Goncharov, Hribar, Meurby, and Bouley finished third, coming in with a school-record time of 2:47.73. The record breaks the former time, which was posted last season.
In the diving well, Carson Paul took another victory; this time on the platform, giving him wins in two of the three diving events this week. The senior posted a score of 439.75. Travis Keith notched seventh with a score of 334.00. Eve Nelson placed fourth for the women with a score of 2452.95. Morgan Lalonde finished ninth, recording a score of 205.55.
The Tigers’ next meet will take place in the new year on Jan. 9 at Florida. Before then, diving will head to the Tennessee Diving Invitational on Jan. 3-5.
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