The University of Georgia Fall Invitational got off to a fast start on Friday. The winning time of each of the first three events was met the NCAA ‘A’ time standard.
The meet started with the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay. Virginia took the race with a time of 1:28.05. The team consisted of Kasey Schmidt, Ellen Thomas, Caitlin Cooper and Courtney Bartholomew. Cooper led the way with a split of 21.66.
Auburn picked up the win in the men’s race. The Tigers posted a time of 1:17.54. Arthur Mendes, Peter Holoda, Jacob Molacek and Kyle Darmody were the members of the winning team. Darmody led the way with a split of 19.02.
Virginia’s Leah Smith took home the women’s 500-yard freestyle crown with a time of 4:32.36. The top three women in the event all clocked ‘A’ time standards.
Georgia’s Kevin Litherland picked up the win in the men’s 500-yard race. Litherland went a 4:15.10, over two seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Kaitlyn Jones of Virginia picked up an ‘A’ time standard in the women’s 200-yard individual medley. Jones posted a time 1:55.10.
In the men’s 200-yard individual medley, California’s Josh Prenot won with a time of 1:43.13. The top five finishers in the race were all within a second of each other.
Olivia Smoliga of Georgia earned an ‘A’ time standard in the women’s 50-yard freestyle. Smoliga posted a time of 21.86 to win the race. Michael Trice made the 50-yard race a sweep for the Bulldogs. The senior won the men’s event for Georgia with a time of 19.31.
The evening concluded with the men’s and women’s 400-yard medley relays.
Virginia won the women’s race, earning an NCAA ‘A’ time standard. The Cavalier team consisted of Bartholomew, Laura Simon, Kaitlyn Jones and Thomas and went a 3:28.50.
California brought home the men’s title with an ‘A’ time standard. The team consisted of Ryan Murphy, Prenot, Justin Lynch and Long Gutierrez.
Going into Saturday, Georgia is first on the men’s side. Virginia leads all women’s teams.
