Jan 18, 2014
The Emory University Swimming and Diving team turned in some of its strongest dual meet performances of campaign, but both the Emory men and women were ultimately defeated by NCAA Division I Georgia Tech on ‘Senior Day’ at the Woodruff Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon.
The top-ranked Emory women outscored Georgia Tech in the swimming events, including seven event victories, but were edged in the final score by the Yellow Jackets 159-140. The third-ranked men claimed victories in four events over their Division I opponent, dropping the meet by a final score of 193-95.
Sophomore Ellie Thompson was the leader for the Emory women, claiming wins in both the backstroke events with times of 57.04 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke and 2:04.24 in the 200-yard backstroke, each good for an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Thompson also teamed with freshman Annelise Kowalsky, junior Nina Zook and junior Nancy Larson to win the 400-yard medley relay with a ‘B’ cut time of 3:52.71.
Kowalsky added first-place finishes and NCAA ‘B’ cut times in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.90) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:06.34), while claiming fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a ‘B’ cut time of 2:23.39. Her 200-yard breaststroke time was one of three NCAA ‘B’ cut times by an Eagle in the event, as senior Kylie McKenzie won the race with a time of 2:22.05 and sophomore Elizabeth Aronoff finished second with a time of 2:22.96. McKenzie also claimed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a provisional mark of 1:05.57.
The Emory women completed their sweep of the relay events with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as freshman Claire Liu, freshman Marissa Bergh, juniorMcKenna Newsum-Schoenberg and Larson won the event with a ‘B’ cut time of 3:29.78. Newsum-Schoenberg added second-place finishes in both the 200-yard butterfly and 1000-yard freestyle, swimming a provisional time of 2:06.48 in the former, and a mark of 10:18.89 in the latter, the best mark this season by an Eagle.
Emory’s men opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay, as senior Ross Spock, sophomore Andrew Wilson, junior Hayden Baker and senior Jake Stephens won the event with a ‘B’ cut time of 3:22.56. Wilson added on two additional NCAA provisional qualifying times during the meet, winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.74 seconds and finishing second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a mark of 2:06.22.
Emory’s other ‘B’ cut swim during the meet came from Spock, who won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.40 seconds. Stephens added an individual victory in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:54.61, while freshman Mitchell Cooper finished second in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:41.41, the best mark this season in the event by an Eagle.
The Emory women are now 3-3 in dual meets this season, while the men stand at 2-4. Georgia Tech improved to 4-5 on the women’s side, and 4-4 on the men’s side.
Prior to the start of Saturday’s meet, the Eagles honored the 20 graduating members of the squad with a special ‘Senior Day’ ceremony. Graduating team members includeRyan Bass, Darrell Eacret, Jack Edwards, Andrew Gonzales, Matt O’Brien, Jack Polisini, Ross Spock, Jake Stephens and Taylor Werkema from the men’s side, and Carolyn Cohen, Sarah Greene, Suzanne Lemberg, Laura Manor, Courtney McDermott, Kylie McKenzie, Sadie Nennig, Jennifer Pak, Ellen Schaferand Brooke Woodward for the women.
During the last four years, Emory’s seniors have helped to uphold the high standards of the Swimming and Diving program, leading the women’s squad to three NCAA Division III National Championships and three University Athletic Association (UAA) titles, while the men have also claimed three conference titles and registered a pair of top-three National finishes to date.
The Eagles will be back in action against another top-flight Division I program next Saturday, January 25th, when the team travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.
The above is a press release posted on the Emory Athletics Website. For complete meet results, click here. Also, just as a note, it’s pretty ballsy to have your senior meet against a fairly equally matched team rather than one you can easily destroy, so props to the Eagles for working hard, swimming fast and celebrating their seniors!