Georgia Stays Undefeated With Wins Against Wisconsin

GEORGIA VS. WISCONSIN

• Results
• Hosted by University of Georgia
• Friday, November 4th – Saturday, November 5th
• 25 yards
• Dual meet format

FINAL TEAM SCORES

• Men: Georgia 206.5, Wisconsin 141.5
• Women: Georgia 200, Wisconsin 148

The Georgia men and women both sealed victories against the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, expanding on the day 1 lead the established Friday. The Bulldogs now remain undefeated after beating Wisconsin 200 to 148 on the women’s side and 206.5 to 141.5 on the men’s side.

NCAA champ Olivia Smoliga battled in the 100 free with teammate Chantal Van Landeghem and Wisconsin’s Chase Kinney. At the 50 mark, Smoliga and Kinney flipped just hundredths apart, but Smoliga had to better back half to win it in 49.47 to Kinney’s 49.73. Van Landeghem was also under 50 seconds, rounding out the top 3 with her 49.75.

U.S. Olympians Jay Litherland , Chase Kalisz, and Gunnar Bentz each picked up an individual event victory for the Georgia men. Litherland took the win in the 200 back, swimming to a 1:45.43, while Bentz was the 200 breast champ in 2:03.54. Kalisz closed the meet with a 200 IM victory, clocking a 1:44.20 to win by over 3 seconds.

Wisconsin distance standouts Matt Hutchins and Cierra Runge were key players for the Badgers in the distance free races. Hutchins battled with UGA’s Kevin Litherland in the men’s 500 free, swimming to the wall in 4:22.73 to outpace Litherland (4:26.94). Runge won the women’s version of that event, racing to a 4:44.17 after building a 3-second lead over Georgia’s Stephanie Peters (4:47.41).

PRESS RELEASE – GEORGIA:

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s swimming and diving teams defeated Wisconsin on Saturday morning in Gabrielsen Natatorium.

The Lady Bulldogs dispatched the Lady Badgers with a score of 200-148, while the Bulldogs outscored the Badgers 206.5-141.5. Both Georgia teams are undefeated this season at 4-0.

“This feels good,” head coach Jack Bauerle said. “I think we did some pretty good racing today and that’s the most important thing. We got exactly what we wanted out of today; some tough races and our kids had to race to win.”

SEC Female Swimmer of the Week Meaghan Raab earned victories in the 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley, clocking in at 2:14.63 and 2:01.01, respectively. 

Olivia Smoliga finished first in the 100 freestyle in 49.47 and Meryn McCann won the 200 backstroke in 1:56.19. Veronica Burchill stopped the clock in 54.36 to win the 100 butterfly.

Madison Duvall posted a 297.00 to win the 1-meter springboard.

Smoliga, Emily Cameron, Chelsea Britt and Chantal Van Landeghem combined for the win in the 200 medley relay, stopping the clock in 1:40.33. Smoliga, Van Landeghem, Cameron and Burchill also posted the fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:19.52.

Chase Kalisz posted the fastest time in the country this year in the 200 individual medley (1:44.20) to win the event. Javier Acevedo won the 100 freestyle in 44.09 and Jay Litherland took the top spot in the 200 backstroke in 1:45.73. Gunnar Bentz earned a victory in the 200 breaststroke in 2:03.54.

SEC Male Swimmer of the Week Pace Clark tied for first in the 100 butterfly with Wisconsin’s Harrison Tran, both finishing in 47.94. 

Ian Forlini won the 3-meter springboard with a score of 365.85.

The Lady Bulldogs extended their home win streak to 102 consecutive dual or tri meet wins, dating back to the 1995 season.

Georgia’s teams will travel to Columbia, Mo. to take on the Missouri Tigers on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.

PRESS RELEASE – WISCONSIN:

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin closed out its final day of dual-meet action against Georgia, accumulating five wins Saturday to round out its weekend in Athens.

Georgia remains undefeated this season, topping the Badgers women 200-148 and the men 206.5-141.5.

Cierra Runge and Matt Hutchins once again proved that they’re amongst the top distance freestylers in the nation, with both winning their respective 500-yard freestyle events in some of the top times in the country.

Runge went on to win her race in 4 minutes, 44.17 seconds, which is slotted at the sixth-fastest time in the nation, while Hutchins sealed victory in the men’s race in 4:22.73, the fourth-ranked time in the country.
Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s 400 free relay teams each notched top-four times nationally, with the women’s team of Chase Kinney, Emmy Sehmann, Jess Unicomband Runge placing second in 3:19.58, good for the fourth-fastest time in the nation.

On the men’s side, the relay team of Cannon Clifton, Hutchins, Ryan Stack and Brett Pinfold closed out the meet with a win, clinching victory with the third-ranked time in the country (2:56.74).

The Badgers men also opened the day with a relay victory. The 200 medley relay team of Pinfold, Griffin Back, Harrison Tran and Clifton clinched the win for the team in 1:30.19.

The Wisconsin women also found success in their 200 medley relay, with the team of Unicomb, Marissa Berg, Beata Nelson and Kinney finishing runner-up with a time of 1:41.02.

Tran also came away with a win for Wisconsin, tying for first in the 100 butterfly (47.94) along with Georgia’s Pace Clark, the Bulldogs’ school record-holder in the event.

After sweeping the 50 free events Friday, both Clifton and Kinney garnered second-place finishes in the 100 free, with Clifton touching the wall in 44.24 and Kinney recording a time of 49.73.

Junior Todd McCarthy also posted a runner-up finish for UW, logging a time of 1:46.82 in the men’s 200 backstroke.

A pair of freshmen stood out with second-place honors in Athens, as Nelson earned a runner-up finish in the women’s 200 backstroke (1:57.62) and Cooper Hodge notched a second-place showing in the men’s 200 breaststroke (2:05.38).

On the diving boards, Hazel Hertting and Ashley Peterson led Wisconsin on the 1-meter springboard, finishing 2-3 with scores of 296.33 and 293.40, respectively.

Freshman Kevin Pomeroy highlighted the Badgers men on the 3-meter board, earning runner-up accolades with a tally of 356.25 points.

A select group of Badgers will be back in action next week in Indianapolis, representing the Big Ten in the inaugural USA College Challenge. The two-day competition will be held from Nov. 12-13 and will air live on BTN.