PREVIEW: Several SEC Powerhouses to Descend Upon Georgia Tech Invite

2018 GEORGIA TECH INVITE

• November 15-17, 2018
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Meet info

Georgia Tech is set to host its mid-season invite this week, but it may be a couple of SEC programs who end up stealing the show. Among the visiting schools will be Florida, whose men are ranked #3 and women #10 in the country by the CSCAA.

TEAMS

• Georgia Tech (M/W)
• Florida (M/W)
• Alabama (M/W)
• Florida State (M/W)
• Auburn (M/W)
• South Carolina (M/W)
• UNC (M/W)
• Virginia Tech (M/W)
• FGCU (W)
• East Carolina (M/W)

Past Florida, SEC powers Auburn and Alabama will be in attendance, along with the South Carolina Gamecocks. In addition, UNC, Florida State, and Virginia Tech of the ACC will compete, along with East Carolina and the FGCU women.

All in all, this is a big meet, with a ton of ranked talent on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Florida men are the strongest program here — we’ll get a chance to see their talented freshman class at their first rest meet (though how much rest they’ll get is unknown). Namely, Kacper Stokowski, Kieran Smith, Bobby Finke, and Trey Freeman have been on a tear this season, and they may end up producing some lifetime bests with some suited up swims. Khader Baqlah and Maxime Rooney have been exceptional this year, too. The UF women have been buoyed by first-year standouts Vanessa Pearl, Mabel Zavaros, and Leah Braswell, too.

Other men to watch will be Alabama’s Zane Waddell, Robert Howard, and Laurent Bams, FSU sprinters Kanoa Kaleoaloha and Will Pisani, South Carolina’s Finn Mynuth and Lionel Khoo, and Virginia Tech’s Lane Stone and Ian Ho, among others.

Emma Barksdale of South Carolina and Ida Hulkko of FSU have been very solid this year, while the Auburn women looked like a completely new team with a huge win over UVA, at UVA the other weekend. Sophie Lindner of UNC is yet another name to watch — the freshman has already gone personal bests in dual meets.