Thirteen teams competed at Brenau University’s Third Annual Invitational at the Frances Meadows Aquatic Center in Gainesville, Georgia. The Savannah College of Art and Design Bees claimed victory in the women’s meet; Limestone College Saints finished atop the men’s side.
The two-day, three-session invitational began with the 200 free relay. University of West Florida (Cheryl Corvo, Peggy de Villiers, Carla Robles, Anna Macht) took the women’s race in 1:38.20. Limestone’s Sean Gunn, Douglas Trigo, Tobias Feigl, and Christian Larsen won the men’s side with 1:25.03.
SCAD women started off the individual events with a 1-2 finish in the 500 free. Caroline Lepesant (5:09.50) took top honors; Emma McKinley finished right behind. On the men’s side SCAD freshman Joel Ax won easily in 4:39.96.
Lindsey Wilson freshman Laura Stephenson won the 200 IM going 2:11.53, .7 ahead of SCAD’s Hannah Legg. In the men’s race it was Duncan Bonney of Birmingham-Southern with 1:56.48 out front. SCAD freshman Karl Hegwein was 1.5 back in second place.
UWF women went 1-2 in the 50 free: de Villiers (24.44) and Emily Mitchell (24.77). Limestone freshman Gunn (21.08) missed the D2 “A” cut by .03 but still won the event. SCAD’s Pat Cardillo was second.
UWF’s 400 medley relay team of Savannah Antonetz, Macht, Corvo, and de Villiers overcame Limestone 3:59.95 to 4:02.47. The Limestone men (Denis Schulz, Feigl, Wesley Poss, and Gunn) beat SCAD 3:29.43 to 3:31.70.
UWF women took the 200 medley relay as well, with Mitchell, Macht, Corvo, and de Villiers. Their 1:49.78 was .9 faster than Limestone. The SCAD men exacted their revenge over Limestone with a 1:35.33 to 1:35.96 victory. SCAD’s relay was composed of Ax, Mark Shvartsman, Styrbjorn Torell, and Cardillo.
Macht of UWF used her strong breaststroke to beat SCAD’s Legg in the 400 IM, 4:35.87 to 4:37.48. JD Rousseau of Darton College was the men’s winner with 4:12.34. Second place went to BSC’s Bonney.
LWC’s Stephenson scored her second win with a 57.67 victory in the 100 fly. UWF’s de Villiers came in second. Limestone’s Gunn won the men’s race using a strong second 50 to out-touch SCAD’s Shvartsman, 52.35 to 52.47.
Limestone women went 1-2 in the 200 free with Emily Reh (1:56.62) and Paty Santa Fe. SCAD’s Ax won his second event in 1:41.03, more than three seconds ahead of Limestone freshman Alan Parsons.
UWF’s Macht and Stephanie Borum of Converse were neck-and-neck in the 100 breast. Both turned at the first 50 in 32.46, but Macht edged Borum out by .04 in the second 50, winning 1:08.18 to 1:08.22. Limestone freshman Feigl took the men’s race with 56.98, 1.5 seconds ahead of teammate Kristofers Pone.
The 100 back belonged to freshman Talia Sola of host Brenau, as she touched in 58.10, 1.3 ahead of Limestone’s Rachel Hickey. Ryan Searles of SCAD cruised to an easy 51.99 victory in the men’s 100 back; second-place Gabe Downey of Darton was over two seconds behind.
The UWF women (de Villiers, Corvo, Antonetz, and Macht) finished another relay in front of Limestone. This time it was the 800 free relay with 7:51.21. The SCAD quartet of Shvartsman, Cardillo, Searles and Ax (6:54.28) finished fourteen seconds in front of Limestone’s men.
SCAD’s Lepesant (17:22.70) won the mile with a twenty-seven second margin over second-place Brenau freshman Courtney Hayward. Lepesant’s teammate Ax (16:11.54) finished twelve seconds head of Darton’s Rousseau.
Hickey of Limestone won the 200 back in 2:07.20. Brenau’s Sola came in second. SCAD went 1-2 in the men’s race with Searles getting his second win in 1:53.44, just ahead of teammate, freshman Hegwein.
The 100 free was an exciting race as UWF’s de Villiers came back from a .60 deficit at the 50 to win over Limestone’s Reh, 52.96 to 53.01. Gunn of Limestone held off a strong finish from SCAD’s Cardillo to win the men’s 100, 46.63 to 46.77.
The 200 breast featured Limestone senior Casey Greener in a well-fought victory over Converse’s Borum, 2:26.66 to 2:27.29. Limestone went 1-2 on the men’s side with Feigl (2:06.26) beating Pone.
SCAD’s Legg won the 200 fly in 2:05.74; Stephenson of LWC was second. Senior Corey Hall of LWC was the men’s winner in 1:56.08. SCAD’s Shvartsman took second.
The UWF women (Macht, Robles, Corvo, de Villiers – 3:36.23) won another relay over Limestone. On the men’s side it was Limestone (Gunn, Trigo, Parsons, Larsen – 3:07.73) over SCAD.
Scores – Women
1. SCAD Savannah 692.5
2. University of West Florida 682.5
3. Limestone College 636
4. Converse College 445
5. Brenau University 334.5
6. Lindsey Wilson College 237
7. Birmingham-Southern College 218
8. South Georgia State College 79.5
9. Milligan College 52
10. Berry College 43
11. Darton College 30
12. LaGrange College 2
Scores – Men
1. Limestone College 827
2. SCAD Savannhah 751
3. Darton College 442
4. Lindsey Wilson College 374.5
5. South Georgia State College 317
6. Birmingham-Southern College 303.5
7. Berry College 276
8. Thomas University 185
9. Milligan College 84
10. LaGrange College 5
Awesome job, Bees!