Zach Yeadon Pulls Off Impressive 1650/200 Free Double Versus GA Tech

GEORGIA TECH vs NOTRE DAME vs MIAMI (WOMEN)

• Saturday, October 20th
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

• Notre Dame – 200, Miami – 59
• Notre Dame – 200, Georgia Tech – 60
• Georgia Tech – 165, Miami – 93

MEN

1. Notre Dame – 132
2. Georgia Tech – 130

Notre Dame swept in a women’s double dual with Georgia Tech and Miami, and men’s dual with Georgia Tech. ND distance star Zach Yeadon kicked off his meet with a quick dual meet 1650 time of 15:17.10. The mile is not often swum at dual meets, however, it still is noteworthy that Yeadon’s leading the NCAA by 21 seconds so far this season. Adding to the magnitude of that swim, Yeadon then won the 200 free with a 1:37.37, with only the women’s 200 free between his mile and the 200. Yeadon’s personal best in the 200 is 1:36.12, marking a stunningly good and incredibly difficult double for Yeadon. He also went on to win the 500 with a 4:26.70. His 200 free time is currently tied for 9th nationally this season. Lindsay Stone, Notre Dame’s women’s distance star, posted a speedy 16:38.71 to win the women’s mile.

Georgia Tech sophomore Caio Pumputis posted some fast times for a triple event win. He started with a 3:50.83 in the 400 IM, the 2nd fastest time in the NCAA this season, only .22 seconds behind Grant Sanders (Florida). Pumputis then swam a very quick 48.65 in the 100 IM. which is another event rarely swum in the NCAA. He capped his individual performances with a 55.40 in the 100 breast.

Notre Dame went 1-2-3-4-5-6 in the women’s 50 free. Juniors Katie Smith (23.32) and Abbie Dolan (23.41) led the way, followed by sophomores Cailey Grunhard (23.63) and Carly Quast (23.87), and senior Sofia Revilak (23.91) and sophomore Rachel Wittmer (23.95). Dolan also split 22.86 on the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay, and 49.26 anchoring the 400 free relay.

PRESS RELEASE – NOTRE DAME:

ATLANTA, Ga. — The Notre Dame swimming and diving teams opened Atlantic Coast Conference action with a sweep over their opponents. The team went a combined 3-0 with the women defeating Miami (200-59) and Georgia Tech (200-60) while the men topped the Yellow Jackets, 132-130. The women finished first overall in all but three events while the men took the top spot in seven events.

For the second meet in a row, sophomore Lindsay Stone finished first in the distance free. Having previously won the 1,000 free, Stone added a first place finish in the 1,650 to her list of accomplishments. Freshman Sinead Eksteen finished first for the Irish in two events, including a first-place finish in the 500 free.

“Our women had an opportunity to show off our versatility and depth today,” head coach Mike Litzinger said. “I’m very excited about the way they are coming together. I am particularly proud of Cailey Grunhard as she continues to develop into one of the ACC’s top butterfliers.”

The 50 free featured all Irish women in the top-five, with Katie Smith taking first (23:32), followed by Abbie Dolan, Cailey Grunhard, Carly Quast and Sofia Revilak. The team also swept two other events, the 400 IM and the 100 fly. Luciana Thomas took first for the Irish in that IM, with Nikki Smith and Sammie Eyolfson finishing just behind her. The 100 fly featured Irish in the top-four spots, with Cailey Grunhard (1st), Abbie Dolan (2nd), Erin Sheehan (3rd) and Rachel Wittmer (4th).

Divers Erin Isola finished first in the 3-meter, while Annie Weise took second in the 1-meter. The 1-meter diving competition saw three of the top-five spots go to the Irish with Isola (3rd) and Kelly Straub finishing fourth.

“We had some dominant performances by our divers and had multiple winners on the swimming side,” he added.

On the men’s side, the team swept the 500 free with Zach Yeadon leading the pack and Max Miranda (2nd) and Sadler McKeen (3rd) rounding out the top-three spots. On the day, Yeadon took home first in three events: the 1,650 free, 200 free and 500 free. Zachary Smith, Tabahn Afrik, Jack Montesi and Austin Flaute all topped the leaderboards, giving the Irish men seven first-place finishes for the 132-130 win over Georgia Tech.

“As predicted it was an exciting meet for our men,” Litzinger sai. “The meet came down to the final event and I was very proud that our guys held their composure and found a way to win. The meet was decided by 2 points and our last relay needed to only get 2nd — in doing so clinched the win.

“Our team grew today and are beginning to explore how good they can be. Zach Yeadon continues to impress and pulled off an incredible double, back to back wins in the 1650 & 200 Freestyles. His time in the 1650 is the fastest in the NCAA so far to date.”

Smith finished first in the 100 fly, an event in which the team took four of the top-five spots (1, 3-5). His time of 48.73 just edged out his Yellow Jacket competitor for the victory. Afrik kept the winning streak alive, finishing first in the 100 free with a time of 44.57 before Jack Montesi (100 back; 48.98) and Zach Yeadon (500 free; 4:26.70) made it four-straight first-place finishes for the team.

Austin Flaute topped the leaderboard in the 3-meter dives, finishing with a score of 349.85.

PRESS RELEASE – GEORGIA TECH:

THE FLATS – It came all the way down to the final relay, but Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving was unable to topple Notre Dame, falling 132-130 on Saturday afternoon at the McAuley Aquatic Center. The women’s team went 1-1 on the day by defeating Miami 165-93, despite dropping a 200-60 decision to Notre Dame.

The men’s team is now 3-1 overall while the women’s team remains at .500 with a 2-2 record.

“I’m disappointed in the result of the men’s meet, obviously, losing so close and being right there,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “But I love the way the team fought and battled through every event to get to that point, never letting up. That’s why you continue to compete and the team’s energy was high all day cheering each other on. Specifically, for the women’s team, I thought they did a nice job. They competed hard and it’s great to be able to defeat Miami.”

The Yellow Jackets will take a few weeks off before heading to West Lafayette, Indiana, and Purdue for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 10-11.

Men’s Highlights

Georgia Tech began the day much like it did yesterday, winning a tough 200 medley relay to give them great energy. The team of Rodrigo Correia, Caio Pumputis, Christian Ferraro and Corben Miles took first place with a time of 1:28.72.

Pumputis then continued his dominance in the medley events, turning in an NCAA B qualifying time of 3:50.83 in the 400 IM to win out – less than half a second shy of a personal record. Pumputis would capture his second gold medal by besting his previous career best in the 100 IM where he won by more than two seconds with a time of 48.86.

Pumputis finished his second three-gold day of the season by winning the 100 breast event with a 55.40. Finishing third for Tech was Jonathan Yang, who turned in a time of 56.60.

Matt Casillas led the Yellow Jackets with an impressive day on the boards. He won the 1-meter with a score of 307.70, while Jacob Kreider (289.95) and Nolan Mallet (289.450) also finished second and third, respectively. In the 3-meter, Casillas finished second with a score of 339.40 while Kreider came in third with 322.55.

Then in the first sprint action of the day, Miles carried over his success from the relay and won the 50 free with a time of 20.31. Also finishing third was freshman Daniel Lim, who swam a 20.78.

Correia and Ferraro both continued their impressive days when they finished second and third, respectively in the 200 free. Correia turned in a time of 1:37.79 for second, while Ferraro broke his personal record in the event with a 1:39.41 for third. Ferraro concluded his individual day with a second-place finish in the 100 fly, turning in a time of 48.81.

Lim was then able to score in the 100 free with a second-place time of 44.64 before Correia got another top-three finish with a third-place 44.72.

Freshman Kyle Barone continued his strong inaugural start for Tech, finishing second in the 100 back.  Joonas Koski was also able to finish third in the 1650 free when he swam a 16:14.60.

It all came down to the final event of the day, however, in the 400 free relay. To win, Georgia Tech needed both a first and second finish. The squad of Lim, Albert Zhi, Austin Daniel and Aidan Pastel took care of part one by winning the knock-down-drag-out race with a time of 2:59.96.

The second-place was dramatically up for grabs as both lanes went back and forth, but unfortunately, Tech’s squad of Correia, Ferraro, Miles and Clay Hering, who dropped to third place by 0.76 seconds at 3:00.91.

Women’s Highlights

Iris Wang hit her stride early when she won the 200 free with a time of 1:49.47. Wang was then able to finish second in the 100 free with a time of 50.78, before Celine Nugent finished fifth (52.55).

Freshman Morgan Johnson started the day off strong for the Yellow Jackets when she placed second in the 1650 free with a time of 17:17.93. Right behind her was Camille Long, who swam a 17:19.23.

Finishing second and third, respectively, for the Jackets in the 100 back was Allie Paschal (55.84) and Sara Gilbert (57.10). They were followed closely by teammate Grace Mauldin, who finished with a time of 57.75 (fifth).

Emily Ilgenfritz then kicked hard to a third-place finish in the 500 free.

In the 400 IM, Kristen Hepler and Catriona MacGregor finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Hepler turned in a time of 3:29.43, while MacGregor swam a 4:34.91. Then Chloe Miller finished fifth in the 100 fly with a 56.53, before MacGregor was able to take fifth-place in the 100 IM with a time of 58.68.

Camryn Hidalgo led the women’s diving effort, finishing fifth in the 1-meter with a score of 255.25. Carly Doi was just behind her with a sixth-place score of 254.20. Hidalgo then finished fourth in the 3-meter with a score of 284.05.

In the final event of the day, the 400 free relay, Georgia Tech finished third as the team of Wang, Nugent, Ilgenfritz and Gilbert fought to a 3:28.13 time.

Tech Tidbits

* Sophomore Christian Ferraro set a new career-best time in the men’s 200 free when he swam a 1:39.41 for third place.

* Sophomore Caio Pumputis turned an NCAA B qualifying time of 3:50.83 in the men’s 400 IM.

* Pumputis also set a new career best in the men’s 100 IM when he turned in a time of 48.65 for first place.

* Sophomore Jonathan Vater tied his career-best effort in the men’s 100 fly when he recorded a 53.03.

* Senior Lila Best recorded a new personal record in the women’s 100 fly when she swam a 58.44.

PRESS RELEASE – MIAMI:

ATLANTA — The Miami Hurricanes fell in their tri-meet with Georgia Tech and Notre Dame Saturday afternoon, dropping matchups with the Yellow Jackets and Fighting Irish at the McAuley Aquatic Center.

Among Miami’s impressive performers Saturday was diver Millie Haffety, who picked up her third win of the weekend with a score of 294.60 on the 1-meter springboard, besting Notre Dame’s Annie Wiese (274.20) for the top finish in the event. She would go on to add a third-place finish in the 3-meter (293.70).

Freshman swimmer Zorry Mason continued a fantastic weekend with the afternoon’s top time in the 100 IM (57.33), more than a half-second better than Notre Dame’s Rachel Wittmer (57.91), who took second in the event.

Junior Claire McGinnis had an early fifth-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle (17:44.90) while sophomore Carmen San Nicolas Martinez posted Miami’s best time in the 200 free (1:53.13).

Mason took sixth in the 100 fly (56.76) before narrowly missing out on her second win of the day in the 100 breast. Mason, one of Miami’s top point-getters in her first collegiate season, finished in 1:03.93 – just a second short of Notre Dame’s Meaghan O’Donnell (1:02.84).

Freshman Coco Hull, San Nicolas Martinez, senior Roxanne Yu and sophomore Sydney Knapp ended the afternoon with a time of 3:32.87 in the 400 medley relay.

The Hurricanes return to training before hosting back-to-back meets in early November. Miami welcomes Boston College on Nov. 2 for a dual meet at 3 p.m., and will face off against the Eagles and FAU in a tri-meet on Nov. 3, slated for a 9:30 a.m. start time.