Bulldog Men Finish First at Tennessee Invitational

Saturday, November 23

Knoxville, Tenn.

10:00 AM (Prelims) | 5:00 PM (Finals)

University of Georgia

Tennessee Invitational

November 23, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Complete Results

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Powered by a plethora of season-best and record-setting performances, University of Georgia swimming and diving earned a pair of top-two team finishes at the Tennessee Invitational Saturday evening at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

The Bulldog men claimed the overall invitational victory with 961 points, besting No. 4 Indiana by 19, while the Lady Bulldogs placed second with 984.5 points, trailing only the second-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 1068.5 points. During the three-day event, both teams combined for seven individual victories, including four from the diving well.

Saturday's finals began with Georgia's first 1,650 freestyle races of the season, highlighted by junior Olivia Anderson's second-place finish in the women's final. Anderson's time of 16:00.84 set a new personal best, while senior Jordan Stout also set a new PR at 16:26.34 in eighth place. In the men's race, junior Greg Reed placed third with a time of 14:51.77, with teammates Kevin Miller, Walker Higgins, Andrew Abruzzo and Aaron Apel all scoring for the Bulldogs.

In the men's 200 backstroke, freshmen Ian Grum and Harry Homans burst onto the school record book with top-ten performances. Grum's fourth-place time of 1:42.61 in the final places him eighth in school history, while Homans ranks ninth with the mark of 1:42.62 he tallied in the prelims. In the women's 200, senior Meryn McCann placed fourth with a season-best 1:54.38, followed closely by sophomore Maddie Homovich in sixth.

Following her record-breaking performance in the 100 breaststroke on Friday, freshman Zoie Hartman continued to place her name in the all-time standings with her runner-up time of 2:07.43 in the 200, claiming the No. 3 slot in school history. In the prelims, her time of 2:08.38 temporarily gave her possession of the fourth-best mark in program history.

Also in the 200 final, junior Danielle Della Torre placed fifth with a season-best time of 2:09.20, followed by Sofia Carnevale's sixth-place time of 2:10.70. Fellow junior Jack Dalmolin took fourth in the men's 200 breast with his best time of the season, 1:56.11, after placing first in the prelims.

In the women's 200 fly, the Lady Bulldogs swept the top two positions with sophomore Dakota Luther posting a season-best time of 1:53.22 in victory, while junior Courtney Harnish set a new PR of 1:54.39 in second place, giving her the seventh-best time in school history. Earlier in the evening, senior Veronica Burchill earned her third top-three finish of the weekend with a season-best mark of 47.75 in the 100 freestyle.

The final individual event of the meet, the men's 200 fly, proved to be a critical race in helping to clinch the overall team victory. Junior Camden Murphy took second with a season-best time of 1:42.49, joined by Homans in fourth at 1:43.31, following his first-place time in the prelims. Elsewhere, senior Clayton Forde, sophomores Caleb Harrington and Ananda Lim, along with Reed worked to amass the necessary 70 points needed by the Bulldogs to seal the win.

In addition to the performances turned in in the A finals, three Bulldogs took first in B finals. Sophomore Callie Dickinson won her second B final of the meet in the 200 fly (1:56.97), while freshman Ashley McCauley topped the 200 breaststroke (2:10.14). Finally, senior Jackson Ford prevailed in the men's 200 breast B-final with a time of 1:57.03.

During the closing 400 free relays, the Lady Bulldogs' A-team (Burchill, Hartman, Harnish, Della Torre) placed third with a season-best B-cut of 3:15.09, while the Bulldog men finished fourth with a time of 2:53.87.

In diving, senior Freida Lim earned her first win of the season in the platform with a zone-qualifying score of 261.60, while junior Zach Allen placed second in the men's competition with 247.50 points.

Following the conclusion of the Invitational, a select group of Georgia swimmers will remain in Knoxville to compete in a long course session on Sunday morning. The event will benefit team members seeking to secure qualifying times for national and international competition. The long course event serves as the final event of the fall semester for Georgia swimming and diving, with the full team returning to competition against Texas A&M on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

For all news and updates about Georgia swimming and diving, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@UGASwimDive), Instagram (@ugaswimdive), and Facebook (UGA Swimming and Diving).