Duke Women Shine in Split with Georgia Tech

Saturday, January 17

Atlanta, Ga.

11:00 AM

Duke University

Georgia Tech

Duke Women Shine in Split with Georgia Tech

1/17/2015 2:18:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

By: Duke Sports Information

ATLANTA - The Blue Devil women earned first-place finishes in 12 of 16 events to top Georgia Tech by a 196-104 score Saturday at the Yellow Jackets' Aquatic Center. With the dual meet victory, the squad improved to 8-1 on the season (2-1 ACC) for the program's most wins since the 2007-08 campaign.

On the men's side, Duke dropped a 200-88 decision to Georgia Tech to slip to 4-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

“It's always great to come swim in a world-class facility,” said head coach Dan Colella. “Our women did a much better job of really swimming with some intensity and determination from start to finish today. Last week we had such a great start, then had a little lull, but came back strong. Today we were able to come out of the gate strong and maintain all the way through. It was a much better team effort and as a result we came away with a nice victory.”

The women kicked off the meet in strong fashion, touching first in the 400-yard medley relay. Sophomore Jessie Sutherland, sophomore Ashleigh Shanley, freshman Isabella Paez and sophomore Maddie Rusch combined for a time of 3:49.19, while the Blue Devils' 'B' team was third in 3:53.96.

Women's swimmers notched individual victories in the next two events, with freshman Verity Abel leading a one-two finish by her and sophomore Lindsay Schlichte in the 1,650 freestyle and sophomore Brittany Friese headlining a Duke sweep in the 200 freestyle. Friese was first to the wall in 1:52.40 in that race, followed by Paez in a season-best 1:54.24 and sophomore Liza Bragg at 1:55.18.

After freshman Hanna House took second in the 100 backstroke, Duke women won the next three events to increase their lead over the Yellow Jackets. Goldman was the top finisher in the 100 breaststroke, recording a season-best time of 1:04.12, while Shanley was second (1:04.79). Sophomore Colleen Wixted followed by taking first in the 200 butterfly (2:04.36) and Rusch won the 50 freestyle in 23.45.

“We had people with some great swims today,” Colella said. “Brittany Friese early on had a really great 200 free. It might have been her best in-season, and it set her up for the 500 free later on. Leah Goldman continues to impress with her individual wins.”

The Blue Devil divers contributed scoring as well, as sophomore Kirby Quinn placed second in the women's 3-meter springboard competition (279.15), junior Kendall McClenney third (272.48) and freshman MaryEllen Targonski fourth (266.33).

With the Duke women leading Georgia Tech 99-51 at the first break, Goldman collected her second individual win of the day in the 100 freestyle (51.93) and Bragg added a first-place showing in the 200 backstroke (2:04.07). Paez (5:03.61) and Friese (5:04.65) went one-two in the 500 freestyle and after Targonski paced the divers in the 1-meter event with a second-place finish (279.30), Goldman won her third event, the 100 butterfly. Her time of 55.53 led the field while Rusch was second (55.67) and junior Linsay Cooper third (57.17).

Freshman Lizzie Devitt, junior Kiera Molloy, Abel and Bragg claimed the top four spots in the 400 IM, and the women closed out the afternoon with a first-place performance by Goldman, Rusch, Cooper and junior Kathryn Eckhart in the 400 freestyle relay (3:30.68).

Sophomore Peter Kropp was a double winner for the Blue Devil men, taking the 100 (55.33) and 200 (2:02.44) breaststroke. Sophomore Michael Miller clocked a season-best mark of 4:01.03 to best the field in the 400 IM and was second in the 200 butterfly, while classmate Bradley Cline turned in a first-place showing in the 200 backstroke (1:50.61) and touched second in the 200 freestyle and the 400 IM. In addition, freshman Marco Hosfeld came in fourth in both distance events.

“On the men's side we had some nice individual swims,” Colella said. “Hats off to [Georgia Tech head coach] Courtney [Shealy Hart] and her staff. They've been doing a great job and have been ranked in the top 25 almost all season. Our guys did a great job of racing with these guys today. We won some individual events and broke them up in some events they could have dominated.”

Following a week off of competition, Duke wraps up the regular season Friday, Jan. 30 in a 5 p.m. dual meet at North Carolina.

Team Scores
Duke Women 196, Georgia Tech Women 104
Georgia Tech Men 200, Duke Men 88

Top Duke Finishers by Event
Women's 400-Yard Medley Relay: Jessie Sutherland, Ashleigh Shanley, Isabella Paez, Maddie Rusch (1st), 3:49.19
Men's 400-Yard Medley Relay: Joey Maginnis, Mike Seaberg, Michael Miller, Benedict Parfit (3rd), 3:27.32