Swimming and Diving Completes Strong Last Day at Big Al Invitational

Thursday, November 30

Princeton, NJ

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George Washington University

Princeton Big Al Invitational

Djurdje Matic swimming 200 fly at the Smith CEnter

Swimming and Diving Completes Strong Last Day at Big Al Invitational

12/3/2023 8:42:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Matic breaks own GW record twice on final day of competition

PRINCETON, N.J. - Another three program records went by the wayside on Sunday as GW raced to the finish of the Big Al Invitational and closed its 2023 fall slate. GW's women's team finished the invitational in third place with 574 points, while GW's men's side finished in sixth place with 394.5 points.

MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

Djurdje Matic finished the 100-yard freestyle in second place (43.33), breaking his previous program record in the event (43.42). Toni Dragoja swam the B-final in the 100-yard freestyle and came in seventh place (45.85).
Ben Bradley and Holden Wheeler each had top-eight performances in the platform dive, coming in fifth (252.90) and sixth (248.10), respectively.
Misha Lyubavskiy had GW's fastest mile time (15:31.05) and finished in eighth place.
Daniel Nagy came in eighth place (1:47.71) in the 200-yard butterfly A-final in the final individual race of the meet.

In the 200-yard backstroke B-final, Ganesh Sivaramakrishnan came in third (1:46.82), while Karol Mlynarczyk came in eighth (1:49.30)
GW's 400-yard medley A relay closed the invitational with a fifth place finish (2:57.03), swam by Matic, AJ Wood, Dragoja and Sivaramakrishnan. Matic led off the relay with a 43.29 split, shaving .04 off his 100-yard freestyle finals time and further lowering his new GW record.

WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

Sophomore Phoebe Wright broke her previous GW record (1:56.04) while taking first place in the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.22) for GW's lone win of the day. Barbara Schaal, after breaking the GW record in the 100-yard backstroke yesterday, came in fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:56.73), nearing her personal-best time.
Dara Reyblat set a new GW record in the platform dive and finished fifth in the event (232.65). Olivia Rosen also broke the standing record and finished one spot behind Reyblat in sixth (224.20).
Ava Topolewski and Moriah Freitas swam in the final individual event of the weekend, the 200-yard butterfly, where Freitas took home fourth (1:59.51) and Topolewski took home fifth (2:00.63).
A day after breaking the GW program record in the 100-yard breaststroke, Ava DeAngelis broke her personal best in the 200-yard breaststroke and finished the A-final in fourth place (2:14.80).
Topolewski finished fourth in the mile, coming within three seconds of her gold-medal, personal-best time from the 2023 A-10 Championships (16:27.78). Zoe Schneider finished the mile in eighth place and with a new personal best (16:38.08).
GW placed three swimmers in the 100-yard freestyle A-final, Olivia Tighe, Chloe Hernandez and Riley Kudlac, who finished in sixth (50.40), seventh (50.59) and eighth (50.80), respectively.
GW's divers came in second place (272.85) in the team event, 15.75 points behind the leaders, Utah.
Tighe, Marlee Rickert, Wright and Schaal closed out the meet with the 400-yard freestyle A relay, coming in third place (3:20.27), which was just over one second higher than the school record.

FINAL SCORES
Women:
Princeton - 803.5
Penn State - 594.5
George Washington - 574
Pennsylvania - 474.5
North Carolina - 464
Denver - 399.5
Buffalo - 364.5
Cal State Bakersfield - 183.5
Utah - 107
Columbia - 37

Men:
Princeton - 891.5
Penn State - 817
Pennsylvania - 526.5
Denver - 465
Columbia - 434
George Washington - 394.5
North Carolina - 231.5
Cal State Bakersfield - 168
Utah - 77
Army - 6