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Swimming competes in Georgia Fall Invite

Women place third, men place fourth in three-day meet

<p>Senior Kaitlyn Jones took first place in the 200-yard butterfly, beating out teammate junior Jennifer Marrkand.&nbsp;</p>

Senior Kaitlyn Jones took first place in the 200-yard butterfly, beating out teammate junior Jennifer Marrkand. 

The Virginia swimming and diving teams traveled to Athens, Ga. this weekend to compete in the University of Georgia’s Fall Invitational. The meet featured some of the nation’s most competitive teams, including Georgia, University of California-Berkeley and Michigan.

After three days, the No. 5 Cavalier women’s team (3-0, 1-0 ACC) finished third with a score of 716. No. 10 UC Berkeley (2-1, 2-0 Pac 12) took first place with 914 points, and No. 2 Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) took second with a score of 821.

On the men’s side, Virginia (2-1, 1-0 ACC) finished fourth, with a score of 608.5. No. 6 UC Berkeley (1-0), No. 13 Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) and No. 17 Auburn (5-0, 4-0 SEC) finished first, second and third respectively.

Despite what may appear to be lackluster performances when compared with the other teams at the meet, the Cavaliers used the Georgia Fall Invite to prepare themselves for the ACC and NCAA tournaments after the New Year that are sure to be hotly contested.

Many Virginia swimmers, including some freshmen, had season-best times at the event — many also made NCAA qualifying times.

Standout swimmers included senior Kaitlyn Jones and junior Jennifer Marrkand, who finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly.

Virginia will use its experience against faster teams at the Georgia Invite to its advantage in meets after the winter break, when it faces teams not as talented as those it saw this past weekend.

The Cavaliers’ next meet against Virginia Tech is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 13, at the Aquatics and Fitness Center in Charlottesville.

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