Lady Bulldog swimmers second, Bulldogs 12th in final dual meet rankings

By The Red and Black Archives on March 1, 2009

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs finished the season ranked second and the Bulldogs 12th in the final College Swim Coaches Association of America dual meet rankings released Thursday night.

The Lady Bulldogs finished with three out of 10 possible first-place votes and recorded 293 total points. Stanford finished No. 1 overall with seven first place votes and 297 total points. Georgia finished the year with a 9-0 record and a 5-0 conference mark and extended its home dual meet winning streak to 65.

It was the ninth time in 13 seasons the Lady Bulldogs have finished with an undefeated season and 10th overall. Georgia finished third, just 19 points out of first place, at the 2009 SEC Championships.

“We are privileged to be ranked so high,” head coach Jack Bauerle said. “We had high aspirations for this season and it started with the dual meet season before we get to championships. I am proud of how our ladies raced and they did a heck of a job throughout the season. We had many great meets with Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas.”

The Bulldogs finished with 189 total points in the men’s poll, which was led by Stanford. The Cardinal finished with all 10 first-place votes and 300 total points. Georgia finished the season with a 5-4 record and a 2-3 mark in the conference and recently finished fourth at the 2009 SEC Championships.

“We couldn’t be happier for the guys,” Bauerle said. “At this point last year, we were 12th or 13th, and our challenge to them this year was to be as good or better. We had three NCAA champions graduate and we have done a great job of replacing their points.”

The Lady Bulldogs led five Southeastern Conference schools in the poll, with Florida finishing fifth, Auburn sixth, Tennessee seventh and Arkansas 19th. For the men, Auburn finished fifth to lead the SEC in the poll. Florida checked in seventh, Tennessee was 10th, LSU finished 17th and Kentucky finished 23rd.

Georgia will host the Bulldog Last Chance Invitational this weekend, the teams’ final opportunity to qualify individuals for the NCAA Championships of NCAA Zone Diving competition. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday with finals starting at 5 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Final CSCAA Dual-Meet Rankings
Women’s Top 25
1. Stanford
2. Georgia
3. Texas*
4. Arizona
5. Florida*
6. Auburn*
7. Tennessee*
8. Texas A&M
9. California
10. Southern California
11. Minnesota
12. Virginia
13. Indiana
14. Wisconsin
15. Penn State
16. Southern Methodist*
17. North Carolina*
18. UCLA
19. Arkansas
20. Princeton
21. Virginia Tech
22. Louisville
23. Northwestern
24. Washington
25. Harvard

Men’s Top 25
1. Stanford
2. Arizona
3. Texas*
4. Michigan
5. Auburn*
6. California
7. Florida*
8. Indiana
9. Ohio State
10. Tennessee*
11. Minnesota
12. Georgia
13. Virginia
14. Purdue
15. North Carolina*
16. Princeton
17. LSU
18. Southern Methodist*
19. Louisville
20. Harvard
21. Florida State
22. Penn State
23. Kentucky
24. UNLV
25. Southern California