ATLANTA, Ga. – On the second day of action for the Brandeis University swimming and diving teams – the third overall of the University Athletic Association championships – the Judges sent seven individual swimmers to the evening session, up from two on the first day of action. The meet is being held at Emory University.
Brandeis will have two competitors in the 'B' finals of their events. Junior Bailey Gold (Berkeley Heights, N.J. / Governor Livingston) of the women had the highest finish of the day, placing 14th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.56 seconds. She was 0.34 seconds off of her own school record in the event and just over a second out of the 'A' final. On the men's side, senior Benton Ferebee (Germantown, Tenn. / Memphis University School) picked up the last spot in the 'B' finals in the 100-yard backstroke, placing 16th with a time of 52.19 seconds. The time was the second-fastest in school history, breaking Ferebee's previous lifetime best by more than a second. He was 0.12 seconds ahead of the 17th-place finisher and half a second out of 15th place.
Also reaching this evening's finals, all in the 'C' finals, are junior Aria Smith (Elkridge, Md. / St. Timothy's School), who placed 23rd in the women's 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:01.06; junior James Barno (Ballston Spa, N.Y. / Ballston Spa), who came in 20th in the 100 fly for the men with a time of 50.66 seconds, the second-fastest in program history and 0.52 out of the 'B' final; senior Olivia Stebbins (Willington, Conn. / Edwin O. Smith) in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.25, good for 23rd place; senior Brendon Lu (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Ridge), who was 21st in the 100 breaststroke for the men in 57.71, lowering his career-best performance by nearly half a second to just three-tenths of a second off the school record; and sophomore Monica Iizuka (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham), who earned the final scoring spot in the women's 100 back by 0.16 seconds with a time of 58.91 seconds.
In the prelims' two relays, the 200 medley, the women placed sixth, while the men were ninth. The women's team of Iizuka, Stebbins, Gold and junior Ema Rennie (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Scioto) turned in a time of 1:48.46, ahead of both NYU and Washington U, and just a 0.03 behind Carnegie Mellon for fifth place. The men's squad consisted of Ferebee, Lu, Barno and sophomore Sam Dienstag (Wilmette, Ill. / New Trier), and they swam a time of 1:34.25, 0.09 off school-record pace.
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In the evening session, on the women's side, Gold finished 14th in the B final of the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.15, lowering her own school record by .07 seconds. Iizuka finished 22nd in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.38, 0.53 seconds faster than her morning swim. Smith finished 23 in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:00.52, 1.08 seconds faster than this morning. Stebbins finished 24th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11.50, 1.25 seconds off her morning swim. The 200-yard medley relay team of Iizuka, Stebbins, Gold, and Rennie finished in 6th place with a time of 1:47.46, 0.21 seconds off their own school record. The 800-yard freestyle relay of Gold, Rennie, first-year Chloe Gonzalez (Miami Beach, Fla. / Miami Beach Senior), and sophomore Maya Haubrich (Grayslake, Ill. / Grayslake) finished 8th with a time of 7:57.33.
On the men's side, Ferebee finished 16th in the B final of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.79, 0.60 seconds off his morning swim. Lu moved up in the C final of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.36, finishing 18th and setting a new school record by .05 seconds. Barno finished 21st in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.97, 0.31 seconds off of his time from the morning. Both men's 'A' relays came in 7th place. The 200-yard medley relay team of Ferebee, Lu, Barno, and Dienstag finished with a time of 1:33.52, breaking the previous school record by 0.11 seconds. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Dienstag, Barno, first-year Tal Spector (Phoenix, Ariz. / Herberger Young Scholars Academy), and Lu finished with a time of 6:59.16, narrowly missing the school record by 0.12 seconds.
In the team standings, both Brandeis teams are eighth place after Day 3 of the UAA championships. The men are just 14 points behind Rochester with 316 total points going into the final day, while the women are 67.5 points behind Rochester with 304.5 points.
The UAA Championships conclude tomorrow, Saturday, February 12th. You can follow the evening finals and the rest of the action on video at https://emory.prestosports.com/sports/mswimdive/live .