ATHENS, Ga. - Day Two of the 2001 Georgia Swimming and Diving Fall Invitational at the Gabrielsen Natatorium saw the Georgia women and Minnesota men extend their leads going into the final day of competition. The invitational continues Sunday with prelims at 9:30 a.m. and finals slated for 3 p.m.

"We are really excited to be in front on the women's side because Northwestern, Florida State, Alabama and Michigan are all good teams," said head coach Jack Bauerle. "I am just proud of how we raced and hopefully tomorrow we can move up a spot on the men's side and keep our lead on the women's."

Georgia began the night with a third-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of Neka Mabry, Lindsay Ertter, Maritza Correia and Stefanie Williams clocked in with an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:42.52. Freshman Katie Yevak and senior Morgan Fleming finished 1-2 in the women?s 400-yard individual medley. Five Lady Bulldogs finished in the top 10 in that event. Yevak continued her impressive performance with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Stephanie Buck finished 16th.

Williams picked up her second individual win of the invitational with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a season-best and NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 1:46.00. Correia finished third and Paige Kearns took 11th in the event. Ashley Roby, who sang the national anthem before Saturday?s finals, and Ertter both made the 100-yard breaststroke final, finishing seventh and fourth, respectively. Mabry?s time of 55.92 in the 100-yard backstroke was good for second place, while Williams was close behind in fifth. The Lady Bulldogs capped the evening with a first-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:21.42.

"I think the swimmer of the meet thus far has been Stefanie Williams in the 200 free," said Bauerle. "That is the fastest time in the country (in that event) right now. That is a great swim, and she still has gas in her tank. I think that she will be even better come March."

"We are not all the way together when we are not healthy, and we are not as we have been in the last few years where we could afford someone to be hurt," added Bauerle. "We are starting to come together piece-by-piece, especially when we get Julie Hardt back. Rebecca Rose did a great job in the relay and that is great news. We are going to have to fight for everything we get on both teams."

The men had six swimmers score in the 400-yard individual medley, paced by Brent McAuliffe and Randy Lam, who finished fourth and eighth, respectively. A pair of seniors represented Georgia in the 100-yard butterfly final, as Jason Gagnon (fourth) and Brian Scannell (sixth) finished in the top eight. The Bulldogs captured sixth in the 200-yard medley relay. Nicolas Kintz took fourth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.45) followed by Matt Brado in seventh.

Georgia got a big boost with the performance of the divers, as Kris Daugherty won the 1-meter springboard with a score of 296.40. Freshman Todd Avery took fourth with a score of 281.35. On the women?s side, Molly Purvis and Brooke Bassham finished sixth and seventh, respectively, on the 3-meter.

"(The men) moved up a lot on Florida State today," added Bauerle. "I think we just raced better today and we figured we would. Nicolas Kintz did a great job in the 200 free, and we are really happy with how we raced."

The 2001 Georgia Fall Invitational will conclude on Sunday. Morning prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. with the finals slated for 3 p.m.

Women's Day Two Scores:
University of Georgia 580
Northwestern University 405
Florida State University 390.50
University of Alabama 354
University of Michigan 336
University of Minnesota 317.50
Clemson University 266
Florida Atlantic University 81
Georgia Tech 35

Men's Day Two Scores:
University of Minnesota 687
University of Alabama 494
Florida State University 413
University of Georgia 405
Clemson University 276
Georgia Tech 228
Florida Atlantic University 191
Auburn University 66