ATLANTA – The Delta State University men's swimming and diving team tallied 16 top-three finishes Saturday, but ultimately fell to host Georgia Tech, 198-96, on Saturday at the McAuley Aquatic Center. Junior Mattia Schirru and freshman Giulio Brugnoni each snagged an individual event win against the Division I foe.
 
OFF THE STARTING BLOCKS:

• Opponent: Georgia Tech
• Date | Time: Oct. 28, 2017 | 11 a.m. ET
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center
• Final: GT 198 | DSU 96

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Mattia Schirru out-touched Georgia Tech freshman Franco Reyes by .08 seconds to win the event.  His time of 20.94 not only marks a season-best for the All-American, but it also ranks sixth fastest in all of Division II . Schirru later finished second in the 100 free (45.54), barely missing out on his second event win by .04 seconds, and swam the anchor leg of the Statesmen's runner-up 200 free relay.
• Giulio Brugnoni lowered his previous season-best in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking a 48.99 for the Statesmen's second individual event win of the meet Saturday.  With the time drop, the freshman moves from fourth to third in the Division II rankings for the event.  Later in the meet, Brugnoni finished runner-up in the 100 backstroke.  His time of 48.53 was not only another season-best and second fastest nationally, but it is also fourth all-time in school history.  He also joined Schirru on the second-place 200 free relay.  
• Senior Cody Lavoie was a major points' scorer for Delta State, notching three runner-up finishes against the Yellow Jackets.  Lavoie, currently among Division II's top-20 in four events, was second in the 100-yard breaststroke (57.22), 500 freestyle (4:44.34), and 400 individual medley (4:09.04).
• In his first chance to swim the 1650-yard freestyle this season, junior Nathan Sawicki turned in a time of 16:18.59, which is the fourth fastest in Division II as of early Saturday.  Finishing third in the event, Sawicki followed with a fourth-place finish in the 500 free later in the meet.
• Sophomore Kyle Weesner again led the Statesmen on the boards, finishing second in the 1-meter competition and fifth in 3-meter.  Junior Nic Martin and senior Bill Ashwell added points for the Statesmen on 1-meter, placing third and fourth respectively.
• Other individual top-three finishers for Delta State included juniors Gabriel Miranda (200 free, 500 free, 400 IM), Adam Charlton (100 fly), and Keith Lloyd (100 fly).

UP NEXT: On Friday, November 10, the Statesmen head to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for swimming's version of a double-header.  Delta State will swim against Ouachita Baptist in the morning, before taking on Henderson State that evening.