Georgia has narrow lead after Day 1

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Georgia women's swimming and diving team stands first after one day of competition at the NCAA Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The Lady Bulldogs, who have won the past two national titles, rolled up 172 points on Thursday. California stands second with 162 points.

"We had a heck of a day and we're proud to be walking out of the pool with the first-day lead," Georgia coach Jack Bauerle said. "Our ladies came in excited and ready to go. If you had told me coming in that we'd have 172 points on the first day, I'd have taken it. It was a job well done because there are so many great teams here. Our young ladies really set the tone with an excellent morning session. These meets are always won in the mornings and we need another good one on Friday."

Georgia opened the night by placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Maddie Locus, Chantal Van Landeghem, Olivia Smoliga and Lauren Harrington stopped the clock in 1:26.93.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Amber McDermott paced the Lady Bulldogs as she came in fourth in 4:35.31. Hali Flickinger placed sixth in 4:37.40, followed by Brittany MacLean in seventh at 4:38.05 and Rachel Zilinskas in eighth in 4:39.22. Jordan Mattern won the consolation final in 4:36.49 to take ninth.

Annie Zhu touched in 1:57.46 to wind up eighth in the 200-yard individual medley. Meaghan Raab finished 12th with a time of 1:56.65, while Emily Cameron claimed 13th in 1:56.83.

Locus led the way for Georgia in the 50-yard freestyle by placing fifth in 21.80. Van Landeghem secured sixth in 21.97 and Smoliga went 22.09 for eighth.

The 400-yard medley relay of Kylie Stewart, Zhu, Harrington and Van Landeghem finished eighth in 3:31.91.