Competing against some of the top teams in the nation, the Harvard men’s swimming and diving team finished fourth in the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga., this weekend. Fifth-ranked Southern California won the three-day competition with 951 points, followed by the host Bulldogs (884 points), and Missouri (635 points). The Crimson finished with 610.5 points.

Junior Geoff Rathgeber posted several strong individual performances, including a personal-best in the 200 individual medley, in which he placed first with an NCAA-B qualifying time of 1:47.34. The junior also placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke, second in the 100-yard breaststroke, third in the 400-yard IM, and competed on several relay teams as well.

“I was happy with how I swam this weekend,” Rathgeber said. “There were several invitationals going on across the country this weekend, so we could also see the other top swimmers in the nation. I match up pretty well against them right now, but at the same time it shows me what I need to work on in practice over the next eight weeks.”

Harvard stayed in fourth place the entire weekend, displaying its consistency and depth across the board. The Crimson closed the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Additionally, junior Pat Quinn garnered points for Harvard with a seventh-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a sixth in the 100 freestyle.

Captain Jason Degnan-Rojeski reached the A final of the 200 breaststroke, where he finished seventh, and grabbed a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke.

“Jason continued to improve,” Rathgeber said. “He has big shoes to fill. With Dave Cromwell [’05] gone, he’s really had to step up. He’s been finding his grove and dropping his time.”

The Harvard freshman class, one of the largest in recent years, had a strong performance this weekend. Mason Brunnick finished sixth in the 500 freestyle, while classmate Jordan Waterman had solid sprints both individually and as a member of relay teams.

“This was one of the first weekends that Waterman showed he had what it takes to be a future leader of the team,” Quinn said.

Added Rathgeber: “If we’re going to win Easterns, a lot has to come from [the freshmen]. This was a step in the right direction.”

The format of the three-day invitational parallels that of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) Championships, which will take place on Feb. 22-24. The competition this weekend, although unimportant in league standings, allowed Crimson swimmers to measure up with swimmers from across the nation and prepare for Easterns in a similarly-formatted meet. The Crimson will not compete again until Jan. 5, when it travels to Rutgers for a dual meet.

“Our coach, Tim Murphy, emphasized that we just have to focus on the next eight weeks of training,” Quinn said. “We just need to swim right through our upcoming meets. These are the really intense couple of months of training; this is the most important time to get work done.”

Rathgeber agreed: “If we work hard, train hard, and keep improving little by little, we will have a great eight weeks.”

—Staff writer Julie R.S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.