UNC Cruises Against ECU

A limited lineup didn't stop the University of North Carolina from opening up its dual meet season night with impressive victories over East Carolina.  The UNC men beat the Pirates 187-105 while the UNC women triumph by a score of 183-105.  Both squads were somewhat shorthanded with at least eighteen members of the roster not competing.
 
“It is great to get the competitive season underway.  We weren’t sure what to expect but we had some terrific efforts for this early in the season,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm.
 
“Carly Smith was outstanding.  She swam aggressively and she always swims to win.  Her 100 and 200 back races and her relay swim were all fun to watch.  The freshmen stepped up and that’s great to see  Pat O’Donovan had a win in his first collegiate meet and freshman diver Ryland Jones swept the boards and in the process beat an NCAA qualifier, David Solarz, in his first collegiate debut.”
 
The Tar Heel women posted the top performance, including exhibition swims, in 15 of the 16 events in the meet.  The Tar Heel men turned in top performances in 14 of 16 events.
 
“We also got great contributions from the usual stalwarts on the team  Laura Moriarty and Tyler Harris came through with three wins each and Katura Harvey, Steve Cebertowicz and Megan Steeves also won multiple events,” said DeSelm.
 
On the women’s side, sophomore Laura Moriarty had a big night in the season opener as she took a trio of individual first places, sweeping the 200 fly, 200 breast and 200 IM.
 
Senior Megan Steeves swam their way to two individual victories and two relay wins while freshman Carly Smith junior Katura Harvey both had two individual wins and swam on a winning relay.
 
Steeves swept the two sprint freestyle events, Harvey won at the 200 and 500 free distances and Smith took the top spot in both backstrokes.  Smith had a winning time of 55.73 in the 100-yard backstroke, less than one-tenth of a second from moving her into UNC’s all-time Top 10 in the event.  Smith broke the ECU pool records in both women’s backstroke events.
 
On the men’s side, junior Tyler Harris led the way with three individual event wins while sophomore Steve Cebertowicz captured both sprint freestyle races (50 and 100). Harris’ wins came in the 200 fly, 200 breast and 200 IM.
 
It was a big night for freshman Ryland Jones as he swept the one- and three-meter diving events for Carolina in his collegiate opener.  Jones and Smith are both Chapel Hill natives who competed in their first meets as Tar Heels.  Another Tar Heel who turned in an individual win in his first college meet was Pat O’Donovan who won the men’s 100 back in 51.90.
 
The Tar Heels will be in action again on Saturday, October 17 at 12 noon when they play host to Virginia Tech and South Carolina in a double dual meet at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill.