North Carolina
After the first day of the 2014 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium, the UNC women’s swimming and diving team is in second place with 498 points while the UNC men’s team is in third place with 427 points. Carolina’s day was highlighted by a pair of first-place finishes by UNC freshman divers with Elissa Dawson taking the women’s three-meter championship and Sean Burston prevailing in the men’s one-meter event.
“We just finished the first day of the Nike Cup and it’s a great meet,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “It’s a great competition and we have some new teams here so we are very excited to be hosting.
“Today we started out a little bit flat but we pulled it together. There are teams that are suited up here and teams that are not. There are individual who are suited up and individual who are not. We’re practicing racing tough against that.”
On the men’s side, junior co-captain Mitch DeForest placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:27.18 and Sam Lewis took sixth place in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.25.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Lewis, Logan Heck, Nic Graesser and Ben Colley placed third with a time of 1:19.89. Lewis (butterfly), Heck (freestyle) and Graesser (backstroke), along with breaststroker Kurt Wohlrab, also led the men to a fourth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay at 3:14.96.
For the women, four swimmers finished Thursday in the top 10 in individual events. Maddy Burns took fourth in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:01.83 while Katie Munch placed fifth in the same event with a time of 2:02.61. Emma Nunn finished sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.95 and Sarah Hitchens took eighth in the 50-yard freestyle at 23.08.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Hitchens, Hannah Lincoln, Caroline Baldwin and Ally Hardesty placed fourth with a time of 1:31.89. Hellen Moffitt, Munch, Sarah Koucheki and Hardesty also finished fourth in the 400-yard medley relay at 3:42.56.
“Tonight was a lot better,” said DeSelm. “I’m proud of the group. There was a lot of good energy poolside. There was some really good diving with Elissa Dawson winning and our men taking 1-2-3 in their event.”
The men’s diving team dominated Thursday night, taking first, second, third and sixth on the one-meter board. Freshman Sean Burston led all scorers with 342.50 points followed by Ozzie Moyer (328.10) and Jack Nyquist (314.55). Ryan Fox finished sixth with a score of 299.30 points.
The women’s diving team also had a successful night as Elissa Dawson took first in the three-meter event with a score of 336.35 points while Kelly Corish finished sixth with 310.60 points. Michole Timm also placed ninth in the three-meter event with 367.65 points.
UNC will be back in action Friday morning for the second day of the 2014 Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium. The preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. and the finals will take place tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.
After the opening day of competition, the Tennessee women lead the field with 572.5 points with North Carolina in second place with 498 points. NC State is third with 433 points followed by Duke with 344.5, East Carolina with 256, Old Dominion with 203, Michigan with 91 and James Madison with 40.
On the men’s side, Tennessee leads with 483 points followed closely by NC State with 461. Carolina is third with 427 points and the rest of the field includes Air Force with 385 points, East Carolina with 256, Navy with 251, Duke with 216, Old Dominion with 154 and Michigan with 55.
Air Force
The Air Force men’s swimming and diving teams, and the women’s diving team, concluded the first day of competition at the Nike Cup, Friday, Nov. 20, in Chapel Hill, N.C. The men’s team is in fourth place with 385 points.
Tennessee leads the meet with 483 points while North Carolina State is second (461), North Carolina is third (427). East Carolina is in fifth place (256), followed by Navy (251), Duke (216), Old Dominion (154) and Michigan (55).
The Falcon men’s 200 free relay of George Frank, Jordan Dahle, Michael Hannigan and Ryan Dunne finished fourth with a time of 1:20.07. Kevin Jackson finished fifth in the 500 free (4:21.10). Barnosky finished 10th in the 200 IM with a time of 1:49.96. Dunne was fifth in the 50 free with a time of 20.22. The men’s 400 medley relay team of Devon Davis, Barnosky, Dunne and Dahle was third with a time of 3:14.29.
In men’s diving, Nathaniel Zillweger was fifth in the one-meter with a 306.40. Dominic Vallejo was seventh (294.95) while A.J. Eckebrecht was 10th (275.65). In women’s diving, Jessica Horn was 21st (233.90) while Lainie Long was 22nd (223.00).
The men’s swimming and diving teams, and the women’s diving team, will continue competition in the Nike Cup on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 21-22.
Duke
Freshman Leah Goldman and sophomore Bradley Cline both swam to second-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley events to lead Duke on the opening night of action at the 2014 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational, held at North Carolina’s Koury Natatorium.
Following one day of competition, the Blue Devil women sit in fourth place out of eight teams with 344.5 points while the men totaled 216 points to finish seventh out of nine squads in the initial team standings.
Goldman posted the third-fastest mark in school history and surpassed the NCAA provisional standard with a 2:00.30 showing in Thursday evening’s 200 IM championship final. Cline matched her second-place finish with a 1:47.09 clocking in the men’s final, and also earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Sophomore Peter Kropp joined Cline in the ‘A’ final, taking sixth at 1:49.70.
Duke saw one program record fall in the women’s 100 backstroke, as sophomore Jessie Sutherland led off the 400 medley relay with a 54.20 split. Sophomore Ashleigh Shanley, Goldman and sophomore Maddie Rusch followed suit on the relay as the Blue Devils placed third overall at 3:41.42. The women also collected a third-place finish in the first event of the evening, the 200 freestyle relay. In that race, Goldman, Sutherland, junior Chelsea Ye and Rusch combined for a 1:31.02 performance to rank third on Duke’s all-time top-10 list.
In addition to competing on both relays, Rusch led the field in the 50 freestyle preliminaries with a 22.72 clocking for an NCAA ‘B’ cut. The New Canaan, Conn., native returned to the pool during the evening session to tie for fifth at 22.90. The Blue Devil women featured two freshmen swimmers in the 500 freestyle championship final, as Verity Abel came in fifth and Lizzie Devitt eighth. Abel touched in 4:50.31 for the third-best time in program history. Fellow rookie Matt Johnson was the highest finisher on the men’s side in 16th (4:35.69).
Sophomore Kirby Quinn paced the Duke diving corps, placing 10th in the women’s 3-meter competition and surpassing the NCAA Zone Diving qualification standard with an award of 300.00.
On the day, the Blue Devil swimmers and divers accounted for one school record, 20 lifetime bests, 14 all-time top-10 performances, seven NCAA ‘B’ cuts and one NCAA Zones qualifying mark.
N.C. State
The NC State swimming and diving team concluded day one of the Nike Cup Invitational on Thursday at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill N.C.
The men completed the first day with 461 points to sit in second place behind Tennessee, while the women finished the day in third place with 433 points behind Tennessee and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Holloway’s Statement
“The first day was along the lines of what our expectations were today as a staff. We saw a lot of improvement in a lot of areas, but also saw areas we need to work on. We had a lot of big swims tonight in the finals- the women’s 200 free relay was a great start to tonight’s session and I can see how much better we are at this year’s meet than last year’s. The spirit is high and they’re making the right adjustments to set us up for the next two days, so we have to keep the morale going and build upon each race and each session.”- Braden Holloway, head coach
Wolfpack Relays
-On the women’s side, the team of Lauren Poli, Ashlyn Koletic, Lotta Nevalinenen and Riki Bonnema placed second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:30.53, while the quartet of Alexia Zevnik, Kayla Brumbaum, Koletic and Bonnema also finished second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:39.84.
-From the men’s squad, the quartet of Simonas Bilis, Andreas Sheillerup, Ryan Held and David Williams placed second in the 200 freestyle relay swimming a time of 1:19.59, with the first place Tennessee team only out touching the Wolfpack by .01. The team of Scheillerup, Derek Hren, Christian McCurdy and Bilis also finished second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:12.88.
Distance Notables
-Rachel Muller and Anton Ipsen both finished third in the 500 free in their respective divisions. Muller swam a time of 4:47.19, while Ipsen finished with a time of 4:18.70 to break the school record by nearly two seconds.
Wolfpack Sprints
-Bonnema, Poli and Koletic finished second, third and fourth in the women’s 50 free (Bonnema- 22.37, Poli- 22.72, Koletic- 22.76).
-Bilis earned first place honors with his 19.86 showing in the men’s 50 free, while Sheillerup placed third with a time of 20.18.
Springboard Action
-Rachel Mumma finished third in the 3-meter diving competition with a season-high score of 332.60.
Individual Medley Races
-Christian McCurdy swam a time of 1:47.33 in the 200 individual medley to finish third in the overall standings.
Wolfpack Improvement
25 swimmers and six relay teams garnered top times for the 2014-15 season on day one of the Nike Cup Invitational. The 'Wolfpack Top Times' consist of the top five times in a given season for each individual event, and the top three times in relay events.
Postseason Focus
In addition to the Pack’s first-place finishes, NC State recorded five NCAA ‘B’ standard marks on day one of the Nike Cup Invitational.
Rachel Muller, 500 free, 4:47.19
Alexia Zevnik, 200 IM, 2:02.21
Ashyn Koletic, 50 free, 22.76
Andreas Scheillerup, 50 free, 20.18
David Williams, 50 free, 20.18
Tennessee
Records quickly fell on day one of the 2014 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup as Tennessee's distance squad displayed its depth early and often at Koury Natatorium on the campus of the University of North Carolina Thursday.
After a record-setting preliminary round Thursday morning got the Vols off to a strong start, The No. 14/8 Tennessee Swimming and Diving program took control from the first finals' event to propel the Vols into first place in both men (483 points) and women (572.5 points) after day one.
On the day of UT tennis player Sean Karl's memorial services in which the team sported `SK' initials on their bodies, the Vols displayed a great level of excitement heading into the first day of the tournament.
The Vols began the day by setting some school records on both sides of the 500-yard freestyle. Evan Pinion broke UNC's pool record in the event by swimming a lifetime-best 4:16.37, while Mary Griffith, Maddie Tegner and Morgan Dicksoncemented their spots in the UT record books with some standout times. The team as a whole also took down some Nike Cup records, including Tristan Slater in the 200-yard IM and Faith Johnson in the 50-yard freestyle.
Tennessee's consistency in the relays this season continued Thursday night, as UT won six of the eight relay heats in both the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay.
INSIDE THE MEN'S SCORING
The Vols won three A finals and five races overall en route to a 22-point lead over second-place NC State after the first full day.
The men's relays started the night off well for UT, swimming two of the season's fastest times, with the A relay team of Chris Sadsad, Troy Tillman, Joshua Romany and Sean Lehane posting a blistering 1:19.29, .01 seconds ahead of second-place NC State. There were five splits under twenty seconds between the two men's relays, including three from Tillman, Romany and Lehane.
The men showed their distance prowess in the 500 free, with four Vols cracking the A final lineup after the morning session.Evan Pinion cruised to a heat victory in 4:16.37, which broke UNC's pool record previously held by Olympic gold medalist Matt McLean of Virginia.
The closest person to Pinion's time was UT freshman Sam McHugh, who won his preliminary heat with a commanding 4:19.89 time. Pinion and McHugh now sit third and fourth respectively in UT history in the event.
The two led UT in the A final with Pinion almost matching his preliminary time, winning in 4:16.93. McHugh had to battle with NC State's Anton Ipsen, but finished in second place (4:18.68). Ben Miller (4:27.44 in prelims) and David Heron (4:24.38 in prelims) finished in seventh place (4:29.15) and eighth place (4:31.57) respectively.
Trevor Leland qualified for the B final aand was the fifth Vol to crack the top-13. On Thursday night, Leland continued his strong swimming by swimming a career-best in the night session, finishing third at 4:29.20.
The Vols sent four men into the Thursday night session in the 200 IM, led by senior Tristan Slater, whose 1:48.30 time put the Brit at the No. 1 spot overall. Slater bettered his preliminary time by swimming a 1:45.97, a new season-best and Nike Cup record, to earn the victory for the Big Orange.
Sean Lehane claimed the top spot in the B final (1:50.53) after swimming the fastest backstroke leg and finishing in third place in the second-to-last heat. After falling behind after the breaststroke leg, Lehane swam another fast freestyle leg to win the B final in 1:47.63.
Austin Hirstein qualified for the C final earlier in the day and shaved some time off his previous career-best mark with a third-place finish in the night session (1:51.65). Meanwhile, freshman Peter John Stevens (1:52.90) claimed a spot in the D final while setting a new career-best IM time. He finished in seventh place in the final with a 1:53.81.
Seven Vols made finals in the 50 free, led by two in the A final. Troy Tillman finished with a 20.03 time in the preliminary round, and he followed up that performance in the A final, where he swam a 19.94, his second sub-20 time of the night (after posting a 19.36 in his leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay) to earn second place overall. Meanwhile, teammate Joshua Romany came close to breaking the career-best time he set last week, finishing in 20.34 to tie for fourth place in the morning session. Romany finished in seventh in the A final with a 20.39 time.
Chris Sadsad, Ryan Coetzee and Jimmy Dagley all made the B final. The Jacksonville junior swam a 20.43 to earn second place in the B final and 10th overall. Coetzee (20.62) and Dagley (20.64) finished just .02 seconds apart from each other to earn the final two spots in the B final. Coetzee set a new career-best, while Dagley nearly broke his career-best in just his second time swimming the 50 this season.
Gustav Aberg Lejdstrom clinched UT's lone spot in the C final after swimming a 20.80 to earn a tie for 19th place with Air Force's Jordan Dahle. He managed to overtake Dahle and the rest of the field in final, winning with a 20.29 time.
Tyler Mills claimed the last spot in the four finals. The Johnson City, Tenn., native swam an even 21.00, beating the next swimmer by .02 seconds en route to a 32nd place result. In the D final, Mills finished sixth (20.87), half a second off his career best.
INSIDE THE WOMEN'S SCORING
The Lady Volunteers won four A finals and tallied nine overall victories to go up by 74.5 over second-place hosts North Carolina after day one.
UT's women jumped out to the best possible start with the 500-yard freestyle. After the 32 swimmers competed in several heats, the Big Orange owned the top three times. Mary Griffith, already owner of the second-fastest time in the event in school history, sat atop the list after her 4:44.59 second swim.
Griffith won her heat, finishing just ahead of teammate Morgan Dickson, whose 4:45.73 time places her sixth all-time in Tennessee women's history. Later on, Madeline Tegner came from behind early in her race to cruise to a comfortable victory and a 4:46.45 time.
In the finals, the three led the way for much of the race, with Tegner winning with a 4:43.38. Griffith finished .05 seconds behind her teammate, while Dickson finished in fourth with a time of 4:47.88. Tegner's time now puts her alone in fifth place all-time in UT history in the event, shaving six seconds off her previous lifetime best to earn the win.
While those three qualified for the A final, Camryne Morris (4:56.65) and Caroline Finkbeiner (4:56.97) qualified for the B final. They stayed neck-and-neck in the night session, with Finkbeiner (4:49.70) beating out Morris by .07 seconds to take the top two spots.
Meanwhile, Patricia Forrester (5:00.12 in prelims) finished second in the C final. Her 4:54.51 time was less than a second behind the winner is a new career-best time.
Tennessee continued its strong start in the women's 200-yard individual medley. Amanda Carner (2:00.66) and Lauren Driscoll (2:01.42), who went 1-2 in their heat, finished atop the final preliminary standings. The duo continued their top-form swimming in the final by setting a pair of career-best times: Carner winning in 1:58.74 and Driscoll finishing third in 2:00.50.
A pair of Lady Vols qualified for the B final, led by freshman Micah Bohon (2:03.29) and Christina Leander (2:03.90), who won her heat. Bohon pulled out a victory after a fast breaststroke leg in 2:02.38, a new career-best time. Meanwhile, Leander finished fifth place (2:04.51).
DeMonte shaved nearly five seconds off her preliminary time to take the victory in the night session, winning the C final in a season-best 2:00.85. Colleen Callahan also shaved off significant time, swimming almost four seconds faster than her preliminary time to earn second place in 2:01.36, a new career-best.
The women capped the morning off in as fine a fashion as they started by sending three ladies to the A final in the 50-yard freestyle. Faith Johnson continued her fast fall by winning her heat in 22.88 to clinch third place overall. She went on to break the former Nike Cup record en route to a victory in the A final (22.02). Harper Bruens (22.90) and Alex Cleveland(23.06) rounded out the A final for UT.
The fourth and final Lady Vol to make a final session in the 50 free was freshman Amy Lubawy who, thanks to her 23.37 time in her respective heat, earned 11th place and a spot in the B final. Lubawy shaved some time off her previous career-best, earning second place in 23.08 in the B final, .01 seconds behind first place.
INSIDE DIVING
Tennessee brought three divers to Chapel Hill and they lost one to injury before the competition began. Mauricio Roblessuffered an injury which kept him out of the men's one-meter competition, leaving the diving to the ladies' duo of Samantha Lera and Sarah Chewning.
Despite the smaller numbers and the tough field of 29 other divers from all the Nike Cup schools as well as Michigan, James Madison and Georgia Southern, Tennessee managed to place one diver in the finals. After placing in the top-two in both events last week in Knoxville, Lera continued her strong late-November by placing fourth in the preliminary round.
With her qualification sealed, Lera continued to improve and dive consistently. She scored in the 50-point range in all but one round, finishing with a 327.20 score and a fourth-place finish. Her score is a new career-high, breaking the previous mark from last year's Georgia Tech Invitational.
Lera earned her spot to the night session with some impressive diving, including a 57.00 in the third round, to break the 300-point mark for the first time this season in the event. The junior also finished with a score that was 26 points higher than her third-place score back in October.
Teammate Sarah Chewning just missed the final, finishing ninth overall with a 269.25, just off of what she scored last time she competed in Chapel Hill. Despite some pretty consistent diving in the consolation final, Chewning missed her third-round dive and finished in eighth with a 250.35 score.
