North Carolina
Day two of the 2014 Janis Hape Dowd B=Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium saw the UNC men’s swimming and diving team surge ahead into first place with 1080.5 points while the UNC women’s team maintained their position in second place with 1177.5 points. Once again it was the diver’s highlighting the day as freshman Sean Burson secured a first-place finish in the men’s three-meter championship. Jack Nyquist, Ozzie Moyer, Ryan Fox finished second through fourth in the three-meter championship.
Sam Lewis took home the men’s 100-yard butterfly championship with a time of 47.66, while Ben Colley finished in second place with a time of 47.88.
“We had a lot more of our team swimming tonight and swimming for points, which is great to see” said Tar Heels coach Rich DeSelm. “Overall, we had a lot of people swim faster than they did in the prelims.”
“This is great competition. Our men have surged to a small lead and the women are solidly in second. “
The women’s 200-yard medley relay team of Helen Moffitt, Emily Pfeiffer, Hannah Lincoln, and Sarah Hitchens finished in third place with a time of 1:41.24.
The men’s 200-yard medley relay team of Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis, and Logan Heck finished in third place with a time of 1:28.98
Michole Timm was awarded second-place in the women’s one-meter dive, scoring 328.75.
“Tomorrow we’ve got day three, which is usually a good day for us" said DeSelm. "We will need to be very sharp tomorrow morning in order to position ourselves to where we want to be for the last evening.”
UNC will be back in action Saturday morning for the third and final 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.
As of the second day of competition, The Tennessee women remain at the top with 1408 points with North Carolina in second place with 1177.5 points. NC State is third 932.5 points followed by Duke with 786.5, East Carolina with 596, Old Dominion with 446.5, Michigan with 158, James Madison with 85, and Air Force with 11.
On the men’s side UNC leads with 1080.5 points followed by NC State with 1019 points. Tennessee sits in third place with 949 points followed by Air Force with 914, the Navy with 586.5, East Carolina 568, Duke 503, Old Dominion 376, and Michigan.
N.C. State
The NC State swimming and diving team completed day two of the Nike Cup on Friday inside the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Wolfpack men remain in second place behind Tennessee with 1019 points, while the women remain in third place behind Tennessee and UNC-Chapel Hill with 932.5 points.
Holloway’s Statement
“I thought our men and women came back stronger tonight after a shaky morning session. I was proud of how they came back and rose to the challenge tonight to be better and make the most of where they were. The relays were a strong point for us in tonight’s session, especially our showing at the end in the 800 free relays. Our courage to get up and race in those final relays was unbelievable and it helped to end the day on a positive note. Hopefully we’ll carry that momentum and energy from those final relays into tomorrow and finish this meet up on a good note.”- Braden Holloway, head coach
On Rachel Mumma
“Rachel had a huge win today in the one-meter dive, coming down to the last dive to break the school record. What a great moment in her career so a huge congrats to her.”
Record Breaker
Rachel Mumma took first place honors in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 329.65 to break the school record. Molly Culberson set the record previously in 2006.
Wolfpack Relays
-NC State gathered one first place finish and three second-place showings in the relay events on Friday.
-The team of Soeren Dahl, Anton Ipsen, David Williams and Simonas Bilis grabbed the first place title in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:28.93. The quartet of Andreas Scheillerup, Derek Hren, Dahl and Bilis finished second with a time of 1:27.31 in the men’s 200 medley relay.
-From the women’s side, the team of Alexia Zevnik, Kayla Brumbaum, Ashlyn Koletic and Riki Bonnema recorded a time of 1:40.01 to finish second place in the 200 medley relay, while the quartet of Rachel Muller, Natalie Labonge, Lotta Nevalinen and Lauren Rhodes placed second in the 800 free relay with a time of 7:20.90.
Freestyle Watch
Bilis won the men’s 200 free event with a time of 1:36.43 to earn first place honors in his second event of the invitational. He also placed first in the 50 free on Friday evening. From the women’s team, Muller swam a time of 1:48.99 to finish third in the 200 free.
Back It Up
Zevnik placed second in the women’s 100 backstroke with a time of 53.97, while Scheillerup also finished second in the men’s 100 back with a time of 47.80.
Wolfpack Improvement
31 swimmers and six relay teams recorded top times for the 2014-15 season on day two of the Nike Cup Invitational. The Wolfpack Top Times consists 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 three more NCAA ‘B' standard marks on day two of the Nike Cup Invitational.
Ashlyn Koletic, 100 fly, 54.38
Christian McCurdy, 100 fly, 48.14
Hennessey Stuart, 100 back, 48.23
Tennessee
The Tennessee swimming and diving team continued its record-breaking performances on day two of the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup, setting several new meet, pool and school records in the process.
Tennessee tallied five new Nike Cup records and broke two UNC pool records, including setting a couple school records. During the A finals of both the men's and women's 400-yard individual medley, Lauren Driscoll (4:10.18) and Sam McHugh(3:44.63) set the UT school record in the event. Driscoll broke Aleksa Akerfelds' 2011 record, while McHugh broke Michael Christy's 2008 record.
The team continued its trend of jumping out to quick starts from the first horn, winning all four heats of the 200-yard medley relay to spark another night of results at the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup. After two days, the women sit in first place with 1408 points. The men slipped to third place with 949 points, 131 points behind first place North Carolina.
Tennessee's women's team showed its depth and used it to its advantage, sending multiple swimmers and divers to the final round in every event. Overall, 20 of the 40 possible places in individual swimming A finals (excluding relays) belonged to the UT women after the morning session, while the female diving tandem took two of the possible eight spots in the finals of the one-meter event.
The men managed four A final wins and seven victories overall.
Molly Hannis began the day by clocking her first sub-minute time of the year in the 100-yard breaststroke, setting a new Nike Cup and UNC pool record in 59.51. She easily reached the A final as the only swimmer to finish under one minute and continued that trend by winning the A final in 59.57.
The men's and women's A relay teams set Nike Cup records in the 200-yard medley relay. The women's team of Madison Hahn, Molly Hannis, Harper Bruens and Faith Johnson broke the Nike Cup record by finishing in 1:37.95. Soon after, the men broke the UNC pool record and set a new Nike Cup record, thanks to the 1:26.34 combined effort between Sean Lehane, Peter John Stevens, Gustav Aberg Ledjdstrom and Troy Tillman.
INSIDE THE MEN'S SCORING
Entering the day with the lead, the No. 14 Vols continued their winning ways by tallying victories in seven events, including four A finals. However, a solid performance all-around from the host Tar Heels pushed the Vols back to third place with 949 points.
The men swept the 200-yard medley relay in a 1:26.34. The quartet of Sean Lehane, Peter John Stevens, Gustav Aberg Lejdstrom and Troy Tillman broke both the Nike Cup and UNC pool records. The B relay team of Sam McHugh, Ross Dibblin, Ryan Coetzee and Joshua Romany also won their heat for the Vols, finishing with a 1:40.93 time.
The Vols had a pair of swimmers reach the A final of the men's 400-yard individual medley. McHugh swam the fastest time and earned the win in the 400-yard individual medley, while Tristan Slater swam the fifth-fastest time.
Gustav Aberg Lejdstrom, who was the fastest Vol in preliminaries, finished the A final of the 100-yard butterfly in 48.49. Meanwhile freshman Ryan Coetzee swam a 48:84 to capture eighth place for the Vols. Tyler Mills earned yet another win for the men's team, taking the C final in 48.01, a new career-best.
On the day he turned 20, Lehane gave the mid-distance crew a boost by taking third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.34), shaving almost two seconds off his preliminary time. Lejdstrom finished in sixth place (1:37.34)to give UT two finishes in the top-8.
A day after swimming a 52.55 breaststroke split in the 400-yard medley relay, Stevens repeated his efforts in the A final of the 100-yard breaststroke with an victory in 53.13 over Duke's Peter Kropp, who set the UNC pool and Nike Cup record in the morning session.
A day after Slater and Ross Dibblin faced off in a time trial, the two competed side-by-side in the B final. Dibblin took the time trial win and he took the win in the night session as well, earning his first win of the season in 54.72. Fellow Brit Slater earned third with a career-best 55.23.
Soon after competing in the 200 free, Lehane gave UT a first-place victory in the 100-yard backstroke, his second of the season. His 47.22 time is a season-best and was more than a second faster than his morning swim. Troy Tillman finished sixth in the C final (51.30), while Tim Wylie swam a season-best 50.83 to take second place in the D final.
INSIDE THE WOMEN'S SCORING
The women won 12 events, including six A finals, to keep a 231-point margin over the second-place Tar Heels.
UT started the night off by winning both heats of the 200 medley relay. The A team of Madison Hahn, Molly Hannis, Harper Bruens and Faith Johnson broke the Nike Cup record by finishing in 1:37.95. The B heat finished with a matching result, asChristina Leander, Colleen Callahan, Anna DeMonte and Alex Cleveland won after posting a 1:40.93 time.
The Lady Vols sent five swimmers into the A final of the 400 IM, led by Driscoll and Carner, the top two UT finishers in Thursday's 200-yard individual medley. Those two finished 1-2 again in the 400, with Driscoll (4:10.18) setting both a new career-best time and a new Nike Cup record.
Carner finished in second with a 4:14.53, while Callahan (5th, 4:18.88), Morgan Dickson (6th, 4:19.49) and Micah Bohon(8th, 4:26.69) also scored some big points for the UT women. Dickson set a new career-best time in the final, while Callahan and Bohon set career-bests in the preliminary round.
Eight swimmers qualified for finals in the 100-yard butterfly, led by Faith Johnson and Harper Bruens in the A final. Johnson led the way for Tennessee by finishing in third with a 54.04 time. Bruens finished in seventh place at 54.98, just off the time set in the morning session.
Heather Kiger, Amy Lubawy and Heather Lundstrom all qualified for the B final after the morning session and they finished the final in that order. Kiger earned the win with a 54.62, while Lubawy set a new career-best to finish second (54.83). Lundstrom shaved almost a full second off her preliminary time to earn third (54.93).
Meanwhile, Michelle Cefal led the way for UT into the C final, coming from behind to take second place in 55.37, a new season-high. DeMonte and Patricia Forrester represented the Big Orange in the D final and the duo swept the top spots: DeMonte finishing first in 54.53, while Forrester came in second in 55.17.
Nearly half of the 200-yard freestyle field A final wore orange, thanks to solid preliminary times by Mary Griffith, Camryne Morris, and 500-yard freestyle winner Maddie Tegner. In a tightly-contested race, Griffith edged out Morris to take the victory, finishing in 1:48.13, while Morris finished in 1:47.98. Tegner earned sixth for UT, finishing in 1:50.01.
The Lady Vols picked up wins in the C and D final. Taylor Lehr earned a new career-best by winning the D final in 1:52.85, while Caroline Finkbeiner (1:48.44) earned the victory in the C final. Dickson finished third (1:50.82) in her second event of the night and Logan Haddock finished fifth (1:53.05) in the C final, her first finals appearance as a member of the UT program.
Much as they have done so far this season, the breaststroking duo of Hannis and Callahan provided UT with more points in the 100 Breast. Hannis, a figure of consistency all season so far, finished .06 seconds behind her record-breaking preliminary time in 59.57. Callahan placed fifth with a season-best 1:03.39).
Bohon earned another top-four finish for the Lady Vol breaststrokers. The freshman earned fourth place, thanks to a 1:05.65 time.
In the final female solo event of the night, five more Lady Vols represented UT in the 100-yard backstroke. Hahn (1st , 53.58) shaved .03 seconds off the fastest preliminary time of the season to earn the victory. Carner (54.06) and Leander (54.72) finished third and fourth, while Johnson took sixth place (54.72) and DeMonte finished in eighth place (55.15)
Erin Gaeckle earned her first backstroke win of the season as the senior claimed the B final victory in 54.70, about four seconds off of her time at the beginning of the season at UNCW. Freshmen Amy Lubawy (56.38) and Alex Cleveland(57.44) earned second and seventh places respectively in the C final.
The women capped off their night by sweeping both heats of the 800-yard freestyle relay team. The A team of Johnson, Finkbeiner, Morris and Griffith finished in 7:16.86 in the team's first 800 race of the season. The B quartet of Forrester, Carner, Driscoll and Hahn won their heat 7:19.63, with both relay teams winning by almost four seconds.
INSIDE DIVING
While Mauricio Robles sat out his second-straight diving competition with an injury, the women stepped up and both qualified for the finals in the one-meter competition Friday morning.
A night after earning fourth place in the three-meter competition, Samantha Lera upped her place in the one-meter standings by tallying a 291.15 to take third place. Lera completed another consistent round, hovering around almost 50.00 points a round, including a 53.30 in the final round--her highest score of the night.
In her first nighttime dive of the tournament, Sarah Chewning finished with a seventh-place finish and a new Tennessee high on the one-meter (283.65). Like her teammate, Chewning ended her night with her highest score of the competition: a 59.80 in the sixth round.
After a tough consolation final in the three-meter Thursday, Chewning earned Tennessee's highest score in the morning session, placing fifth with a career-best 286.20. Teammate Samantha Lera joined her in the final with a sixth-place result and a 280.00 mark, making this her second finals appearance in as many nights.
Duke
Sophomore Peter Kropp clocked the nation’s fastest time this season in the 100-yard breaststroke and surpassed the NCAA automatic qualification standard in the event on a record-breaking day of competition at the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational Friday at Koury Natatorium.
The Duke women have totaled 786.5 points through two days of action in Chapel Hill to sit in fourth place, while the men’s team is currently seventh of nine squads with 503 points.
“I’m really excited with everybody’s performances and very proud of the way they’re standing up and racing,” said head coach Dan Colella. “For us, it’s a test to see where we are at this point in the season, and we’re definitely very excited about where we are. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s events and to the second half of the season.”
Kropp led the field in the 100 breaststroke preliminaries with an impressive 52.02 showing, breaking the previous ACC (52.59), Duke (52.99), Nike Cup Invitational (53.32) and Koury Natatorium (52.60) records in the process. The Los Angeles, Calif., native also solidified a trip to this spring’s NCAA Championship in Iowa City, Iowa. Kropp followed up his morning performance with a 53.46 swim Thursday evening to place second in the championship final.
“We knew going into the meet that Peter, with the way he’s been training and performing this fall, had the ability to have a really special swim,” Colella said. “I knew it would be fast. I didn’t quite expect 52.0, but we’re all thrilled and very proud of him. It’s great for him to have qualified with an automatic time, so he knows he’s on his way to NCAAs in the spring.”
The Blue Devil women placed six swimmers in the 100 butterfly finals, including three in the championship final. Freshman Leah Goldman touched the wall first at 53.78 for an NCAA provisional standard and the third-fastest mark in school history. Sophomore Maddie Rusch was just behind in second at 53.93, while freshman Isabella Paez joined Goldman and Rusch in collecting NCAA ‘B’ cuts with a fifth-place performance (54.42).
“We had some real depth in the 100 fly, especially for them to go one-two,” Colella said. “I think what was really special was to see how they closed in the last 20 yards. They’ve all done a great job of developing and working their underwater game and I think we saw it in action tonight.”
Sophomore Brittany Friese secured a spot in the 200 freestyle ‘A’ final with a strong swim in the morning preliminaries, and went 1:50.87 Friday evening to place seventh. Freshman Lizzie Devitt recorded the seventh-fastest mark on Duke’s all-time top-10 list in the same event while taking 10th (1:50.12). Sophomore Bradley Cline paced the men in the 200 freestyle, coming in ninth with a season-best time of 1:38.91.
Friday afternoon’s diving events saw junior Kendall McClenney place 10th on the 1-meter springboard with an award of 275.80 in the consolation final. Sophomore Kirby Quinn also competed in the consolation final, taking 13th with a score of 252.30.
The women also picked up points in Friday evening’s relay events, earning fourth-place finishes in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. Sophomores Jessie Sutherland and Ashleigh Shanley teamed with Goldman and Rusch to clock 1:42.03 in the 200 medley relay, marking a season best and the eighth-fastest time in program history. Sutherland also had a season best individually in the 100 backstroke (55.11), placing 12th overall. Goldman was 11th in the same event, tapping the wall at 55.01 to rank third on the Blue Devils’ all-time top-10 chart.
The Duke men earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay as sophomore Kaz Takabayashi, Kropp, junior David Armstrong and senior Stefan Knight combined for the sixth-best time in school history at 1:28.60.
