North Carolina
After the opening day of competition in the 25th annual Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium, the UNC women’s swimming and diving team is in second place with 480 points, while the Tar Heel men are in fourth place with 350 points. UNC placed first in both diving events for the night. In the women’s three-meter event, Elissa Dawson took first place with 348.25 points. Jack Nyquist placed first on the one-meter board with a score of 368.75 points.
"We are very excited to be hosting the Nike Cup,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “It’s an annual tradition. It worked out well that the traditional teams wanted to come back. It’s great competition. We really enjoy the teams that come in."
On the women’s side, Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens, Hellen Moffitt and Ally Hardesty placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay, clocking a time of 1:31.05. In the 400-yard medley relay, Megan Bestor, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt and Caroline Baldwin captured third with a time of 3:40.71.
Emma Nunn placed eighth in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:52.17, while Maddy Burns took seventh place in the 200 IM (2:04.81). In the 50-yard freestyle, Caroline Baldwin took fifth place (22.82), and Hellen Moffit placed eighth with a time of 23.14.
For the men, Sam Lewis, Logan Heck, Nic Graesser and Ben Colley took second place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:20.43. In the 400-yard medley relay, Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis and Logan Heck captured second at 3:13.66. Ben Colley, Michael McBryan, Matt Conway and Lucas Popp also placed sixth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:17.14.
Eugene Tee placed eighth in the 200-yard IM with a season-best time of 1:50.44. In one-meter diving, Ozzie Moyer took second at 352.35 points, his career best score (previous was 340.58). Additionally, Ben Colley placed first in the 200 IM ‘B’ final, clocking a time of 1:48.20. Josh Beals captured third place (4:30.32) in the 500-yard freestyle ‘B’ final, and Matt Conway took fourth in the same heat at 4:31.06. In the 50 free ‘B’ final, Nic Graesser took second at 20.41, while Logan Heck placed fourth (20.57).
“It’s nice to see some different competition,” said DeSelm. “I thought it went great for our team.”
UNC will return to Koury Natatorium Friday morning for the second day of the 2015 Nike Cup Invitational. The preliminaries will start at 9:30 a.m., and the finals will begin Friday evening at 5:30 p.m.
Following the first day of action, Duke is in first place on the men’s side with 562 points. N.C. State is in second place with 472 points, and the U.S. Naval Academy is in third place with 384 points. North Carolina is in fourth place with 350 points, followed by East Carolina with 320 points, Yale with 285 points and Old Dominion with 170 points.
For the women, Duke also leads the competition with 555 points. Carolina is second with 480 points, followed by Yale with 472 points, N.C. State with 402.50 points, Marshall with 234.50 points, East Carolina with 215 points, Old Dominion with 153 points, Clemson with 43 points and James Madison with 24 points.
MEN’S TEAM SCORE
Duke 562, N.C. State 472, U.S. Naval Academy 384, North Carolina 350, East Carolina 320, Yale 285, Old Dominion 170
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE
Duke 555, North Carolina 480, Yale 472, N.C. State 402.50, Marshall 234.50, East Carolina 215, Old Dominion 153, Clemson 43, James Madison 24
N.C. State
The NC State swimming and diving team showed much depth Thursday at the Nike Cup Invitational inside Koury Natatorium, as the team collectively posted 22 top-10 finishes and two No. 1 times in the nation.
Additionally, the squad notched 13 NCAA ‘B’ standard times.
NC State’s men sit behind Duke in second place with 472 points, while the Wolfpack women are in fourth behind Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and Yale with 402.5 points after day one competition.
With prelim and finals sessions each day, the format of the Nike Cup mirrors a championship format similar to the ACC and NCAA Championships. During each evening session, there are four finals heats- a championship 'A' final (Places 1-8), a consolation 'B' final (Places 9-16), a bonus 'C' final (Places 17-24) and a non-scoring 'D' final (Places 25-32).
NC State’s men placed third in Thursday’s relay events. The 200 freestyle relay squad of Joe Bonk, Jason Deana, Jabari Baptiste and Ryan Wilkinson stopped the clock at 1:21.61, while the 400 medley relay quartet of Hennessey Stuart, Derek Hren, Jason Deana and Scott Johnson posted a mark of 3:14.04.
Stuart’s leadoff split of 47.14 stands as a season-best time for the sophomore.
Additionally, the Wolfpack women finished fourth in both day one relays. The 200 free relay team of Ashlyn Koletic, Lotta Nevalainen, Emmie Barnhill and Riki Bonnema posted a time of 1:31.56, while the 400 medley relay group of Yuri Nakano, Payton Schrum, Krista Duffield and Natalie Labonge stopped the clock at 3:44.34.
Rachel Muller earned a fourth-place finish in the overall standings of the women’s 500 freestyle with a season-best time of 4:49.37.
In the men’s 500 free five Wolfpack swimmers returned to the finals in the event, including Anton Ipsen, Adam Linker and Austin Snyder who made it back in the championship ‘A’ final. Ipsen won with a time of 14:16.27 while Linker posted a mark of 4:29.54 to finish seventh and Snyder finished in 4:31.71 to take eighth.
Ipsen’s NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 500 stands as the second-fastest time in the country.
Seven swimmers from the Pack qualified for the evening session in the women’s 50 free, as Bonnema, Koletic and Labonge each swam in the ‘A’ final. Bonnema won the event with a time of 22.05, while her prelim time of 22.04 stands as the fastest time in the nation. Labonge finished fourth with a time of 22.65 while Koletic touched the wall at 22.98 to take sixth.
Ryan Held finished first in the men’s 50 free in 19.78 and Bonk finished third with a time of 19.93 in the championship ‘A’ final. Andreas Schiellerup also made it into the top eight, as he finished fourth after stopping the clock at 20.01.
Alexia Zevnik and Kayla Brumbaum topped the leaderboard in the women’s 200 individual medley. Zevnik won the event with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:56.53 to post a school record and the fastest time in the country, while Brumbaum placed second with a ‘B’ cut mark of 2:01.39.
Of the eight Pack men’s swimmers that qualified to compete in Friday’s finals session, Soren Dahl and Christian McCurdy raced in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 200 IM. Dahl took second with a time of 1:47.84 while McCurdy finished fifth after touching the wall at 1:48.79.
Rachel Mumma advanced to the evening session and placed second in the women’s three-meter dive with a score of 330.30, while Harrison Mitchell qualified for the finals of the men’s one-meter competition. He finished seventh of 21 divers with a mark of 307.60.
