North Carolina
The UNC women’s swimming and diving team won the 2015 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational at Koury Natatorium Saturday night with a score of 1,815 points. The UNC men finished in third place with 1,434 points.
“[This meet] was a stepping stone, “ said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “We’ve had a tremendous, extremely challenging fall. The team is proud of what they have accomplished.”
In the 10-meter platform diving events, completed earlier today at Duke University, Elissa Dawson placed third with 233.10 points. Ozzie Moyer also took third place with a score of 281.55 points.
During the final session at Koury Natatorium, Hellen Moffitt took second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:55.52, and Sarah Hitchens placed fifth in the same event at 1:59.38. Ally Hardesty, Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens and Lauren Earp placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, clocking a time of 3:18.23. In the 1650-yard freestyle, Emma Nunn captured fourth (16:30.34), Robyn Dryer took sixth (16:34.04) and Caty Hulsey placed eighth at 16:36.07. In the 100-yard freestyle, Ally Hardesty took sixth (49.76), Lauren Earp placed seventh (50.09) and Caroline Baldwin took eighth with a time of 50.42. Katie Munch took sixth (2:18.18) in the 200-yard breaststroke, and Rachel Canty placed eighth at 2:19.19. In the 200-yard butterfly, Emma Nunn placed eighth with a time of 2:03.60.
All the above mentioned swims were key for the Tar Heels as they rallied to finish in first place on Saturday night.
On the men’s side, Nic Graesser captured first place in the 200-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:46.41. Heyward Harrison also placed third in the 200 back with a season-best 1:47.30. In the 1650-yard freestyle, freshman Noah Cairns took sixth (15:21.57), and Eugene Tee placed ninth at 15:36.43. Logan Heck placed seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.73. In the 200-yard breaststroke, Michael McBryan took seventh (2:01.80), and Kurt Wohlrab placed eighth at 2:02.83. In the 200-yard butterfly, Ben Colley took third (1:45.89), Sam Lewis placed fifth (1:48.04) and Matt Conway took seventh at 1:49.09. Logan Heck, Nic Graesser, Sam Lewis and Ben Colley placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, clocking a time of 2:57.42.
“I didn’t know what our (dual-meet) record would be at the end of the fall, but I didn’t think it would be this,” said DeSelm.“The next month of training is crucial to our long-term success.”
UNC will be back in action at Koury Natatorium Jan. 9, 2016, against Navy. The meet begins at 11 a.m.
MEN’S TEAM SCORE
Duke 1,721; N.C. State 1,545.50; North Carolina 1,434; U.S. Naval Academy 1,297; Yale 1,038.50; East Carolina 905; Old Dominion 593
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE
North Carolina 1,815; Duke 1,769; Yale 1,519; N.C. State 1,328.50; East Carolina 698.50; Marshall 661.50; Old Dominion 551.50; Clemson 195; James Madison 49
N.C. State
After posting five top times nationally on day three of the Nike Cup Invitational, the NC State swimming and diving team finished second and fourth among the overall team standings Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C., inside Koury Natatorium.
The Wolfpack men finished second of seven teams with 1,545.5 points, while the women finished fourth of nine teams with 1,328.5 points.
Exceeding the Pack’s goal for the Nike Cup that swimmers and divers earn NCAA qualifying marks, NC State tabbed a total of 46 NCAA qualifying standard times, including 19 marks on Saturday.
Additionally, the Pack collected 68 top-10 finishes on the meet, as 23 of them were notched on Saturday.
NC State the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle relay placed first in its repective events while posting NCAA qualifying marks.
The women’s 400 free relay team of Natalie Labonge, Alexia Zevnik, Krista Duffield and Riki Bonnema placed first with a time of 3:14.39, which marks the No. 1 time in the nation in the event.
Ryan Held, Simonas Bilis, Joe Bonk and Andreas Schiellerup stopped the clock at 2:50.94 to take the win in the men’s event and tab the fastest time in Divison I competition. Held's leadoff split of 42.87 marks the No. 1 time in the nation in the 100 free.
In the prelims of the women’s 200 backstroke, Zevnik notched a NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:53.66. Her performance stands as the third-fastest time in the nation.
Hennessey Stuart posted the first NCAA ‘A’ standard time of the season for the Pack in the prelims of the men’s 200 back with a mark of 1:40.22. His performance stands as the fastest time in the nation in the event.
In the championship ‘A’ final of the men’s 100 back, Jacob Siar placed fourth with a mark of 1:47.68.
Zevnik, Bonnema and Labonge took a sweep of the championship ‘A’ final of the women’s 100 freestyle. Zevnik won the event after stopping the clock at 48.60, while Bonnema and Labonge followed in suit with times of 48.69 and 49.13, respectively.
All three swimmers notched NCAA ‘B’ standard times in the event, and Zevnik’s win marked her third victory of the meet.
Four swimmers from the Wolfpack men’s team made it back to the championship final of the 100 free, and all proceeded to finish in the top four of the overall standings and notch NCAA ‘B’ cuts.
Held won the event with a time of 42.94. Bonk, Scheillerup and Soren Dahl finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Bonk notched a mark of 43.42, while Schiellerup stopped the clock at 44.13 and Dahl touched the wall at 44.15.
Rachel Muller finished third in the women’s 1,650 freestyle with a NCAA ‘B’ standard mark of 16:22.27, while Shelly Craddock finished fifth in the overall standings with a mark of 16:30.91.
Three Wolfpack swimmers finished in the top five of the men’s 1,650 free with NCAA 'B' cuts. Anton Ipsen topped the leaderboard after stopping the clock at 14:52.00, while Austin Snyder and Adam Linker finished third and fifth with times of 15:12.28 and 15:16.05, in respective order.
Muller’s time stands as the No. 2 time in the country while Ipsen beat his previous top time in the nation by 14 seconds.
Kayla Brumbaum won the women’s 200 breaststroke ‘A’ final after notching a school record time of 2:10.62, while Patrik Schwarzenbach finished third in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 200 breast with a mark of 1:59.30.
Brumbaum’s outing stands as the No. 3 time in the country.
Christian McCurdy won the men’s 200 butterfly after touching the wall at 1:42.61 to notch a NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Saturday’s 10-meter competition was held inside Duke’s Taishoff Aquatic Pavillion.
Rachel Mumma capped off her strong performance at the Nike Cup with a second-place finish in the women’s platform division with a score of 241.90 to earn a NCAA zone qualifying mark. The senior also placed second on the three-meter dive and won the one-meter competition.
On the men’s side, Harrison Mitchell placed fourth on platform with a five-dive score of 263.80.
Select members of the team will travel to Federal Way, Wash., to compete in the AT&T Winter National Championships Dec. 3-5.
Duke
The Duke men emerged victorious at the Nike Cup Invitational for the first time in program history and the women also rounded out the final team event of the fall on a high note with a second-place finish in the nine-team field.
Over the course of three days at North Carolina’s Koury Natatorium, the Blue Devils broke 12 school records and claimed two facility records while collecting first-place finishes in seven individual events and five relays.
The men’s squad totaled 1,721 points to remain ahead of ACC opponents NC State (1,545.50) and North Carolina (1,434) in the final team standings. After leading the women’s field through the first two days, the Duke women finished second (1,769) just behind the Tar Heels (1,815).
“We couldn’t be more proud of both the men and women,” said head coach Dan Colella. “For the women to be that close, they swam absolutely terrific. They did a good job this morning doing what they needed to do. To top everything off, I think this evening’s session was probably the best session of the six, just in overall performances. We couldn’t have asked for more. [The North Carolina women are] the No. 2 team in the nation right now, and for us to be able to do what we did is just incredible.”
Already a winner in the 500-yard freestyle earlier in the meet, sophomore Verity Abel continued to lead the distance group with a seventh-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle (16:34.93). Freshman Riley Hickman was the Blue Devils’ top finisher in the men’s mile with a 15:54.63 swim.
After breaking her own program record in the 100 backstroke Friday, freshman Maddie Hess eclipsed her record in the 200 backstroke twice Saturday. The Brandon, Fla., native went 1:56.10 in preliminaries before winning the championship final at 1:55.14. Fellow rookie Mickayla Hinkle notched the third-fastest mark in school history (1:57.80) to finish third and junior Liza Bragg was seventh (1:59.60). Junior Bradley Cline was second to the wall in the same event on the men’s side (1:46.93).
Duke placed three swimmers in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 100 freestyle, with senior David Armstrong coming in fifth (44.30), freshman Sean Tate sixth (44.55) and sophomore Nick Bigot eighth (44.89). Junior James Peek won the consolation final in a blistering 43.82, a time that ranked him third on the Blue Devils’ all-time performance list. Sophomore Leah Goldman was under the NCAA provisional standard in a fifth-place showing in the women’s 100 freestyle (49.68) while junior Maddie Rusch turned in the third-fastest mark in school history (49.59) en route to winning the consolation final.
Senior Victor Chen posted the top time in the men’s 200 breaststroke preliminaries, touching at 1:56.91 to rank third in the program record books. He took second in the evening session (1:58.29), followed by freshman Judd Howard in fifth (2:00.60). Duke qualified two swimmers to the championship final of the same event on the women’s side, as sophomore Abby Artmann finished fifth (2:17.28) and junior Ashleigh Shanley seventh (2:18.43).
Sophomore Isabella Paez clocked the nation’s fastest time to date in the women’s 200 butterfly, besting the field at 1:56.14 for an NCAA ‘B’ cut. She was joined in the ‘A’ final by sophomore Anna Quinn, who placed fifth (1:59.87). Junior Kaz Takabayashi paced the Blue Devil men with a sixth-place performance in the same event (1:48.21) and classmate Kenny Ng won the consolation final (1:49.56).
“I’ve been feeling better as the meet has gone along,” Paez said. “I’m really excited to see where I’m going to go at nationals. It’s so great for us to all be swimming so fast so early on in the season. It’s really exciting to see how much we’ve developed throughout the past couple of years.”
Competing earlier in the day at Duke’s Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion, head diving coach Nunzio Esposto’s group put forth another impressive effort. Freshman Mackenzie Willborn won the women’s 10-meter platform competition with an award of 253.40, while junior Kirby Quinn (225.10) and sophomore MaryEllen Targonski (212.85) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Another freshman, Josh Owsiany, keyed a one-two finish along with Evan Moretti in the men’s event. Owsiany’s score of 320.65 ranked him third on the Blue Devils’ all-time list.
The women’s 400 freestyle relay of Hess, Rusch, senior Chelsea Ye and Goldman punctuated the evening with the final program record of the meet. The quartet combined for a mark of 3:16.37 to reset the previous record from 2014 and finish second overall behind NC State. Bigot, Armstrong, Tate and Peek also earned a spot in the Duke record books in the men’s ‘A’ heat, ranking second on the all-time performance list and in the field with a 2:56.05 showing.
“We challenged them at the beginning of the year to really jump two feet in and be committed at a level like we’ve never been before,” Colella said. “They’re seeing the fruits of their labor. As a coach, it’s great to see them reap those things after they put all that work in.”
The Blue Devils will conclude 2015 by sending representatives to the USA Swimming Winter Nationals Dec. 2-4 in Federal Way, Wash., and the USA Diving Winter Nationals Dec. 15-20 in Indianapolis.
