The Blue Devils picked up right where they left off in season-opening wins earlier this month, defeating the Florida State and Queens University men and women in a tri-meet Friday evening at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. With the wins, the Duke squads both improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in ACC competition.
In addition, the Blue Devil programs recorded their first dual meet victories over the Seminoles, with the women winning by a 184-110 margin and the men by a 164-129 score.
“I expected that we would definitely be in a position to win tonight,” said head coach Dan Colella. “I didn’t know that it would turn out the way that it did. We’re always excited when it does. Everyone came in tonight ready to race. For them to stand up and perform the way that they did was a real testament to how much they wanted it this evening. And that’s what we need as a program. If we’re going to begin to be really competitive at a high end, both ACC and nationally, that’s the kind of athletes we need. They’re impressing me every time we compete.”
Juniors Ashleigh Shanley and Peter Kropp headlined a Duke sweep of the women’s and men’s breaststroke events. Shanley clocked the fifth-fastest mark in program history in the 100, finding the wall at 1:03.12, before holding off Natalie Pierce of Florida State in the 200-yard race (2:19.17). Kropp entered the meet with the nation’s top time in the 100 breaststroke and took both events for the second consecutive meet, while classmate Dylan Payne was second and senior Victor Chen third in the 100.
“It felt really good to be able to contribute to our team and the team goal of winning this meet,” Shanley said. “We talked about before the meet that it wasn’t so much about the times this meet – just getting your hand on the wall first and beating the girls next to you. It felt really good to be able to do that.”
Sophomore Verity Abel led the charge in the distance races with a pair of first-place performances in the 500 (4:54.81) and the 1,650 freestyle (16:44.99). Freshman diver Mackenzie Willborn was also a double winner, claiming the 1-meter (269.10) and 3-meter (334.88) competitions in just her second collegiate meet.
Also in diving, rookie Evan Moretti continued to impress, earning a first-place finish in the men’s 1-meter event (326.10) and taking second on the 3-meter board.
“I really enjoyed today’s competition,” Moretti said. “I started great. I just wanted to keep consistency – it’s generally a really hard part of diving, especially for me. I’ve improved so much with the Duke program so far.”
Three Blue Devil swimmers reset facility records in individual events, as junior Kaz Takabayashi bested the field in the 100 backstroke (48.54), freshman Maddie Hess broke the two-minute threshold in the 200 backstroke (1:59.08) and sophomore Leah Goldman took down a 37-year old benchmark in the 100 butterfly (53.77). Fellow sophomore Isabella Paez was also under the previous Taishoff 100 butterfly record in second place (54.31), while Goldman returned to the water a short time later to claim the 200 IM (2:02.91).
Goldman and 200 medley relay teammates Mickayla Hinkle, Shanley and Maddie Rusch surpassed their own facility record set in a season-opening win over Pittsburgh. The group combined for a 1:40.62 clocking to rank fifth all-time at Duke. The men’s 200 medley relay of Takabayashi, Kropp, senior David Armstrong and junior James Peek was first to the wall as well, with their time of 1:27.47 ranking them second in the country to date. Armstrong, Takabayashi and Peek were joined by freshman Yusuke Legard on the winning 400 freestyle relay that added a final pool record at the end of the meet with a 3:00.70 showing.
“The athletes are seeing the fruits of their labor,” Colella said. “To stand up at this time of year and race as hard as they are is desire – it’s between the ears. They’re hungry. And I think they’re believing that they can be a real factor this year at both the conference and national level.”
Florida State
The Florida State swimming and diving teams split duals on Friday at the Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion at Duke University. Both squads defeated Queens (women 202-94, men – 189-103), but dropped its contests with Duke (women – 184-110, men-164-129).
Sophomore Connor Kalisz produced the highlight of the night by establishing a new pool record in the 200 back, touching with a 1:46.71, finishing a near five-seconds ahead of the next competitor. He was second in the 100 back with a 50.35 earlier in the meet.
“This was one of those swims that really stood out tonight,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “That was a great swim and he was right around that time he swam at the All-Florida Invite.”
The Blue Devils started the meet by winning 11 events before senior Cole Hensley won the 200 fly by a near three-second margin with a time of 1:48.62. Hensley would place second in the 100 fly with a time of 49.08.
“We need to get something going,” Bradley said. “Cole got in the water and stepped up and showed us what a leader should do.”
Sophomore Alexi Smith secured the first victory of the night for the women edging Maddie Rusch of Duke (23.17) with a time of 23.15, however Rusch (50.57) topped Smith (50.87) in the 100 after the diving break.
Junior Jason Coombs held on for the win in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.18 and Kalisz finished third with a 1:51.68.
The Seminoles were awarded first place points in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:25.83 behind the team of Smith, senior Sami Pochowski, senior Josie Cuda and freshman Gracie Redding.
Juniors Jason McCormick and Jemal LeGrand along with rookies Kanoa Kaleoaloha and Emir Muratovic grabbed first place in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:01.00.
In diving, junior Dylan Grisell won 3-meter with a season best score of 377.10 after placing second on 1-meter with a tally of 308.33.
Freshman Cassidy Gebhardt first took third on 1-meter, three points out of first with a score of 266.10 before finishing second on 3-meter with a season-best tally of 304.00.
“We’ve got to put this one behind us,” Bradley said. “We’ve got an early morning and another tough test ahead of us tomorrow.”
The Seminoles will face NC State on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Raleigh.
Queens (NC)
The Queens University of Charlotte men's and women's swim teams traveled to Duke University on Friday, October 23, 2015, where the teams met two strong division I programs, the Duke Blue Devils and the Florida State Seminoles.
Duke would come away with the victory on all fronts taking a 175-114 win over the Queens men's team and a 206-81 win over the women's team. The Blue Devils would also see a 164-129 victory over Florida States men's team and a 184-110 victory of the Seminole women. Florida State would take the victory over Queens going 189-103 on the men's side and 202-94 on the women's side.
Even with top caliber competition, Queens would leave the meet with one pool record from Dion Dreesens in the 200 Yard Freestyle and five more first place finishes. Dreesens's swim in the 200 freestyle improved his time, moving him to a 1:36.19 for the event and if times hold, he would remain in third place across all NCAA divisions for the event.
Dreesens would add two more first place swims to his night, taking the top time in the 100 Yard Freestyle with a 45.07 for a NCAA "B" Standard time. He would follow this with the top time in the 500 Yard Freestyle, going 4:28.52 for another NCAA "B" cut.
Nicholas Arakelian took the fastest time in the men's 1650 Yard Freestyle clocking a 15:46.28 for the mile long race. His time would place five seconds faster than the competition. Patricia Castro-Ortega grabbed a first place finish for the women, topping the pool in the 200 Yard Freestyle with a 1:49.02. Caroline Arakelian rounded out the first places finishes with the fastest time in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, pushing her way to a 2:06.46 finish. All three events would fall as NCAA "B" Standard times.
Queens had several other swims qualify in the top spots for the meet as Castro-Ortega added two more third place finishes to her meet resume as she swam a 4:48.62 in the 500 Yard Freestyle and a 51.30 in the 100 Yard Freestyle. Her 500 freestyle time landed her with a NCAA "A" standard time while her 100 freestyle time took a NCAA "B" cut.
N. Arakelian placed second behind Dreesens in the 500 Freestyle taking a 4:34.03. Hector Tricas took a fourth place finish for the race as he touched with a 4:41.98.
N. Arakelian took another second place finish in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, touching with a 1:51.44 for an NCAA "B" Standard finish. Inigo Alarcia grabbed fourth for the race with a 1:57.69.
The 200 Yard Backstroke was a strong event for the Royals seeing a second place finish on the women's side from Caroline Arakelian who was just nudged out of first by Duke's Maddie Hess. C. Arakelian took a NCAA "B" Standard swim with a 2:00.45. The men's side had Ben Taylor reach the wall in third place. He took a 1:52.40 for the swim.
The Royals concluded the meet with both the men's and women's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay teams taking second place. The women's team of Castro-Ortega, Kyrie Dobson, C. Arakelian, and McKenzie Stevens, respectively, took a 3:28.79, "B" Standard swim for the event. The men's team of Dreesens, Ben Mayes, Taylor, and N. Arakelian, respectively, went 3:03.00 to also grab a NCAA "B" Standard time.
The team will continue its stretch against division I opponents as the Royals head to Virginia Tech next weekend. The team will take on the Hookies on Friday, October 30th for a 5 p.m. meet.
