North Carolina
On Friday, the North Carolina swimming and diving teams competed in the first day of the Carolina College Invitation in Koury Natatorium. Although there are no scores at this event, swimmers on both sides posted season and career-best times throughout the meet.
“To all of us coaches and all of the swimmers and the families that were here, [this meet is] really important because all of these swimmers have worked really hard,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm.
On the men’s side, eight swimmers notched season-best swims, four of which were career bests.
Tom Bilden (4:31.18) broke his career-best of 4:47.24 in the event to take fourth place. Luke Lechner took sixth place with a season-best time of 4:31.78, while Bailey Burt took ninth with a career-best of 4:32.11. Additionally, Jack Welker clocked in at 4:44.26, breaking his previous season-best time of 4:44.26.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Austin Sellers clocked in at 1:50.86, which eclipsed his previous career-best of 1:52.23 and earned him a third place finish.
JT Casey swam a 20.42 in the preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle to set a new career-best. In the finals, he swam a 20.52 to take first place in the event. Christian Caveness tied his career-best of 20.66, which earned him a third place finish. Jared Martin (21.20) broke his previous season-best of 21.47 in the event.
For the women, nine swimmers notched season bests times, four of which were career bests.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Zhada Fields took first place with a career-best time of 4:48.82, beating her previous best of 4:59.75. Liliana Casso (4:53.38 in prelims) eclipsed her career-best of 4:55.59 in the event, which earned her a third place finish.
Rachel Canty (2:00.19) and Kendall Surhoff (2:01.01) both set career bests in the 200-yard individual medley, taking first and second place respectively. Annie Goessling (2:03.46) eclipsed her previous season-best of 2:04.64 to take third place and was just .10 off her career best.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Katie Ford placed first with a season-best time of 23.13, while Kate Boyer took fourth after being a season best 22.97 in the prelims. Katie McKay (23.55) eclipsed her previous season-best of 24.18 to take sixth place. Andi Mack swam a season-best 24.09 in the finals, which beat her previous best of 24.49.
“We were really excited to see so many best times tonight,” said DeSelm. “[The best times] are great for them, but it is also great for our conference team members who are not swimming. It’s a real confidence boost.”
The Tar Heels will be back in action on Saturday at 10 a.m. for the preliminary session of the second day of action in the Carolina College Invitational. The finals for day two will begin at 6 p.m.
N.C. State
Highlighted by seven individual top-three finishes including two wins, the NC State swimming and diving team completed its first day of competition at the Carolina College Invitational Friday evening, hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill inside Koury Natatorium.
The three-day meet serves as an opportunity for Wolfpack swimmers to race in a competitive environment as the ACC and NCAA Championships approach. No team scores will be kept throughout the weekend.
Allie Fogleman and Anna Jahns both advanced to the ‘A’ final of the women’s 500 freestyle, as Fogleman placed second with a time of 4:50.49 while Jahns posted a mark of 4:52.16 to finish third in the overall standings.
In the men’s 500 free, Trey Poff won the event after stopping the clock at 4:24.90, which stands as an NCAA ‘B’ standard time. Additionally, Mason Revis finished third with a time of 4:27.98.
Mariah Hamil was NC State’s top finisher in the women’s 50 free, as she finished third with a time of 23.36. Additionally, Emmie Barnhill and Caroline Estep finished seventh and eighth in the race with times of 23.69 and 23.76, in respective order.
Justin Moore represented the Wolfpack in the men’s 50 free as he finished fourth in the overall standings after posting a mark of 20.88.
Geoffrey Carter won the men’s 200 IM after stopping the clock at 1:48.93, while Quinlan Stuart finished second with a time of 1:49.81 and Parker Campbell posted a mark of 1:51.12 to finish fourth in the event.
Duke
Duke swimmers got their first taste of postseason competition Friday, opening action at the 2016 Carolina College Invitational.
Senior Kathryn Eckhart headlined the evening’s results in Koury Natatorium, taking home a first-place finish in the women’s 50-yard freestyle. She touched at 23.08, while classmate Linsay Cooper also earned a season-best in the B final (24.02) and sophomore Maria Sheridan lowered her previous personal best with a 23.69 clocking in the morning preliminaries.
“I’ve been working really hard this season and I know everybody else has been working super hard as well,” Eckhart said. “I knew good things were going to happen, but I think it was a little bit of a euphoric moment, being my last 50 free swim ever. I was excited about it and I’m excited moving into the couple days of the meet we have left.”
Junior Benedict Parfit paced the men’s sprinters with a second-place showing in the 50 freestyle. He logged a finals time of 20.56 after racing to the wall in a personal-best 20.33 during preliminaries.
The first individual event of the evening session saw junior Lindsay Schlichte and sophomore Alex Peña turn in fifth-place performances in the A finals of the 500 freestyle. Schlichte went a season-best 4:55.37 on the women’s side while Peña led a trio of Blue Devil men with a 4:31.24 swim. Peña’s preliminaries mark of 4:30.03 was good for a season-best, as was Parker Pearson’s 4:34.52 preliminaries time.
Four Duke women qualified for the 200 IM A finals, with sophomore Catie Miller earning the squad’s highest finish in fourth. Her time of 2:03.78 surpassed her previous personal best, which was also posted in Koury Natatorium this fall at the Nike Cup Invitational. Senior Ryan Prince earned a personal-best mark on the men’s side, shaving over six seconds off of his preliminaries time to go 1:53.88 in the B final. Junior Kenny Ng was the Blue Devils’ top finisher in fifth overall (1:51.28).
