Swimcloud

Carolina College Invite - Day 3

The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming competed in the third and final day of the Carolina College Invitational on Sunday at Koury Natatorium with another outstanding performance.
 
“I am so glad we were able to host the Carolina College Invitational,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “I appreciate the administration and all of the volunteers who helped make this event possible for our swimmers and the rest of the competitors.”
 
On the women’s side, four Tar Heels recorded career best times on Sunday and two swimmers notched season best times.
 
In the 100-yard freestyle, Katie Ford captured second with a season-best time of 50.74, while Zhada Fields placed fourth at a season best 50.90. Kate Boyer finished third in the 100 free finals (50.78) and set a career-best time of 50.69 in the preliminary session. Katie McKay also posted a career best in the 100 free preliminaries (50.81) and took fifth in the finals at 50.97.
 
Rachel Canty placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke, notching a career-best 2:12.23, and winning her third individual event title of the weekend. In the 200-yard butterfly, Andi Mack took first with a career-best time of 1:59.93. Additionally, Kendall Surhoff finished second in the 200 fly (2:01.91), while Liliana Casso took third at 2:04.36. Casso also finished third in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:45.96.
 
“Rachel Canty had a great day, going best time in the breaststroke this morning and another best time tonight,” said DeSelm.
 
For the men, eight swimmers posted a total of three career best times and seven season best times. Tom Bilden recorded two season best times on Sunday, while Luke Lechner notched both a season best and a career best time in two different events.
 
Christian Caveness finished first in the 100-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 44.91. J.T. Casey, who finished fourth in the 100 free finals (45.22), posted the best event time of his career in the preliminaries at 45.07. Jared Martin placed fifth in the 100 free B final with a time of 46.69, his best on the season.
 
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Austin Sellers captured second place with a season-best 2:00.55, the best time on the team this season. Both Tom Bilden and Luke Lechner recorded season-best times in the 200-yard butterfly. Bilden took first place (1:48.48), while Luke Lechner finished fourth with a time of 1:50.74.
 
In the 1650-yard freestyle, all four Tar Heels who competed posted either season-best or career-best times. Luke Lechner took third with a career-best time of 15:42.14, and Bailey Burt’s fourth place finish was his career-best at 15:44.36. Tom Bilden finished fifth in the 1650 free at a season-best 15:52.05. Jack Welker, who placed tenth in the 1650 free, notched a season-best time of 16:46.65.
 
UNC will be back in action at the ACC Championships. The women will be competing Wednesday, Feb. 17, to Saturday, Feb. 20, in Greensboro. The men will be in Greensboro for the ACC Championship the following week, Feb. 24 to Feb. 27.


N.C. State

The NC State swimming and diving team wrapped up competition Sunday evening at the Carolina College Invitational, hosted by UNC-CH inside Koury Natatorium.

The three-day meet served as an opportunity for select Wolfpack swimmers to race in a competitive environment and a championship format as the ACC and NCAA Championships approach. 

Caroline Estep earned a second-place finish in the women’s 200 backstroke after clocking an NCAA ‘B’ standard time and career-best mark of 1:58.61.

Parker Campbell won the men’s 200 backstroke after stopping the clock at 1:46.74 to post a career-best time in the event. 
 
In the women’s 100 freestyle, Emmie Barnhill, Christine Kerr and Mariah Hamil each tabbed career-best times in the prelims session, as Hamil notched a mark of 50.79, Kerr touched the wall at 50.96 and Barnhill swam a time of 51.02.

The three Wolfpack swimmers finished sixth, seventh and eighth in the overall standings, as Barnhill swam a time of 51.09, Kerr tabbed a mark of 51.14 and Hamil touched the wall at 51.19.

On the men’s side, Noah Franz, Jabari Baptiste and Justin Moore each posted career bests in the event. Franz finished third with a time of 45.17, Baptiste finished sixth with a mark of 45.70 and Moore finished seventh with a time of 45.76 in the final standings. 

Baptiste’s prelims time stood as a career best as he swam a time of 45.35.

NC State claimed the top two spots in the men’s and women’s 1,650 free. In the women’s race, Allie Fogleman won the event with a time of 16:34.30 and Anna Jahns finished second with a mark of 16:34.77.

Both times mark top-10 performances in program history as well as career-bests for the freshmen. 

On the men’s side, Mason Revis won after stopping the clock at 15:29.62 while Trey Poff touched the wall at 15:39.39 to finish second. Both performances stand as career-best times. 
 
Maddie Witzke finished second in the women’s 200 breaststroke with a lifetime-best and program top-10 time of 2:17.42, while Rozhina McClanahan finished fifth with a mark of 2:18.61 and Elizabeth Underkoffler finished eighth after stopping the clock at 2:23.92.

McClanahan’s finals time and Underkoffler’s prelims time (2:23.90) mark personal bests for the freshmen. 

Geoffery Carter won the men’s 200 breast with a mark of 1:59.76, while Daniel Graber finished third with a time of 2:01.24 and Quinlan Stuart finished fourth after touching the wall at 2:01.26.

Carter swam a 1:58.14 in the prelims, which stands as a career-best time, an NCAA ‘B’ cut and the fourth-fastest time in program history. Graber’s finals time and Stuart’s prelims time (2:00.74) each mark career-bests for the Pack swimmers. 

The Wolfpack will head back to Raleigh to prepare for the 2016 ACC Women’s Swimming/Men’s and Women’s Diving Championships, which will run Feb. 17-20 inside Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. 


Duke

Two days after winning the women’s 50-yard freestyle at the Carolina College Invitational, senior Kathryn Eckhart claimed her second individual event with a first-place showing in the 100 freestyle. Her performance highlighted another strong day of competition by Blue Devil swimmers to close out the three-day meet at Koury Natatorium.

Eckhart turned in a personal-best time of 50.14 in the 100 freestyle A final, moving up to fifth on Duke’s all-time performance list. Junior Adriaan Venter led the men’s team with a second-place finish, racing to the wall in 44.92.

“Those were great, great performances for Kathryn here at the meet,” said head coach Dan Colella. “She’s trained really hard, she’s been really committed to this season, and her for to finish up the meet with two wins like that is huge. She’s been a great leader both in and out of the pool all year as one of the team captains. Kathryn has been really instrumental in helping this team grow this year, so it’s always great to see someone reap all the benefits of their hard work.”

Junior Lindsay Schlichte started off the evening session by clocking a best time in the 1,650 freestyle. The Garden City, N.Y., native covered the mile in 16:53.35, good for fourth in the field and seventh in program history.
The Blue Devils then earned a pair of second-place finishes in the women’s and men’s 200 backstroke, as junior Liza Bragg went 2:00.04 and sophomore Alex Peña a personal-best 1:47.71. That mark ranked Peña fourth on Duke’s all-time list.

Sophomore Abby Artmann headlined a trio of Blue Devils in the women’s 200 breaststroke A final, placing third at 2:17.90, and senior Kenny Ng was second to the wall in the men’s 200 butterfly (1:48.71).

“We have a large squad, so to have a large contingent here – in years past, it might have been half this size,” Colella said. “It was fun. The whole atmosphere, hats off to UNC for hosting a great meet this weekend … It’s been an exciting meet.”

Up next, representatives from the men’s and women’s teams will head to Greensboro, N.C., for the 2016 ACC Championships. The women’s swimming and both the women’s and men’s diving events will be contested Feb. 17-20 while the men’s swimming events are set for Feb. 24-27 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

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