The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team swept NC State and North Carolina Friday (Jan. 29) at Koury Natatorium.
The No. 8 Cavalier women finish the dual-meet season undefeated with an 8-0 record after defeating No. 15 NC State, 154.5-145.5, and No. 16 UNC, 178-122, while the No. 21 UVA men (3-5) fell to the No. 8 Wolfpack, 222-78, and to the No. 19 Tar Heels, 201.5-98.5.
Junior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won the women’s 1,000 free in a time of 9:34.21. Smith captured her second event in a row when she won the 200 free in 1:46.44, while freshman Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) was third in 1:47.36. Smith touched first in the 500 free in 4:43.74 for her third event win of the day.
Senior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) touched first in the women’s 100 back in a time of 52.64, while junior Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) won the women’s 100 breast in 1:00.87. Later in the meet, Bartholomew won the 200 back in 1:54.84 and was followed by Simon’s 200 breast victory in 2:12.96.
The Cavaliers went 1-2 in the women’s 200 fly with sophomore Jennifer Marrkand (Westport, Mass.) and junior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) finishing in 1:57.67 and 1:59.56, respectively. Jones won the women’s 200 IM in 2:00.32, while Marrkand was third in 2:02.07. In the women’s 100 fly, Jones placed third in 54.15.
The 200 medley relay of Bartholomew, Simon, Thomas and sophomore Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) placed second in a time of 1:39.18, while the 400 free relay of Moroney, Thomas, junior Shannon Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.) and Bartholomew was also second in 3:18.69.
In the men’s 100 breast, senior Yannick Kaeser (Mumpf, Switzerland) finished second in 54.46.
In the men’s distance events, freshman Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) placed third in both the 500 free (4:29.16) and the 1,000 free (9:13.74).
Freshman Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) tied for third in the men’s 200 fly in 1:47.64.
The men’s 400 free relay of sophomore Nicholas Magana (Scottsdale, Ariz.), juniors Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.) and sophomore Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.) finished third in 3:01.14.
In women’s diving, senior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) placed fourth in both 1-meter (270.95) and 3-meter (279.45, while fellow senior Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) finished fourth on men’s 1-meter (280.65) and senior Colby Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md.) was fourth on men’s 3-meter (295.95).
The Cavalier divers will be in action next weekend, with the women facing Richmond Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. The full diving corps will be competing at the JMU Invite on Feb. 6.
The ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving and Men’s Diving Championships will be held Feb. 17-20 in Greensboro, N.C., with the ACC Men’s Swimming Championships being held Feb. 24-27 in the same location.
N.C. State
The No. 8/15 NC State swimming and diving team completed its tri-meet with ACC rivals No. 19/16 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 21/8 Virginia Friday night inside Koury Natatorium, as UNC played host.
The Wolfpack men swept its competition with a 186-112 win over the Tar Heels and a 222-78 victory over the Cavaliers, improving its dual season record to 3-3. The Tar Heel men move to 6-3 and Virginia falls to 3-5 to close out the regular season.
NC State’s women defeated UNC-CH, 162-138, but narrowly fell to Virginia, 154.5-145.5. The women’s team moves to 9-2 on the dual season, while Virginia improves to 8-0 and UNC-CH falls to 6-3.
“Overall, I’m very proud of our team. Our goal was to come in today and compete to the best of our ability, and both teams did a tremendous job. These three teams competing together in the tri-meet format made for a great atmosphere,” said head coach Braden Holloway.
“Today was the first time our men have competed in yards this semester, so they were itching to do so and you could tell. With our women we wanted to try a few things to see where they are as a team before ACCs. Everyone on both sides had high energy and we came away with some great wins.”
NC State finished first in the 200 medley relay events. On the women’s side the team of Ashlyn Koletic, Kayla Brumbaum, Natalie Labonge and Riki Bonnema posted a time of 1:38.89. On the men’s side the group of Andreas Schiellerup, Derek Hren, Simonas Bilis and Ryan Held stopped the clock at 1:27.05.
The Pack also earned wins in the 400 freestyle relays. The women’s team of Courtney Caldwell, Labonge, Krista Duffield and Bonnema posted a time of 3:18.52, while the men’s squad of Bilis, Held, Schiellerup and Joe Bonk stopped the clock at 2:54.93.
In the women’s 1,000 free, Hannah Moore and Rachel Muller finished second and third with times of 9:46.79 and 9:55.30, respectively.
The pair also earned the second and third place spots in the 500 free with times of 4:47.83 and 4:50.51, in respective order. Additionally, Shelly Craddock finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:52.26.
Anton Ipsen and Adam Linker earned a one, two finish in the men’s 500 and 1,000 free events. In the 500, Ipsen stopped the clock at 4:24.96 to win the event while Linker posted a mark of 4:27.98. Ipsen swam a time of 9:01.78 and Linker touched the wall at 9:10.01 in the 1,000.
The men’s team also earned a one, two finish in the 200 free as Soren Dahl posted a time of 1:36.79 and Bilis earned a mark of 1:37.27.
The Wolfpack women rounded out the podium in the 50 free, as Ashlyn Koletic finished first with a time of 22.62, Bonnema finished second with a mark of 22.78 and Courtney Caldwell touched the wall at 22.97 to place third.
Bilis and Held took the top two spots in the men’s 50 free, as Bilis won the event with a time of 19.62 and Held stopped the clock at 19.95. They were the only two competitors in the event that swam under 20 seconds.
Labonge won the women’s 100 free with a time of 49.49, while Held won the men’s event with a mark of 43.44. Additionally, Bonk placed third in the men’s event after touching the wall at 45.26.
Yuri Nakano and Alexia Zevnik finished third and fourth, in respective order, in the women’s 100 backstroke. Nakano touched the wall at 55.13 and Zevnik stopped the clock at 55.17.
Hennessey Stuart won the men’s 100 backstroke with a time of 47.40, while Andreas Schiellerup tied for second with UNC’s Nic Graesser with a mark of 48.26.
Zevnik and Moore finished second and third in the women’s 200 back with times of 1:58.01 and 1:59.03, respectively, while Stuart and Justin Ress placed first and second in the men’s event with times of 1:43.91 and 1:47.57, in respective order.
Brumbaum and Payton Schrum finished third and fourth in the women’s 100 breaststroke, as Brumbaum posted a time of 1:02.12 and Schrum stopped the clock at 1:02.37.
In the men’s 100 breast, Derek Hren won the event with a time of 54.41.
Brumbaum also finished third in the women’s 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:15.39, while Patrik Schwarzenbach finished third in the men’s event with a mark of 2:02.55.
In the men’s 200 butterfly, Christian McCurdy finished first after stopping the clock at 1:46.16. He additionally earned a third-place finish in the 100 fly with a mark of 48.39.
Koletic finished second in the women’s 100 fly with a time of 53.70.
In the men’s standings of the 200 individual medley, the Wolfpack posted the four fastest times in the event. Dahl won with a time of 1:49.05, Ress finished second with a mark of 1:49.27, McCurdy posted a time of 1:49.93 to place third and Stuart rounded out the top four after stopping the clock at 1:50.83.
Rachel Mumma collected a first-place finish on the women’s one-meter dive with a score of 312.95, and a second-place finish on the three-meter dive with a mark of 325.80.
Harrison Mitchell earned top-three finishes on both boards in the men’s competition, as he finished second on the one-meter dive with a score of 296.30 and placed third on the three-meter event with a mark of 338.95.
NC State will prepare for the ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C., next month. The women's portion along with men's diving will run Feb. 17-20, while the men's swimming championship will run Feb. 24-27 inside Greensboro Aquatic Center.
North Carolina
The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed against NC State and Virginia Friday at Koury Natatorium. The UNC men beat Virginia, 201.5-98.5, and were defeated by the Wolfpack, 186-112. The Tar Heel women lost to the Cavaliers,178-122, and NC State, 162-138.
"UVa is the defending [ACC] champion on the women's side,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “They were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 until a couple weeks ago. They are clearly a Top 10 team, probably a Top 5 team. Their men are much improved. NC State's men were a Top 10 team last year, and their women just handed it to us. We've lost to NC State's women before, but not a lot. Hats off to them."
The UNC men started the meet strong with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team, which was composed of an all-senior unit of Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis and Logan Heck, clocked a time of 1:28.36. Graesser, Lewis, Heck and Lucas Popp also finished second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 2:58.49.
As far as individual events, Michael McBryan took first in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:01.02, and Sam Lewis placed first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 47.41 In addition, Lewis had a season-best time in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.24.
The UNC men’s diving unit also had an exceptional meet on Friday. Ozzie Moyer placed first in the one-meter event with a score of 310.70, and he finished second on the three-meter board with 353.15 points. Jack Nyquist placed first in the three-meter event with a score of 399.45 points.
On the women’s side, the UNC women placed third in both relays. In the 200-yard medley relay, Hellen Moffitt, Katie Munch, Sarah Koucheki and Caroline Baldwin finished with a time of 1:40.45. Ally Hardesty, Lauren Earp, Sarah Hitchens and Baldwin completed the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:19.45.
In the individual event slate, Hellen Moffitt placed first in the 100-yard butterfly at 53.33. Elissa Dawson won the 3-meter diving event with a score of 353.75. On the one-meter board, Maria Lohman placed second with 293.35 points. Additionally, Hellen Moffitt placed second in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best 52.72. Rachel Canty had two season-best times on Friday, placing second in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.83) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.82). Kendall Surhoff also had a season-best time, finishing second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:01.82.
"Rachel Canty, a senior, was a little more prepared for this meet,” said DeSelm. “Kendall Surhoff, also a senior, is finishing up here in the next week or two. They had great, great meets. Kendall had the best time in the 200 IM. Rachel had our two leading times in the breaststroke."
Friday’s meet marked the last home meet of the 2015-2016 season. Twenty members of the men’s and women’s teams celebrated with Senior Day festivities prior to the start of the meet.
"This is a special weekend for our seniors, win, lose or draw,” said DeSelm. “Those people have meant a whole lot to the team, and we want to draw strength from them."
DeSelm continued, "Tonight, having virtually every seat filled, the band and Rameses, and our senior night celebration [was really great]. We wish we could have that environment every night."
The Tar Heels return to action Saturday, Jan. 30, at Duke. The meet begins at 11 a.m. at Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion.
"Tomorrow's a new day and it is all fair and square,” said DeSelm. “We are going to be facing the best Duke women's team ever and probably the best men's team that we've seen out of Duke in the past 10 years. They are well coached. It is their senior day so they'll be hyped."
