UNC vs. NAVY vs. PENN STATE
- Saturday, January 13
- University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
- Short Course Yards
- Complete results
TEAM SCORES
- Men: UNC 165.5 – Navy 129.5 | UNC 190 – Penn State 105 | Navy 189 – Penn State 111
- Women: UNC 215 – Navy 80 | UNC 200 – Penn State 91 | Penn State 181 – Navy 118
The University of North Carolina Tar Heels hosted Penn State and Navy for a tri meet over the weekend, with UNC prevailing on the men’s and women’s side. Penn State beat the Navy women, while the Navy men finished ahead of the Penn State men.
UNC senior Caroline Baldwin, who has been dependable all season for her team, came through for wins in the 100 back (53.89) and the 100 free (49.87). She had a light schedule, with those two events and just the 200 medley relay. She led off that relay, which won the meet, with a strong 24.78 backstroke leg.
Bryanna Cameron and Caroline Hauder were also instrumental in UNC’s victory, each drumming up two wins of their own. Cameron, who was 2nd in the 1000 (10:03.40) behind teammate Robyn Dryer (10:00.50), took on a tough schedule, later winning the 200 fly (1:59.69) and the 400 IM (4:20.46).
The freshman Hauder took the 100 breast (1:01.77) and the 200 back (1:58.25) and swam on both of UNC’s A relays, the 200 medley and the 400 free relay. Both relays posted the day’s fastest time on the women’s side.
After the UNC men won the 200 medley relay, getting a 19.93 anchor leg from J.T. Casey, the Navy men struck back with Luke Johnson taking the 1000 (9:26.14) by a touch over UNC’s Nick Palmer (9:26.77), and then with Joseph Jaime going 1:39.48 to eke out the 200 free win over UNC’s Dimitrios Dimitriou (1:39.60).
The Tar Heels won the remaining four events going into the diving break, however, to jump back in control. Casey won the 50 free (20.35) and 100 free (45.24), while Valdas Abaliksta swept the breaststrokes (54.54 & 2:00.73). Freshman Alvin Jiang, after leading off the winning medley relay, won the 100 back (48.26) and 100 fly (48.57).
PRESS RELEASE – UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams returned to action for the first time since the holiday break, sweeping Penn State and Navy at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.
The Tar Heel men beat Navy 165.5-129.5 and topped the Nittany Lions 190-105. Navy came out on top of the Nittany Lions in the men’s competition 189-111.
On the women’s side, UNC swept Navy 215-80 and Penn State 200-91. The Nittany Lions prevailed over the Navy women 181-118.
UNC’s men evened their record at 3-3 heading into next Saturday’s meet at Virginia. The Tar Heel women are now 4-2 heading to Charlottesville next Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS-MEN
*UNC’s men had the top time in the field in all but four events.
*Carolina had three individuals – Alvin Jiang, Valdas Abaliksta and J.T. Caseyeach win two individual events and swim on both winning relays
•Jiang won the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, Abaliksta secured the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke, Casey touched first in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle
•Other individual winners for Carolina were Tom Bilden in the 200 fly, Chris Thames in the 200 back, Henry Campbell in the 500 free and Sean Burston in 3-meter diving
TOP PERFORMERS-WOMEN
*The Tar Heel women had the top placing in 15 of the meet’s 16 events
•Freshman Caroline Hauder swam on both winning relays and she was first in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard backstroke
•Senior Caroline Baldwin led off the victorious 200-yard medley relay and she earned top honors in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle
•Senior Elissa Dawson swept the boards for the Tar Heels while Bryanna Cameron took first in the 200 fly and 400 IM
•Several Tar Heels won single events – Robyn Dryer in the 1000 free, Zhada Fields in the 200 free, Maddie Smith in the 50 free, Allie Reiter in the 200 breast, Emma Cole in the 100 fly
FROM COACH DeSELM
Opening Statement:
“It is always great to race at home. We have had a traditional meet this weekend with Navy, home and away every other year. Penn State joined us this time which made for more competition. Obviously, we’re pleased with two wins for each team. We haven’t competed since early December so this weekend is our first chance to get back at that and I was pleased overall with, certainly, the effort and a lot of the outcomes. Right now, we are not too worried about times but a week from now we go to Virginia and we need to worry about times. They’re very good. It’s always a hotly contested contest. Our rivalry time is coming. Virginia, State, Duke all in the next two weeks. We got a lot of information today and we will evaluate it. Each person on the team will look at how they performed and see what they can do to improve and hopefully do so on a daily basis in training. It is really a place in time now for us to sharpen everything. The training that we needed to do is either done or not done. It’s kind of too late to repair that one. We can certainly get sharper and rest and be fast at the end of the year.”
On the first performance after break:
“They’re competitors for one. They love to compete. Training is a necessity but they love to race and they love to compete so I am sure after a long break they were very eager to race and we don’t have that many home meets left so it was pretty special to be here in our own pool. We haven’t done a ton of winning in the last year in terms of dual meets so I know they wanted to get two wins. That is perfectly fine motivation for me.”
On confidence level:
“I am very confident that we are going to swim well and dive well. I do believe that each person has things they can work on and it is our job to communicate with them what those things are and it’s their job to work on them hard in practice because there is very little time to make big changes or even permanent changes but they can be made. For us to be great as a team, we need each person to find something they can do better and make it stick.
MEN’S TEAM SCORES
North Carolina 165.5, Navy 129.5
North Carolina 190, Penn State 105
Navy 189, Penn State 111
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT–MEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: 1:29.16 – UNC – 1st Place – Alvin Jiang 22.68, Valdas Abaliksta 24.63, Nick Loomis 21.92, J.T. Casey 19.93
1000-Yard Freestyle: Nick Palmer (UNC) – 2nd Place – 9:26.77
200-Yard Freestyle: Dimitrios Dimitriou (UNC) – 2nd Place – 1:39.60
100-Yard Backstroke: Alvin Jiang (UNC) – 1st Place – 48.26
100-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta (UNC) – 1st Place – 54.54
200-Yard Butterfly: Tom Bilden (UNC) – 1st Place – 1:50.94
50-Yard Freestyle: J.T. Casey (UNC) – 1st Place – 20.35
One-Meter Diving: Sean Burston (UNC) – 4th Place – 304.65
100-Yard Freestyle: J.T. Casey (UNC) – 1st Place – 45.24
200-Yard Backstroke: Chris Thames (UNC) – 1st Place – 1:47.56
200-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta (UNC) – 1st Place – 2:00.73
500-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell (UNC) – 1st Place – 4:30.43
100-Yard Butterfly: Alvin Jiang (UNC) – 1st Place – 48.57
Three-Meter Diving: Sean Burston (UNC) – 1st Place – 341.30
400-Yard Individual Medley: Brendan Feehery (UNC) – 3rd Place – 4:02.01
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 3:00.50 – 1st Place – UNC – Jack Messenger, Valdas Abaliksta, Alvin Jiang, J.T. Casey
Records: North Carolina 3-3; Navy 9-2; Penn State 1-7
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
North Carolina 215, Navy 80
North Carolina 200, Penn State 91
Penn State 181, Navy 118
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: 1:40.41 – UNC – 1st Place – Caroline Baldwin 24.78, Caroline Hauder 28.30, Emma Cole 24.88, Maddie Smith 22.45
1000-Yard Freestyle: Robyn Dryer (UNC) – 1st Place – 10:00.50
200-Yard Freestyle: Zhada Fields (UNC) – 1st Place – 1:49.70
100-Yard Backstroke: Caroline Baldwin (UNC) – 1st Place – 53.89
100-Yard Breaststroke: Caroline Hauder (UNC) – 1st Place -1:01.77
200-Yard Butterfly: Bryanna Cameron (UNC) – 1st Place – 1:59.69
50-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Smith (UNC) – 1st Place – 22.93
One-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson (UNC) – 1st Place – 311.95
100-Yard Freestyle: Caroline Baldwin (UNC) – 1st Place – 49.87
200-Yard Backstroke: Caroline Hauder (UNC) – 1st Place – 1:58.25
200-Yard Breaststroke: Allie Reiter (UNC) – 1st Place – 2:18.23
500-Yard Freestyle: Robyn Dryer (UNC) – 2nd Place – 4:55.15
100-Yard Butterfly: Emma Cole (UNC) – 1st Place – 55.65
Three-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson (UNC) – 1st Place – 342.30
400-Yard Individual Medley: Bryanna Cameron (UNC) – 1st Place – 4:20.46
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 3:25.21 – UNC – 1st Place – Zhada Fields, Caroline Hauder, Katie Ford, Brooke Bauer
Records: North Carolina 4-2; Navy 8-2; Penn State 1-7
UNC has flown under swimswam’s radar this season. Not going to be a top 10 team at NCAAs, but a critically strong rebuilding year for them with a lot of young talent performing well with great development potential – Caroline Hauder in breaststroke, Maddie Smith in sprints, etc. And I think it’s very beneficial that these underclassmen get to benefit from the exceptional example of Baldwin in her final year. She’s not really been in the discussion but I expect some really exceptional end-of-the-season performances. Her rate of improvement over her college career has been remarkable and she seems to thrive on the big stage. I’m still impressed by her times from the TN Invite, which beat out a lot… Read more »
Completely disagree with this statement. Baldwin is an absolute stud like Moffitt last year and I agree they have 3 or 4 other really good girls and so can put up some good relays. However, just like last year they fall off drastically in depth and success as a team. Last year was first time women got 4th at ACCs. I see that same result this year probably.
You mention nothing about the men. They are in the same boat. 3 or 4 good guys but no depth. Last year was first time worst than 4th and got 7th. This year 5th is best case scenario and it would be 7th or 8th if not for their great divers.… Read more »