Duke Freshmen Gridley and Peroni Break Program Records But UNC Wins

Duke vs. UNC

• January 27, 2023
• Koury Natatorium, Chapel Hill, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Full Results
• Team Scores
  • UNC men def. Duke men 180-119
  • #13 UNC women def. #19 Duke women 164-136

UNC hosted in-state rival Duke for their final dual meet of the season. The Duke women fell short to UNC by just 28 points this year, while the Tar Heel men came out on top by 61 points. 

The UNC women maintain their lead in the all-time series at 45-4, while the men maintain their series lead at 83-5. UNC remains dominant in the series overall, but in recent years the meet has gotten much closer, with Duke collecting the majority of their wins in the last 5 years. 

This meet wraps up the dual meet portion of the season for both teams. They now look ahead to the ACC Championships, which are slated to begin February 14th. The UNC and Duke women placed 4th and 5th at last season’s conference meet, respectively. The Tar Heel men earned 7th overall last year, while the Blue Devil men took 10th. 

Women’s Recap

• #13 UNC – 164
• #19 Duke – 136

UNC opened the competition with a win in the 200 medley relay, as the team of Greer Pattison (24.18), Skyler Smith (26.68), Ellie VanNote (23.23), and Grace Countie (21.56) combined for a winning time of 1:35.65. Duke had a slight edge going into the final leg, but Countie’s split of 21.56 was enough to overtake McKenna Smith (22.19) for the win. 

Duke bounced back with victories in the next two events, as Yixuan Chang won the 1000 in a season best time of 9:54.96. Sarah Foley kept the momentum going in the 200 free, as she touched first in a season best time of 1:45.70. 

Both Foley and Chang secured victories later in the meet as well, with Foley winning the 200 breast (2:09.33) and Chang winning the 500 free (4:48.34). Foley finished her meet with a final win in the 200 IM, as she held off teammate Catherine Belykov to touch first in 1:56.19.

Countie delivered the Tar Heel’s first individual victory of the meet, leading a 1-2 finish in the 100 back. Countie clocked a 51.88 to win the event, as her teammate Sophie Lindner touched 2nd (52.68). Lindner went on to continue the UNC backstroke sweep with a win in the 200 back, touching first in 1:54.48.

The Duke freshman duo of Kaelyn Gridley and Martina Peroni set back to back school records en route to their 1st place finishes. Gridley clocked a 59.12 in the 100 breast to shatter Foley’s previous record from this year of 59.62. In the 200 fly, Peroni dropped nearly two seconds to record a 1:53.76 and destroy the program record of 1:54.93. 

The sprint freestyle events were another strong event group for UNC. Olivia Nel and Pattison touched 1st and 2nd in the 50 free, clocking 22.27 and 22.48, respectively. Countie claimed her 2nd individual victory of the day in the 100 free, as she hit a season best time of 48.73. Greer and Nel rounded out the top-3 in the 100 at 49.25 and 49.49.

UNC’s diving extended their lead over the Blue Devils, as Aranza Vazquez and Emily Grund earned 1st and 2nd on both 1-meter and 3-meter. 

Men’s Recap

• UNC – 180
• Duke – 119

The UNC men were led by freshman Louis Dramm, who secured three individual wins for the Tar Heels. Dramm opened with a season best time in the 1000 free, clocking a 9:07.72 to top the field by over 5 seconds. He then took 1st in the 500 (4:24.61), followed by another win in the 200 IM (1:46.81). His 200 IM time marked a personal best time by nearly 4 seconds. 

Nick Radkov collected two individual victories for UNC. He first led a 1-2 finish in the 200 free, winning in 1:35.97, just a few tenths ahead of teammate Patrick Hussey (1:36.19). In the 100 free, Radkov clocked a season best time of 44.21 to beat out Duke’s Coleman Kredich (44.47).

Another double-event winner for UNC was Boyd Poelke, who swept the fly events. The junior won the 200 in 1:45.80, almost a second ahead of his teammate Aidan Crisci (1:46.52). Poelke completed the sweep with a dominating performance in the 100 fly, as he topped the field by over a second to record a 46.07. 

Duke’s Cole Reznick dominated the breaststroke breaststroke events for the Blue Devils. He first recorded a season best time of 53.56 in the 100 breast to win the event by nearly a second. In the 200, he clocked another season best time of 1:57.61 to secure another victory. 

Brad Sanford earned another win for the Blue Devil men as he got his hand on the wall first in the 50 free. Sanford won in a season best time of 20.04, three tenths ahead of his teammate Kredich and UNC’s Tomas Sungaila (20.34).

Anton Down-Jenkins swept the diving events for UNC, as he won 1-meter with 362.48 points and 3-meter with 429.08 points.