Duke vs. Virginia Tech
- October 21, 2023
- Christiansburg, Virginia
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “Virginia Tech vs. Duke”
- Final Scores:
- Men: #9 Virginia Tech – 166, Duke – 120
- Women: #18 Virginia Tech – 117, #16 Duke – 183
Duke opened their 2023-2024 season with a trip to Christiansburg this weekend, where the #16-ranked women took down the #18-ranked Hokies. On the men’s side, Virginia Tech came out on top with 166 points, out-scoring the Blue Devils by a 46-point margin.
The match-up marked the ACC opener for both teams, as well as served as Brian Barnes’ debut as Duke’s head coach.
Women’s Recap
The Duke women opened with a decisive victory in the 400 medley relay. Ali Pfaff (53.78), Kaelyn Gridley (1:01.19), Aleyna Ozkan (52.68), and Sarah Foley (50.66) stopped the clock at 3:38.31, over five seconds ahead of their ‘B’ team in 2nd.
Pfaff, a freshman, went on to win the 100 backstroke individually with a time of 53.94. She later made it a sweep of the backstroke events with another win in the 200 (1:57.03), where she narrowly out-touched Virginia Tech’s Carmen Weiler Sastre (1:57.09).
Gridley and Ozkan also translated their medley relay legs into individual wins for the Blue Devils. Gridley touched 1st in the 100 breaststroke at 1:10.90, while Ozkan logged a 53.75 to win the 100 fly.
Other strong events for Duke included the 200 fly and 400 IM. Sophomore Martina Peroni posted a 1:59.83 in the 200 fly, leading a 1-2 Duke finish with Catherine Purnell in 2nd (2:01.89). Audrey Portello took the top spot in the 400 IM (4:23.48), while Peroni and Purnell were just behind at 4:23.73 and 4:26.28, respectively.
Virginia Tech’s Chase Travis kicked off the individual events with a decisive win in the 1000, posting a massive season best time of 10:03.03. The senior also won the 500, where she logged another season best of 4:55.22 to win the event by nearly two seconds.
In addition to being the runner-up finisher in the 200 backstroke, Sastre secured a victory of her own in the 200 freestyle. She hit a season best time of 1:48.87, edging out Foley for 1st (1:49.26).
One of the strongest events for the Hokies was the 100 freestyle, as Emily Claesson put up a 50.95 for the win. Fanni Gyurinovics touched at 51.03 to take 2nd, while Anna Summers stopped the clock at 52.28 for 4th.
Other Event Winners:
- 50 free: Tatum Wall (Duke) – 23.46
- 1-meter: Margo Omeara (Duke) – 345.38
- 200 breast: Catherine Belyakov (Duke) – 2:17.02
- 3-meter: Aliyah Watson (Duke) – 354.83
- 200 freestyle relay: Virginia Tech – 1:32.35
Men’s Recap
Similar to the Duke women, the Hokies opened the meet with a dominating showing in the 400 medley relay, as the ‘A’ team of Youssef Ramadan (47.04), Carles Coll Marti (53.29), Mario Molla Yanes (48.52), and Brendan Whitfield (43.64) combined for a winning time of 3:12.49. Virginia Tech’s ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’ teams made it a complete 1-4 sweep.
Leading the way with two individual wins was Nico Garcia. The junior opened with a victory in the 1000 (9:21.57), leading his teammates Lee Naber (9:27.90) and Vedaant Madhavan (9:39.07) in 2nd and 3rd.
Garcia followed his 1000 with a victory in the 200 backstroke, where he logged a season best time of 1:46.54 to clear the field by nearly four seconds. Garcia also recorded the fastest time in the 400 IM (3:59.67), but was entered as an exhibition swimmer.
The breaststroke races were another strong point for the Hokies. Senior Carles Coll Marti touched 1st in the 100 at 53.90, while his teammates Joseph Hong (56.07), AJ Pouch (56.29), and Cobi Lopez Miro (56.50) snagged the next three spots. Marti again led the way in the 200 (1:57.47), while Pouch (2:03.30) and Hong (2:03.44) made it another Virginia Tech sweep.
Among the top performers for the Blue Devils was junior Michael Jiang, who picked up 2nd in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:50.02, which is over three seconds quicker than what he swam at this meet a year ago. Jiang was also 4th in the 200 free (1:43.74) and 2nd in the 400 IM (4:10.37).
Junior Blake Johnson had a strong swim to secure 3rd in the 200 free (1:40.15), while freshman Colton McGrady got his hand on the wall 3rd in the 50 (21.19). JC Castrillon was the team’s top finisher in the 500, as he took 2nd behind Virginia Tech’s Daniil Pancerevas (4:37.43) in 4:42.19.
Diving was another highlight for Duke, as freshman Charlie Berman secured 1st on both 1-meter (348.15) and 3-meter (375.00).
Other Event Winners:
- 200 free: Youssef Ramadan (VT) – 1:39.06
- 100 back: Gabriel Yuk (VT) – 48.94
- 200 fly: Carl Bloebaum (VT) – 1:51.69
- 50 free: Tanish George Matthew (VT) – 20.45
- 100 free: Brendan Whitgield (VT) – 44.03
- 100 fly: David Chang (Duke) – 50.54
- 400 IM: Kalen Anbar (Duke) – 4:07.47
- 200 freestyle relay: Duke – 1:24.01
Up Next
Virginia Tech is slated to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a two-day meet this upcoming weekend, while Duke will host in-state UNCW on Friday.
Gridley’s 100 breaststroke time is wrong…should be 1:01, not 1:10