After a dominating day two performance, the North Carolina men and women have extended their lead at the Dowd Nike Cup Invite, highlighted by a pair of meet records from Carly Smith.
Team scores were not available at the time of publication, but we’ll add them in when they become available.
UNC kicked off night two with wins in both 200 medley relays, with the women setting a new meet record behind the fastest backstroke (Smith, 25.19) and butterfly (Hannah Lincoln, 23.89) legs in the field. Their final time of 1:39.93 is a great sign for the Tar Heels; that time is actually faster than they went at the ACC Championships a year ago. Smith would later go on to win the women’s 100 back in meet record time, touching in 53.89.
Sam Lewis was the star of the UNC men’s relay, splitting 20.50 on the fly leg to give anchor leg Logan Heck (19.65) enough breathing room to hold off NC State’s Jonathan Boffa. Both UNC (1:26.66) and NC State (1:27.05) swam fast enough to hit the NCAA ‘B’ standard. Lewis was a busy man on night two, later going on to win the 100 fly in meet record fashion (47.20), and also place third in the 100 back (48.48).
North Carolina kept things rolling with wins in the next six events: men’s and women’s 400 IM, 100 fly, and 200 free. Emma Nunn led a 1-7 finish in the 400 IM for the Tar Heels, touching first in 4:11.60. That swim–a lifetime best by two full seconds–would also have qualified for NCAA’s a year ago. Freshman teammate Annie Harrison, who held a massive lead for much of the race before fading over the final 100, finished just behind in 4:11.81.
On the men’s side, Alex Gianino held the lead for much of the race, but teammate Eugene Tee had great closing speed to get the win for the Tar Heels in 3:49.97.
Sarah Koucheki won the women’s 100 fly in 53.94, just ahead of Meredith Hoover (also from UNC), who touched in 54.02. Despite showing the most front-end speed, Hannah Lincoln, the fly leg for the Tar Heels’ 200 medley relay, finished fourth in 54.47.
Lauren Earp (1:46.40) and John Stilley (1:37.35) won the men’s and women’s 200 freestyles, respectively. At the end of the session, Earp would team up with Allyn Hardesty, Stephanie Peacock, and Danielle Silvering (who finished 2-3-4 in the 200 free) to win the women’s 800 free relay.
A non-Tar Heel finally got in on the action in the women’s 100 breast, when Christine Wixted of Duke touched first in 1:00.27. That’s a great time for Wixted, whose personal best is 59.95 in a runner-up effort at last year’s ACC Championships. Fellow Blue Devil Hunter Knight and NC State’s Ian Bishop tied for first in the men’s 100 breast, touching in 54.19.
Andreas Schiellerup of NC State came away with the second Wolfpack individual win of the night in the men’s 100 back, touching first in 46.61. Considering how NC State has been swimming so far this weekend (solid overall, but not amazing), getting a 46.6 out of Schiellerup at this point in the year is huge. Between him, Bishop (a 53-low breaststroker last year), Barrett Miesfeld (an All-American 100 flyer), and Boffa (capable of splitting under 42 seconds), the Wolfpack 400 medley is capable of dipping into the 3:06 range, which could certainly push them into the ‘A’ final at NCAA’s.