VIRGINIA VS. UNC
- Results
- Hosted by UNC
- Saturday, January 21st
- 25 yards
- Dual meet format
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
- WOMEN- Virginia 173.5, UNC 121.5
- MEN- Virginia 170, UNC 130
The Virginia Cavaliers hit the road on Saturday, as the men and women both took down ACC rival UNC. Distance standout Leah Smith once again swept her individual triple. She got the ball rolling in the 1000 free, winning by over 20 seconds with her 9:38.38. Smith took back-to-back event wins, as she returned for the 200 free shortly after. She dominated again, posting a 1:46.43 ahead of teammate Morgan Hill (1:49.11). In her final individual race, the 500 free, the Cavaliers swept the top 4 slots. Smith led the way in 4:46.35, followed by Macey Arnold (4:57.08), Maddy Smart (4:58.99), and Cece Williams (5:00.88).
The Virginia women nearly swept all the freestyle events, as Hill swam to victory in the 100 free with her 50.03. UNC’s Sarah Hitchens made the stop in the 50 free, however, as she clocked a 22.87 to out-touch UVA’s Caitlin Cooper (22.88).
After taking down a Pool Record in the 200 back against Duke on Friday, Virginia’s Brendan Casey took the reigns in that event again on Saturday. He nearly matched his time from the day before, winning with a quick 1:46.10. Teammate Ted Schubert impressed with a sweep of the butterfly races, clocking a 48.50 in the 100 fly and a 1:47.21 in the 200 fly.
UNC’s Jorden Merrilees and Hellen Moffitt each won a pair of races for the Tarheels. Merilees took on the middle distance freestyles, winning the 200 free in 1:37.61 and the 500 free in 4:26.67. Moffitt, on the other hand, picked up her first win in the 200 back, where she posted a 1:56.65 to outswim Virginia’s Jenn Marrkand (1:58.70). She then used her back half speed to chase down Virginia’s Kaitlyn Jones in the 100 fly, winning in 53.79 ahead of Jones’ 53.91.
PRESS RELEASE – VIRGINIA
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The Virginia swimming and diving teams swept North Carolina Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) at Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Cavaliers won 21 events.
The No. 5 Virginia women (6-0) defeated the Tar Heels, 173.5-121.5, while the No. 13 Cavalier men (5-1) took down UNC, 170-130. It is the first time since 2013 that UVA’s men defeated North Carolina.
“This was a strong day for our teams,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “We were significantly better than yesterday in most areas and I credit our focus as the main reason. The men and women were on a mission today and it showed from the moment they walked on the pool deck. I am proud of their effort. We’re looking forward to racing some of the best swimmers in the country next weekend at NC State.”
Virginia started and ended the day strong, winning three of the four relays outright (women’s 200 medley and 400 freestyle and men’s 200 medley) and tying for the win in the men’s 400 free relay.
Senior leadership was once again a big key to the victories, as Cavalier fourth-years touched first in nine individual events. Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won the women’s 200 free (1:46.43), 500 free (4:46.35) and 1,000 free (9:38.38), while Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) swept the women’s breaststroke events, taking the 100 in 1:01.09 and the 200 in 2:12.78. Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) won the women’s 200 fly (1:55.89) and the 200 IM (2:00.15), while Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.) and Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) picked up wins in the men’s 50 free (20.47) and 200 IM (1:49.52), respectively.
The Virginia freshman class won seven events, with Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) sweeping the men’s butterfly events, including the 100 (48:50) and 200 (1:47.21). UVA swept the 100 free events, with Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) winning the women’s race in 50.03 and John Whiteside (Fairfield, Conn.) taking the men’s (45.15). Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain) captured the men’s 100 back (47.58).
Other UVA winners included junior Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) in the women’s 100 back (55.86), redshirt sophomore Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) in the men’s 200 back (1:46.10) and sophomore Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) in the men’s 1,000 free (9:09.77).
In diving, freshman Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) placed second on men’s 1-meter (332.18) and 3-meter (371.03), while sophomore Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) was second on women’s 3-meter with 327.45 points and fellow sophomore Kirsten Parkinson (Stamford, Conn.) was second on women’s 1-meter with 280.35 points.
“We had a very good showing by our divers today,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “We really improved upon yesterday’s results and put together some clean lists.”
The Cavaliers return to action next weekend when they compete at NC State on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.
PRESS RELEASE – UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams returned to Koury Natatorium for the first time since October 7, falling short against a pair of nationally-ranked teams from the University of Virginia.
The fifth-ranked Cavalier women defeated the Tar Heels 173.5-121.5 while the 13th-ranked Virginia men downed the Tar Heels 170-130. The UVA women improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. The Cavaliers’ men’s squad is now 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference. The Tar Heel teams moved to both 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
On Saturday, the Carolina women took first place in five of 16 events while the Tar Heel men took first place in six events and tied in one relay.
UNC’s divers were stellar again as they swept all four events. For the women, Elissa Dawson won the three-meter with 354.08 points and she captured the one-meter event with 309.68. Senior Jack Nyquist swept the men’s boards, scoring 357.85 in one-meter and 394.73 in three-meter diving.
Hellen Moffitt captured a pair of individual events for Carolina as she touched first in the 200 backstroke in 1:56.65 as well as in the 100 fly where she recorded a time of 53.79. UNC’s Sarah Hitchens won the 50 freestyle in 22.87.
For the men, senior Jorden Merrilees continued his excellent season by winning the 200 free in 1:37.61 and the 500 free in 4:26.67. In the latter race, he touched out teammate Henry Campbell by just one one-hundredth of a second. Junior Craig Emslie won the 100 breaststroke in 54.64 and the Tar Heels made a sweep of the breaststroke events when Michael McBryan captured the 200-yard event in 1:59.79.
UNC’s 400-yard freestyle relay of J.T. Casey, Philip Perdue, Lucas Popp and Jorden Merrilees tied for first place with a time of 2:59.33.
“We had a lot of things that were trending positively today,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “UVA’s women are a Top 5 team in the country. Their men have a historically successful program. We’ve had some great battles with them. I had hoped that we might have the better battle with them today.
“We’ve got to keep the long view, and keep working on what we need to work on. We’ll get back Monday and look forward to next week when we have two more big opponents. Duke is a much improved (Saturday at 1 p.m.) and the NC State men and women are Top 10 teams (Friday at 5 p.m. in Raleigh. We have a big week ahead and some great opportunities.
In his post-meet comments, DeSelm highlighted the work of transfer Jorden Merrilees and well as the consistency of UNC’s diving corps.
“Jorden’s extremely talented. It’s a bit of an unusual situation with a first-year swimmer here being a senior. Jordan missed by just hundredths of a second making his 2016 Olympic Team for Australia. He has brought talent and a great work ethic to us and he is a veteran and a great racer. He knows how to get his hand on the wall which you saw today in winning those close races.”
Carolina swims in Raleigh Friday against NC State at 5 p.m. The Heels will host Senior Day next Saturday at 1 p.m. with pre-meet festivities starting at approximately 12:30 p.m.
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE: VIRGINIA 173.5, NORTH CAROLINA 121.5
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Medley Relay – 2nd Place, North Carolina “A” relay, 1:42.02 (Sarah Hitchens, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt, Brooke Bauer)
1000-Yd. Freestyle – Macey Arnold, 2nd Place, 10:01.44
200-Yd. Freestyle – Macey Arnold, 4th Place, 1:50.36
100-Yd. Backstroke – Susan LaRochelle, 2nd Place, 55.87
100-Yd. Breaststroke – Abby Fisher, 5th Place, 1:04.06
200-Yd. Butterfly – Brianna Cameron, 4th Place, 2:02.01
50-Yd. Freestyle – Sarah Hitchens, 1st Place, 22.87
Three-Meter Diving – Elissa Dawson, 1st Place, 354.08
100-Yd. Freestyle – Sarah Hitchens, 4th Place, 50.64
200-Yd. Backstroke – Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 1:56.65
200-Yd. Breaststroke – Abby Fisher, tied 3rd place, 2:16.21
500-Yd. Freestyle – Macey Arnold, 2nd Place, 4:57.08
100-Yd. Butterfly – Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 53.79
One-Meter Diving – Elissa Dawson, 1st Place, 309.68
200-Yd. Individual Medley – Caty Hulsey, 3rd Place, 2:04.15
400-Yd. Freestyle Relay – 3rd Place, North Carolina “A” relay, 3:24.52 (Sarah Hitchens, Brooke Bauer, Kate Boyer, Caty Hulsey)
MEN’S TEAM SCORE: VIRGINIA 170, NORTH CAROLINA 130
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—MEN
200-Yard Medley Relay – 2nd Place, North Carolina “A” relay, 1:29.65 (Jorden Merrilees, Craig Emslie, Greg Brocato, J.T. Casey)
1000-Yd. Freestyle – Henry Campbell, 2nd Place, 9:15.08 (season best time)
200-Yd. Freestyle – Jorden Merrilees , 1st Place, 1:37.61
100-Yd. Backstroke – Patrick Cusick, 3rd Place, 49.55
100-Yd. Breaststroke – Craig Emslie, 1st Place, 54.64
200-Yd. Butterfly – Michael Meyer, 4th Place, 1:49.18
50-Yd. Freestyle – Lucas Popp, 2nd Place, 20.83
Three-Meter Diving – Jack Nyquist, 1st Place, 394.73
100-Yd. Freestyle – Philip Perdue, tied 2nd Place, 45.64
200-Yd. Backstroke – Michael Meyer, 2nd Place, 1:46.60
200-Yd. Breaststroke – Michael McBryan, 1st Place, 1:59.79
500-Yd. Freestyle – Jorden Merrilees, 1st Place, 4:26.67
100-Yd. Butterfly – Patrick Cusick, 5th Place, 49.95
One-Meter Diving – Jack Nyquist, 1st Place, 356.85
200-Yd. Individual Medley – Michael Meyer, 3rd Place, 1:49.75
400-Yd. Freestyle Relay – Tied 1st Place, North Carolina “A” relay, 2:59.33 (J.T. Casey, Philip Perdue, Lucas Popp, Jorden Merrilees)
9:38-1:46-4:46? Smith clearly felt the effects of that first double.
UNC has won one duel meet this year, against Navy…..rough. ONE.
UNC women were without a couple really good girls…would have made meet a little closer, but outcome the same
UVA men (despite all the bitter Bernadino lovers) continue to rise. They will be back soon enough. Only took 3 years to rebuild and beat UNC again (part of that is UNCs continuing collapse though)
ACC Womens: Without Maroney who has not swum second semester, you have to think NC State is in the driver seat for the womens championship: Predictions: 1.NC State 2/3 UVA/Louisville – very close. 4.For first time ever maybe, UNC at 4th 5. FSU – getting better quickly. 6. Duke – also getting better quickly… Read more »
While NC State is on the rise on the women’s side, I still think UVA will defend their title for at least one more year. NC State is still lacking too much depth in the breaststroke, butterfly, and IM events to upset UVA.
I tried to make this post twice at work and it wouldn’t go through. I think UVA men continuing to rise is a nice way to spin things. The question for me, is will they reach their once past greatness again? Who will be the next Scot Robison? Matt McLean? Because, I do not see them winning ACCs anytime soon.
You have to remember the ACC is not what it used to be. There’s no question the overall strength of the conference has increased exponentially; the NC State teams of the last two years and this year would have blown out the top Virginia teams of the past decade. I agree they are on the rise and I could see them winning in the next few years actually. It will be anything but easy though.
Well Robison and McLean were as good as anyone on NC State. Remember both were 1:32 200 free and McLean went 4:10
Yes, people forget how fast the ACC has become. Plus the addition of Louisville and Notre Dame just made it that much harder. That’s a good thing though. The Big 12 is extremely weak and on the opposite spectrum compared to the depth of ACCs. But, my point remains. UVA men were at the top when Dino left/kicked out/whatever. We’ll never know if they would have remained at the top if he was still there.
John Whiteside is the next Scot Robison