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Cavaliers Down Hokies in First ACC Dual Meet
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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated Virginia Tech in the first Atlantic Coast Conference dual meet of the season Wednesday in Blacksburg, Va. The UVa women defeated Virginia Tech 180-120, led by three event wins from freshman Lauren Perdue. The Cavalier men beat the Hokies 177-123 as Matt McLean, Dan McMahon and Scot Robison were all double-event winners.
Additionally, Virginia set 10 War Memorial Pool records, six by the women and four by the men. Pool records set by the women included Perdue in the 200 free (1:47.98), Jen Narum in the 1650 free (16:40.56), Mei Christensen in the 100 back (54.73), Liz Shaw in the 200 fly (2:00.56), Claire Crippen in the 400 IM (4:19.17) and the 800 freestyle relay team (7:29.09). Records set by the men included Taylor Smith in the 1650 free (15:33.76), John Azar in the 200 breast (2:01.83), Darren Anksoko in the 400 IM (3:59.47) and the 800 freestyle relay team (6:44.41).
“That pool is not known to be a fast facility and has been a strong and powerful home pool for them,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “We certainly neutralized that by going in there and setting records. This was a very strong statement meet for us, especially coming out of difficult and challenging training.”
Perdue, a native of Greenville, N.C., won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events for the Orange and Blue. She recorded an NCAA ‘B’ time of 1:47.89 in the 200 free, to go along with times of 23.14 in the 50 free and 50.29 in the 100 free.
“Lauren had a spectacular race in the 200 free,” Bernardino continued. “She bounced right back a couple of events later to win the 50 free and that really shows her conditioning is starting to come around. I liked how she raced the 200 – she led right from when the gun fired until the very end.”
The women’s 200 medley relay team of Christensen, Katherine McDonnell, Lauren Smart and newcomer Kelly Flynn got things started with a first-place finish, clocking an NCAA ‘B’ time of 1:42.57.
“I thought the women came out and took command of the meet from the get-go,” Bernardino said. “They were ready and focused. They raced having a really good mental edge.”
Another freshman, Christine Olson, led Virginia to a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 breast, with a winning time of 2:17.37. McDonnell placed second (2:19.29) while Crippen was third (2:21.87). Olson also won the 100 breast (1:04.48) while McDonnell was second (1:04.65).
Shaw paced the women to another 1-2-3 finish in the 200 fly. Shaw, a Richmond, Va., native, clocked an NCAA ‘B’ time of 2:00.56 to take first-place honors. Joanna Thomas was second (2:02.05) and Crippen finished third (2:02.64).
Christensen won both the 100 back (54.73) and 200 back (1:59.47), both NCAA ‘B’ standards. Smart placed second in the 200 back with a mark of 55.92.
Narum won the 1650 free in 16:40.65 and went on to finish second in the 500 free (4:58.17) behind classmate Jenna Harris (4:56.97). Smart also took first place in the 100 fly (55.68) followed by Shaw (56.86).
Crippen’s time of 4:19.17 in the 400 IM was also good enough for first place, but she swam as an exhibition and therefore did not win points.
The 800 freestyle relay team of Harris, Perdue, Shaw and Flynn also clocked a winning time of 7:29.09, but the race was exhibitioned.
Ankosko led the way in the 400 IM where the Cavalier men went 1-2-3. He finished with a winning time of 3:59.47, followed by teammates Tim Hayes (4:02.96) and Nick Montes de Oca (4:06.13).
“The men did not come firing on all cylinders; they started sluggish and were not where we needed to be emotionally,” Bernardino said. “We found ourselves behind at first diving break and had find a way to rally. We did that with the strength of our sprinters.”
Robison picked up a victory in the 100 free (45.04), followed by McLean (46.12) and Karasek (47.06). Robison, a Charlotte, N.C. native, also took top honors in the 50 free (20.58).
“The sweep in the 100 free put the momentum back in our favor,” Bernardino said. “It energized the men’s team and we went on a big roll from that point forward. To me that was a huge turnaround event in the meet.”
McLean led Virginia to a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 free, clocking a winning time of 1:39.63. David Karasek (1:41.04) was second and Ankosko (1:41.46) third. McLean also won the 500 free in a time of 4:32.40, while Taylor Smith was second in 4:34.19.
Senior John Azar claimed the 200 breast (2:01.83) ahead of Hayes, who placed second (2:05.75) and freshman Tom Casey, who was third (2:08.49).
Senior Daniel McMahon won both the 100 fly (50.44) and 200 fly (1:51.09), while senior Daniel Johnson finished first in the 200 back (1:49.65) and Taylor Smith claimed the 1650 free (15:33.76, ‘B’).
The 800 freestyle relay team of Robison, Karasek, Garrett Wren and Ankosko clocked a winning time of 6:44.41 in the meet’s final event.
Virginia returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 7 with a home dual meet with Kentucky. Swimming events are set to begin at 11 a.m. with diving starting at 10 a.m. from the Aquatic and Fitness Center.