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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia senior swimmers John Azar (El Paso, Texas) and Mei Christensen (Reston, Va.) have been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s performers of the week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Azar and Christensen each guided their respective squads to a pair of ACC dual meet victories, as the Cavaliers defeated Duke (Jan. 22) and nationally ranked North Carolina (Jan. 23) on consecutive days.

Azar won both the 100 breaststroke (57.03) and the 100 freestyle (46.13) in Virginia’s 159-133 dual meet victory over Duke. He then posted national ‘B’ cut qualifying times in winning the 200 freestyle (1:37.86) and guiding the 400 freestyle relay team to first place (2:58.40) in a 168-132 victory over No. 14 North Carolina.

Christensen won two individual events, was part of three winning relay teams, and posted a national “A” cut qualifying time last week. In UVa’s 157.5-127.5 win over Duke, Christensen placed second in the 50 freestyle (23.64) and aided the 200-yard medley relay team to a first-place finish in an NCAA ‘B’ time of 1:42.47.

Christensen then became the third individual in the ACC this season – and first in a backstroke event – to post an ‘A’ time with a 52.93 first-place showing in the 100 backstroke as Virginia earned a 185-113 win against the No. 15 Tar Heels. She also won the 200 backstroke (1:56.36) and helped the 200 medley relay (1:39.38) and 400 medley relay teams (3:19.77) to victories, all of which were good enough for ‘B’ times.

Azar is the fourth Virginia male to earn performer of the week honors this season, and Christensen-also taking Virginia’s fourth weekly honor-is earning the award for the second time in three weeks.

Both the Cavalier men’s and women’s victories against North Carolina broke a tie for first place between the two teams, vaulting Virginia into sole possession of the top spot in the dual-meet standings. Both UVa squads are 7-1 in dual meets this season with a 4-0 record against ACC foes.

The Cavaliers conclude the regular season this weekend with dual meets at Navy on Friday and at home against Pittsburgh on Saturday. The meet against Pitt is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start with diving beginning at 11:30 a.m.

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