Virginia Sweeps Notre Dame on Senior Day

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Jan. 9, 2016

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.–The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Notre Dame Saturday afternoon (Jan. 9) in the teams’ final home meet of the season at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville. The No. 1 Virginia women won, 243-105, while the No. 21 Cavalier men took down the Fighting Irish, 182.5-170.5.

Virginia touched first in 13 of 18 events on Saturday, including all nine on the women’s side.

“First and foremost, I want to acknowledge our awesome fourth-year class,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “They mean so much to our program and it was great to see them win their last home meet. Second, this was a great win for our men’s team which will hopefully provide a jolt of confidence moving forward into the next couple weeks. On the women’s side, they continue to impress every time they get the chance to race. They are a special group with big goals for the remainder of the season.

“Finally, it has been an absolute pleasure watching these teams come together. Their mutual support for one another gives me and the other coaches so much pride. They genuinely care about one another, which makes it such a positive and healthy daily environment. We’re looking forward to getting right back to work Monday as we enter an extremely difficult gauntlet of dual meet racing over the next two weeks.”

The Cavaliers started off the day in record-breaking fashion with the women’s 200 medley team of senior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.), juniors Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) and Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) and sophomore Caitlin Cooper broke the AFC pool record in 1:39.49.

The men’s 200 medley relay of junior Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), freshmen Murat Yildirim (Turkey, Istanbul) and Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) and junior Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.) just out-touched the Fighting Irish, 1:30.05-1:30.50.

Junior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) captured the women’s 1,000 free in 9:40.22, while senior Hanne Borgersen (Frederick, Md.) and sophomore Cece Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) placed second and third, respectively.

Smith also won the women’s 200 free in 1:47.55, just ahead of freshman Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) in 1:48.64 and 1:49.91.

In the men’s 1,000 free, freshman Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) won in 9:17.62, ahead of freshman Dan Golczewski (Bel Air, Md.) and sophomore Omer Tara (Istanbul, Turkey), who finished second and third.

Virginia’s women swept the 50 free with Thomas winning in 23.27, ahead of freshman Kasey Schmidt (Saint Augustine, Fla.) and Cooper in 23.46 and 23.50, respectively.

The Cavaliers went 1-2-3 in the women’s 200 breast with junior Simon winning in 2:13.45. The freshmen duo of Sara Stranick (Charlotte, N.C.) and Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) placed second and third.

Sophomore Jennifer Marrkand (Westport, Mass.) touched first in the women’s 100 fly in 54.31. Junior Shannon Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.) finished third in 55.80.

Marrkand also placed first in the women’s 400 IM in 4:16.68, ahead of senior Haley Durmer (Decatur, Ga.), who was second in 4:19.73, and Stranick, who was third in 4:24.65.

Quinn won the men’s 200 free in 1:38.87, while Tara was third in 1:40.17. Fong captured the men’s 400 IM in a time of 3:58.17.

Bartholomew and Cooper combined to go 1-2 in the women’s 100 back in 53.07 and 56.98, respectively.

The women’s 400 free relay of Moroney, Thomas, Cooper and Bartholomew touched first in 3:20.47, while the men’s 400 free relay of sophomore Nicholas Magana (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Lockman, sophomore Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Quinn placed second in 3:00.27.

Lockman claimed second in the men’s 50 free in 20.90. Senior Eric Holden (Orange, Conn.) finished second in the men’s 200 breast in 2:04.21, just ahead of Yildirim, who was third in 2:04.85. Freshman Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) placed third in the men’s 100 fly in 49.20. Fellow freshman Gust Kouvaris (Troy, Mich.) touched third in the men’s 100 back in 50.01.

The Cavaliers return to action next weekend when they travel to Christiansburg, Va., Jan. 15-16 to face Virginia Tech and Towson.