Virginia Splits with Auburn
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 16 Virginia men’s swimming and diving team (3-0) cruised to a 200-129 victory over Auburn (0-1), while the No. 7 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team (2-1) fell, 196-139, to No. 17 Auburn (2-0) on Friday (Oct. 26) at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.
“Really pleased with how both teams swam today against Auburn,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It was really great to see Gary Taylor, Auburn’s head coach. He and I spent a lot of time together at our previous stop before we took the head coaching jobs here at Virginia and Auburn. They are a fantastic team. They came in and really pushed us. The (Auburn) women gave us a good old fashioned whipping tonight. For us October doesn’t define you, practice every day and where you are at the end of the season in March does. I have said it often, and will continue to say it, the goal is to get better week-to-week and both our men and women were better this week than we were last week. We are on the right track.”
On the day, the men swept the top three spots in three events and had top-two finishers in eight events, including two relays with 14 wins in 16 events. The men built a 107-to-41 lead on the Tigers after the first session, then carried that momentum into the second session to take the win.
The Cavaliers took the top two spots in the 200-yard medley relay, paced by the team of Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) and Lewis Burras (Dubai) with a time of 1:28.09.
Burras led the field in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.48, then added a win in the 100-yard free in 44.98 in the second session. Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) took the top spot in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:13.03 then followed with a win in the 500-yard freestyle (4:25.95) in the afternoon. Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) grabbed wins in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.77) and the 200-yard breaststroke (1:59.10).
Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) recorded a time of 1:47.14 in the 200-yard butterfly to win the event. In the 100-yard backstroke, Clark (48.44) led a top-three finish for the Cavaliers. Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) won the men’s 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:49.34. In the final individual event, the Cavaliers went one-two-three-four in the 200 back, with Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio) leading the way in 1:46.92.
Virginia closed the morning with the top two finishes in the 400-yard medley relay, with the group of Clark, Otto, Keblish and Burras clocking in first in a time of 3:14.77. The UVA men picked up right where they left off after the break, taking first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The group of Clark, Burras, Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) and Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) clocked a time of 2:57.61 for the top spot.
UVA picked up a couple of second place finishes in diving. Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) placed second on the 3m with a score of 366.68 and Jake Greenberg (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) scored 293.40 to take second on the 1m for the Cavaliers.
On the women’s side, Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) took the top finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.17 and added a win in the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.26) in the second session. Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) picked up a win in the women’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:45.11. Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.) placed first the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:14.47. Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) won the 100-yard free, finishing in 49.97. The Cavaliers took second place finishes in six events, including four relays.
In diving, Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) took first on 3m board and second on the 1m to pace the Cavaliers.
“We have some people out on both the men and women’s side, several of our top swimmers, so that hurt us a bit,” DeSorbo said. “We are hopeful to get everybody back healthy going into Louisville next week. That will be another tough competition, especially on the road. They always bring tough competition. I am happy with how we did, but definitely not satisfied. We are looking forward to getting to work and proving ourselves next week at our last dual meet of the semester.”
Virginia will close out its fall dual-meet schedule at ACC-foe Louisville in a two-day meet, Nov. 2-3, in Louisville, Ky., at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.