Virginia Sets Three Facility Records In Win Against Tennessee
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams set three Aquatic and Fitness Center records on Friday (Jan. 11) as the Cavaliers swept Tennessee in a dual meet. The No. 11 Virginia women topped No. 5 Tennessee 178-122, while the No. 16 Cavalier men defeated the No. 11 Volunteers 158-142.
Results | Team Scores | Highlights
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams set three Aquatic and Fitness Center records on Friday (Jan. 11) as the Cavaliers swept Tennessee in a dual meet. The No. 11 Virginia women topped No. 5 Tennessee 178-122, while the No. 16 Cavalier men defeated the No. 11 Volunteers 158-142.
Junior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) opened the meet by setting an Aquatic and Fitness Center record on the 3m board with a score of 357.15. She followed with a win on the 1m board, scoring 303.45, to sweep the day’s events.
The women’s 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.), freshman Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.), sophomore Anna Pang (London) and junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) opened the swim meet with a facility record. The four swam a time of 1:38.22 to place first in the event. The Virginia women followed with a facility record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Hill, Pang, sophomore Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.) and senior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) recording a time of 1:30.13.
“I’m pleased with our performances today against Tennessee,” head swimming and diving coach Todd DeSorbo said. “They are a great team and very well coached. It’s always fun to win in front of the home crowd, especially against tough competition that is ranked higher. It provides a little motivation. Our goals as the season progresses are to get faster week-to-week and month-to-month, starting in October and rolling through March. The teams are beginning to hit their strides.
“It was a big day for our female divers and especially Sydney (Dusel) with a pool record on the 3m. Our women’s relays set the tone with two pool records as well. The guys had a full team effort to pull off the upset.”
The Cavaliers captured the top-three swims in three events as sophomore Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) paced the women’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.33. Redshirt junior Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Marcella Maguire (Ridgefield, Conn.) followed, recording times of 1:57.08 and 1:58.05, respectively. In the men’s 200-yard individual medley, Schubert recorded the top time in the event at 1:50.28. Sophomore Robby Giller (Wilton, Conn.) placed second with a time of 1:51.00 as sophomore Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) finished third with a time of 1:51.28. Virginia tied for first place in the 200-yard breaststroke as Otto and sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) both touched the wall with a time of 1:59.56. Junior Jacob Wells (Henrico, Va.) finished third with a time of 2:01.73.
Additionally, Virginia finished first in 11 events. On the women’s side, sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) and Hill each recorded a pair of victories. Madden topped the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.09 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:45.59, while Hill won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.47 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.55. Sophomore Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) paced the women’s 200-yard butterfly, recording a time of 1:59.00.
In the men’s competition, Fong swept the butterfly events, recording a time of 47.59 in the 100-yard butterfly and a time of 1:46.47 in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) led the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:37.43, while junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain) won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 47.83 and redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:27.54.
The men’s 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas), freshman Oliver Rus (Norwalk, Conn.), Fong and Schilling paced the event, capturing first place with a time of 1:27.76.
In addition to Dusel’s performance in the diving events, senior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) finished second in both the 1m and 3m boards with a score of 279.15 and 341.03, respectively. Junior Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) led the men’s team with a second-place finish and a score of 378.88 on the 3m board and a third-place finish and a score of 303.68 on the 1m board.
“Tomorrow we are right back at it with another tough dual against Virginia Tech,” DeSorbo said. “This will give us a great experience for the championship season where we will have to manage emotions and recovery to perform back-to-back at a high level.”
The Cavaliers return to action tomorrow, hosting Virginia Tech in a dual meet at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. Diving events will begin at 9 a.m. as swimming events will follow at noon. The Cavaliers will celebrate Senior Day prior to the start of the swimming session. The meet will stream on ACC Network Extra beginning at noon.