Virginia Falls In Road Dual Meet To NC State
Raleigh, N.C. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell in their last dual meet of the season on Saturday (Jan. 26) to NC State at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center.
The No. 5 Cavalier women fell 167-127 to the No. 6 Wolfpack, while the No. 14 Virginia men fell 185-100 to No. 5 NC State.
On the boards, senior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.), junior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) and sophomore Jocelyn Porter finished 1-2 -3 in the women’s 3m dive. Towbin recorded a score of 300.05, while Dusel and Porter captured scores of 271.10 and 268.20, respectively. Dusel followed with the win on the 1m board with a score of 299.00.
Sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) paced the swim team, finishing first in three events. Madden opened the day with the top time in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:50.61 before winning the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.29 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:44.21.
Sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) led the pool in the 100-yard breaststroke, recording a time of 54.52, while sophomore Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) swam a time of 1:57.99 to finish first in the 200-yard breaststroke.
“I’m proud of our teams’ performances today against a very strong NC State,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “Hats off to the Wolfpack for bringing their A game. This weekend was great prep for the upcoming championship season. Our female divers were dominate and we had some exceptional races. Our squads are looking forward to defending their ACC title on the women’s side and improving upon our (men’s) third-place finish from last year’s ACC championships.”
Additionally, 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.) finished second, with a time of 1:37.50.
Wenger tied for the fifth-best time in school history with her second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. She finished the event with a time of 1:00.66. Hill placed second in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 22.31 and 48.63, respectively, while junior Mary Claire Tansill (Bristow, Va.) placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:13.85. Pang captured a time of 54.11 in the 100-yard butterfly for second place as sophomore Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) recorded a time of 2:00.58 for second place in the 200-yard individual medley.
In the men’s 500-yard freestyle, redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) captured the second-best time of the day, swimming a 4:28.36 in the event. Freshman Casey Storch (Great Falls, Ohio) finished second in the 200-yard individual medley, recording a time of 1:50.15.
The Cavaliers concluded the day with a second-place finish and a time of 3:18.36 from Hill, Pang, redshirt junior Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and senior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as the men’s team of junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.), junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), sophomore Sam Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) and sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) placed second in the men’s race with a time of 2:56.60.
Today’s meet concludes the regular season for the Cavaliers. The team will return to action on February 20 as the women compete at the ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C.