Virginia Sweeps North Carolina in Dual Meet
Chapel Hill, N.C. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated North Carolina on Friday (Jan. 25) in a dual meet at the Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 5 Virginia women’s team topped the Tar Heels 172-126, while the No. 14 Cavalier men defeated North Carolina 187-112.
“North Carolina has long been a swimming and diving rival for our program and it’s always an exciting environment to thrive in,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “The team stepped up and raced well on the road. Getting two victories was the goal and we looked strong accomplishing that.
“Hats off to our seniors as this is their last weekend of collegiate dual meets. Now we have a quick turnaround, heading to NC State tomorrow, which will be another tough battle that we are excited to stroll into.”
Virginia opened the meet with a sweep in the 400-yard medley relay as sophomore Marcella Maguire (Ridgefield, Conn.), freshman Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.), junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) and senior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Conn.) finished first in the women’s race with a time of 3:37.42, while the men’s team of junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), senior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) and sophomore Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) placed first with a time of 3:13.72.
In the men’s competition, the Cavaliers captured the top-three times in two events. Fong led the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:48.84, while freshman Casey Storch (Great Falls, Va.) finished second with a time of 1:49.20 and junior Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) finished third with a time of 1:49.44. In the 500-yard freestyle, senior Dan Golczewski (Bel Air, Md.) paced the event, swimming a time of 4:25.93 as senior Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) placed second with a time of 4:28.65 and sophomore Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) finished third with a time of 4:30.58.
Additionally, the men’s team recorded wins from junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.), who finished first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.13), before following with the top swim in the 100-yard freestyle (44.44). Magnan paced the 1000-yard freestyle (9:13.91), as redshirt senior Brendan Casey won in the 200-yard backstroke (1:46.66), Fong won the 100-yard butterfly (47.96) and junior Jacob Wells (Henrico, Va.) won the 200-yard individual medley (1:50.45).
On the women’s side, freshman Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) captured the seventh-best time in program history with her win in the 200-yard breaststroke at a time of 2:11.59. She also captured a career-best time for first place in the 100-yard breaststroke, recording a time of 1:00.98.
Sophomore Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) captured a pair of victories, winning the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.19 after opening the day with the 1000-yard freestyle’s fastest time at 10:01.47. Hill topped both the 50 and 200-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 22.40 and 1:46.30, respectively.
Eddy finished first in the 100-yard freestyle (50.13), while sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) finished first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.39) and freshman Jessica Nava (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished first in the 100-yard butterfly (54.68).
Junior diver Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) topped the 1m board, with a score of 308.33, while freshman Walker Creedon (Cary, N.C.) won the men’s 1m board with a career-best score of 310.20. Senior Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) won the men’s 3m board with a score of 380.40.
The team concluded the night with the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Baker, freshman Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio), Schilling and sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) swimming a time of 1:20.98 to finish first in the event.
The Cavaliers will return to action tomorrow, facing ACC foe NC State. The meet at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center in Raleigh, N.C., will open with diving events at 10 a.m., while swimming events will follow at 11 a.m. The meet will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.