University of North Carolina vs. Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 2. THE No. 10 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team owns a commanding 134-52 lead over No. 16 North Carolina after the first day of competition in a two-day meet with the Tar Heels at University Aquatic Center. Minnesota won nine of the 10 events this evening and was led by junior Jon Roberts, who claimed victories in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.

Roberts held off teammate Colin Lee-To to win the 100 breast with a time of 54.79. Lee-To touched the wall in 54.86 and Jason Timmer gave the Gophers a 1-2-3 sweep with a third place time of 56.85. Roberts and Lee-To both swam under the NCAA B Cut standard.

Just a few events later, Roberts took the blocks again and scored another tight victory, this time over senior teammate Russ Payne in the 200 IM. Roberts held off Payne with a time of 1:50.66 while Payne touched in 1:50.70. Mark Solfelt took third in 1:52.79 and Josh Griffey was fourth in 1:52.83.

Lee-To had another strong swim to win the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 20.37. Freshman Curt Carlson was the nearest finisher in 21.02 and Michael Richards was third in 21.16.

The Golden Gophers opened the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay. The team of Jared White, Timmer, Anthony Portela and Richards posted a winning time of 1:31.50 to beat North Carolina's time of 1:32.16.

Junior Mike Holmes emerged victorious in the 1000 freestyle, edging North Carolina's John Kinderwater. Holmes pulled past Kinderwater in the final 200 to post the win in 9:10.60, just .60 seconds ahead of Kinderwater. The Tar Heels also finished 3-4 to post their top scoring event of the night.

The Gophers dominated the next event, the 200 freestyle, to take a dominating lead. Sophomore Ray Betuzzi won in 1:39.27, followed by Carlson in 1:39.80 and Steve Miller in 1:40.96. Senior All-American David Plummer clocked a 49.12 to win the 100 backstroke by .41 seconds while Mike Woodson was third in 49.77.

In the other individual swimming event, Alex Wold won the 200 butterfly with a 1:49.74. In 1-meter diving, UNC's Ryan Funderburk took first despite solid efforts from Minnesota's three divers. Funderburk posted a winning score of 357.98 while Cole Young was second at 320.55 and Drew Brown was third at 306.82. Both of their scores were NCAA Zone qualifying tallies.

In the evening's final event, Minnesota cruised to an impressive win in the 800 free relay. The Gopher team of Woodson, Miller, Carlson and Betuzzi touched the wall in 6:41.90. Minnesota's B and C teams also finished second and third.

For the women, the No. 9 University of Minnesota holds a 123.5-62.5 lead over North Carolina in the first of a two-day dual meet at the University Aquatic Center. The Gophers, who won nine of 10 events contested tonight, will close out the meet tomorrow at 11 a.m.

The Gophers started the night with a win in the 200 medley relay. Roxane Akradi, Jillian Tyler, Kaylee Jamison and Stacy Busack combined for a season-best time of 1:42.41. The 200 medley relay broke a six-year meet record with the win and also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in March.

Yuen Kobayashi won the 1,000 free with a season-best time of 9:46.99, followed by Christine Jennings in third with 10:02.49. Kobayashi followed with her second win of the evening with a provisional qualifying time of 1:48.75 in the 200 free. Jenny Shaughnessy also provisionally qualified with a third-place time of 1:48.90.

Akradi won the 100 back with a time of 55.78, followed by Deidre DeWall in fourth (56.77) and Erin Forster in fifth (57.22). Tyler also won an individual event in the 100 breast when she touched the wall in 1:01.96. Kimberly Kazika placed fourth (1:05.80) and Alicia Jensen in fifth (1:06.02), also in the 100 breaststroke.

Molly Belk and Megan Braun took the top two spots in the 200 fly, each posting provisional qualifying times. Belk won the event in a career-best and meet record time of 1:01.18, while Bruan added a career-best time of 2:02.38. Danielle Ridder also scored in the event, placing fourth overall in 2:05.77. Busack led the Gophers in the 50 free event when she clocked a time of 23.48 and finished second, followed by Meredith McCarthy in fourth (23.82) and Erin Holtmeyer in fifth (23.93). Jenny Shaughnessy won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.30 and Tyler added a third-place showing in 2:05.05.

The Gophers' 800 free relay of Shaughnessy, Kobayashi, McCarthy and Jennings finished the night with a five-second win over UNC. The foursome set a meet record with a time of 7:23.08. UNC placed second in 7:27.42.

One diving event was held with Minnesota taking the top two spots. Jacqueline Schroeder won the 3-meter with a score of 298.28. Alex Barstad placed second with a score of 290.10. Margaret Thomas also scored for the Gophers with a fifth-place finish and a score of 252.60.

Special thanks to Missouri for contributing this report.

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