ACC Weekly Recap: Leah Smith and Cavaliers Jump On Top of Duke and UNC

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Virginia headed down to the Triangle Area this weekend to swim against Duke Friday evening and then against rival North Carolina in a Saturday matinee. The Cavaliers swept all four meets, women’s and men’s, and senior distance swimmer Leah Smith was outstanding in the process.

Against Duke, Smith won the three longest events on the schedule: the 1000 free (9:34.77), 500 free (4:43.28) and 400 IM (4:14.44), all in Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion pool record-time. Teammate Jen Marrkand won both the 200 fly and 200 back, while Laura Simon swept the breaststrokes and Morgan Hill won the 100 and 200 free.

The Duke women, despite sweeping at least the top two spots in both the three-meter and platform diving, could not keep up with the No. 5 Cavaliers, losing 175-125. The Blue Devils did edge out UVA in the meet-opening 200 medley relay, 1:40.23 to 1:40.35, but they won only three swimming events after that.

On the men’s side, Virginia used a balanced effort to pick up a 164-135 victory. Brendan Casey was the top performer for Virginia, winning the 200 back and 400 IM, and his teammates combined to win all but three individual swimming events. Duke’s Peter Kropp swept the breaststrokes, and the Blue Devils also swept diving wins and wins in both the 200 medley and 200 free relays. Full results from Durham are available here.

A day later, Virginia headed down to Chapel Hill and swept North Carolina as well. Smith again won all three of her events, but she swapped out the 400 IM for the 200 free, finishing in 1:46.43 to go along with her top finishes in the 500 (4:46.35) and 1000 (9:38.38). Simon again swept the breaststroke events, and Kaitlyn Jones won the 200 fly and 200 IM.

UNC’s Hellen Moffitt won both the 200 back (1:56.65) and 100 fly (53.79), and diver Elissa Dawson won both the one-meter and three-meter events, but the Tar Heels fell by a score of 173.5-121.5.

On the men’s side, Virginia won 170-130 for its first win against UNC in four years. Virginia’s Ted Schubert swept the butterfly events, and fellow Cavalier freshmen John Whiteside and Joe Clark also had event wins. UNC’s Jorden Merrilees won the 500 free and 1000 free, and diver Jack Nyquist had two wins as well. Full results are linked here.

Louisville Beats Notre Dame on Senior Day, Then Sweeps Rival Kentucky

Louisville hosted Notre Dame Friday night, and it took strong efforts from the Cardinal women to hold off the Fighting Irish. Louisville won 160-140, but that was despite an excellent effort from Abbie Dolan, who won the 200 free in a swift time of 1:46.87, took the 100 free in 50.10 and then contributed to a first-place 200 free relay team.

In their final home meets, Louisville seniors Andrea Cottrell and Abbie Houck each had two wins, with Cottrell sweeping the breaststrokes and Houck finishing first in the 200 fly and 500 free. On the men’s side, two of their fellow seniors won two events in their final home meets as Trevor Carroll won the 100 and 200 free and Grigory Tarasevich swept the backstrokes.

The top performer for the Cardinal men in their 179-121 win was Carlos Claverie, who won the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM. Teammate Marcelo Acosta won the 1000 and 500 free. The only Irish event victories came from Matt Grauslys in the 200 fly and Justin Plaschka in the 50 free. Full results can be found here.

On Saturday, Louisville swept rival Kentucky in Lexington, winning the women’s meet 167-133 and the men’s 176.5-123.5. The Cardinal women saw plenty of familiar faces touching the wall first: Houck in the 200 free, 200 fly and 500 free, Cottrell in both breaststroke events, Casey Fanz in the 50 free and Mallory Comerford in the 100 free. The Cardinals also won both the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Against Kentucky, Carroll won the 50, 100 and 200 free, and Claverie, Acosta and Tarasevich each repeated their victories from Friday. Full results are posted here.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, traveled to face IUPUI and finished first in all but two swimming events. Those results are here.

Alabama Beats Georgia Tech and Florida State

The Crimson Tide out of the SEC swam both Georgia Tech (in Atlanta) and Florida State (in Tuscaloosa) this weekend and went 4-0 against the ACC. Alabama’s women beat the Yellow Jackets 150-91, and Georgia Tech only had two victories all meet, from Iris Wang in the 100 and 200 free. The GT men lost 145-96 to the No. 11 squad in the country. Moises Loschi won the 200 breast for GT, Ben Southern won the 200 fly, and Matt Casillas finished first in one-meter diving. (Results)

A day later, Alabama surged late to beat out the upstart Seminoles, 170-130. FSU senior Lydia Ware won the 100 free and 200 IM against Bama, while her teammates scored big points in the breaststroke events with Natalie Pierce (won 100 breast) and Christina Loh (second in 100 breast, won 200 breast).

Alabama’s men won in comfortable fashion by a final score of 182-111. The Seminoles did get three wins, though: Jason Coombs in the 100 breast, Max Polianski in the 200 fly and Tyler Roberge in one-meter diving. Full results are available here.

Other meet results:

Virginia Tech’s men beat Cincinnati 195-141, while the Hokie women swept Rutgers (231.5-113.5) and Cincinnati (191-157) in a two-day meet that included senior day presentations. Seniors Fiona Donnelly (200 IM and 100 back), Jessica Hespeler (500 free), Robert Owen (200 IM) and Zach Switzer (200 fly and 400 IM) all had individual victories in the meet. (Results)
Pittsburgh lost dual meets to Ohio State and to Akron (women only) in Columbus Saturday. On the women’s side, highlights included Meme Sharp winning both diving events, Kinga Cichowska winning the 200 breast and Amanda Richey topping the field in the 500 free. On the men’s side, Ohio State dominated and won by a final score of 163-123, and in only one race did a Panther man touch first: Boris Kulizhnikov in the 200 breast. (Results: women’s and men’s)

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P magnan

7 years ago

Correction.. UVA’s Sam Magnan won the 1000free at both the UNC and Duke meet,

Susan L. Lansbury

7 years ago

Leah Smith is amazing and tough!???

Parke Cooper

7 years ago

UVA men and woman team trained hard over break and now it’s paying off. So proud of your dedication. Bring on ACCs!

Pam Kirsch Magnan

7 years ago

Except they misprinted that UNC won the 1000 free.., not

Dolora Stoffa

7 years ago

Go Hoos