NCAA Div. I: North Carolina Takes NIKE Cup

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Nov. 18. THE University of North Carolina men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished up dominating performances Saturday night in the 15th annual Nike Cup Swimming and Diving Championship at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.

The 14th-ranked North Carolina men's team took the championship with 1,113 points. Pittsburgh finished second with 842 points followed by LSU in third place with 609 points. The remainder of the field on Saturday saw Virginia Tech in fourth with 284 points, Duke in fifth with 159, James Madison in sixth with 145, Syracuse in seventh with 136, East Carolina in eighth with 123, Old Dominion in ninth with 117, George Washington in 10th with 84, Connecticut in 11th with 69, Toledo in 12th with 60, UNC-Wilmington in 13th with 59 and N.C. State in 14th with one.

North Carolina's ninth-ranked women's squad won the championship with 1,161.5 points. In the battle for second place Virginia Tech was the runnerup with 443 points and LSU was third with 394 points. Pittsburgh finished fourth with 310.5 points, Duke fifth with 261.5 points, Syracuse sixth with 233 points, Connecticut seventh with 230, East Carolina eighth with 124 points, Richmond ninth with 107.5 points, James Madison 10th with 70, Old Dominion 11th with 69, George Washington 12th with 65 and Toledo 13th with 22 points.

Individually on Saturday night, UNC junior Molly Sullivan won the championship in the 1650-yard freestyle with a career best time of 16:26.33. That time moved Sullivan into third place all-time in the event in Carolina history. Tar Heel freshman Yuri Suguiyama won the men's 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:25.44 which ranks as the eighth best time in UNC history in the mile. The time was more than 12 seconds faster than Suguiyama's previous career best in the event.

North Carolina senior Summer Mack won the title in the women's 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.92 while Steve Siler led a 1-2 Pittsburgh finish in the men's event with a winning time of 1:44.57.

LSU junior Mandy Leach swam to her second individual victory of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle as she won in 50.58 seconds. Mike Grube led three Pittsburgh swimmers in the final with a winning time of 45.01.

North Carolina junior Katie Hathaway captured top honors in the 200-yard breaststroke with a winning time of 2:14.10. UNC senior Erika Acuff finished second while swimming a career best time of 2:15.67. The men's champion was sophomore Sean Quinn of the Tar Heels in 2:00.04. Carolina swimmers took the top three spots in the event.

Carolina also finished 1-2-3 in the women's 200-yard butterfly led by the winning effort of freshman Kelly Weeks in 2:01.33. That time was a career best for Weeks. The men's winner was Max Von Bodungen of Pittsburgh as he touched in 1:49.29.

North Carolina's women and Pittsburgh's men continued their dominance of the freestyle relays. UNC won the women's 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:27.32. The relay consisted of Acuff, Christy Watkins, Hathaway and Jessi Perruquet.

The Pittsburgh men won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 2:58.90. The winning relay included Mike Grube, Max Von Bodungen, Adam Webber and Miah Heath.

LSU divers swept all four events during the Championships. Jamie Watkins was a double winner on the one- and three-meter boards for the Tiger women while Corey Fox won the men¢s one-meter diving and Erik Petursson won the men¢s three-meter diving.

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