Nike Cup, Day Two

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, November 18. AS the sun sets on Day Two of the 2011 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium, the Tar Heels prepare to enter the third and final day of competition with a "heightened first place lead for both the men and women." Stephanie Peacock shined in the women's 200-yard freestyle, setting her second Nike Cup record this meet.
UNC ended the second day with first-place finishes in the women's 200-yard medley relay, the men's 400-yard IM, the women's 100-yard butterfly, the women's 200-yard freestyle, the men's 200-yard freestyle, the women's 100-yard backstroke, the men's 100-yard backstroke, and both the men's and women's 800-yard freestyle relays.

Carolina's men ended the second day with 808 points and the women look to take care of business on the third day, sitting at 965 points. Navy holds second place in men's action with 499 points, and South Carolina is at third place with 399.5 points. On the women's side, Duke wraps up the day in second place with 429 points and South Carolina is not far behind with 410 points.

"We're coming out here to see if we can beat our seasons best," said Head Coach Rich DeSelm. "I thought it was another good night, lots of people went faster."

The Carolina men's diving contingent took to the water early with strong performances by both junior Jake Kinzbach (354.20) and junior Ryland Jones (343.95). The two finished in third and sixth place respectively behind Duke senior Cody Kolodziejzyk, who secured first place with 363.80 points.

The Tar Heels kicked off the evening session with impressive finishes in the women's 200-yard medley relay. Seniors Sarah List and Laura Moriarty, along with junior Katie Nolan and freshman Nikki Barczak locked up first place with a time of 1:41.17. Not far behind them were seniors Candace Cooper and Sarah Tanner with sophomore Katie Rechsteiner and junior Stephanie Eisenring who pulled out a third-place finish with a time of 1:42.60. A third group of UNC swimmers, consisting of seniors Katie Keel and Laura Ruscoe, junior Rebecca Brooks, and freshman Kim Carducci finished with a time of 1:45.73, earning sixth place.

Two Carolina quartets finished in the top five during the men's 200-yard medley relay, falling short of Duke senior Ben Tuben, junior Ben Hwang, sophomore Steven Gasparini, and freshman Piotr Safronczyk who finished in first place with a time of 1:28.75. Senior Steve Cebertowicz, junior Tom Luchsinger, and freshmen Patrick Myers and Dominick Glavich came in second place with a time of 1:29.30. Other Tar Heels finishing within the top five were seniors Jim Flannery, Brad Hamilton and Evan Reed along with freshman Clifton Gordon who landed in fourth place with a time of 1:30.79.

Sophomore Cari Blalock, Moriarty and senior Marie Pesacreta all finished in the top five in the women's 400-yard IM, but they weren't quite up to speed with South Carolina sophomore Rachael Schaffer, who finished in first place with a time of 4:11.25. Blalock took second place with a time of 4:12.40, Moriarty took third place with a time of 4:12.44, and Pesacreta took fifth place with a time of 4:21.81.

The Tar Heels blew the competition out of the water in the men's 400-yard IM. Luchsinger, with a time of 3:50.17, led the way for four more Tar Heels to sweep the top five spots. Sophomore Alex Gianino (3:51.24), Myers (3:56.85), and freshmen Tyler Hill (4:01.24) and Brian Bollerman (4:01.28) finished in second through fifth place, respectively.

Carolina carried its momentum from the men's 400-yard IM into the women's 100-yard butterfly, locking up five of the top eight spots including the top three. Nolan dashed her way into a first-place finish with a time of 53.70. Blalock (54.37) and senior Sarah Tanner (54.61) took second place and third place, respectively. Seniors Nuffy Swanson (55.50) and Laura Ruscoe (55.82) finished in sixth place and seventh place, respectively, impressing the crowd with UNC's depth.

UNC's Glavich finished third in the men's 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.23 and Cebertowicz took sixth place with a time of 49.77. Duke senior Ben Tuben placed first in the event with a time of 48.84.

Sophomore Stephanie Peacock seems to have had a date with destiny this weekend, breaking two Nike Cup records halfway through the Day 2 Finals. Thursday night she broke the women's 500-yard freestyle record, and Friday she continued her dominance by finishing first with a record-setting 1:45.37 time in the women's 200-yard freestyle. Peacock had a strong supporting cast in the event, as freshman Danielle Siverling (1:48.86) finished in second place, sophomore Emily Kelly (1:50.48) finished in fourth place, and freshman Kelsey Cummings (1:51.81) finished in sixth place.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels filled five of the top eight spots in the men's 200-yard freestyle, with finishes in first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh. Senior Evan Reed placed first with a time of 1:36.41, followed by sophomore J.T. Stilley (1:38.09) in third place, senior Wil Singley (1:39.41) in fourth place, junior Brett Nagle (1:39.57) in fifth place, and Luchsinger (1:40.77) in seventh place.

Old Dominion senior ErlaDogg Haraldsdottir claimed first place in the women's 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.79. Carolina's Moriarty finished in third place with a time of 1:01.90. Three more Tar Heels, Keel (1:03.31), Rechsteiner (1:03.44), and Brooks (1:03.58) took fifth through seventh place, respectively.

On the other side of Koury Natatorium, Duke senior Jessica Lyden placed first in the women's 3-meter diving event with a score of 362.60 points. Carolina senior Jenna Moore took third place with a score of 323.80 points, and freshman Natalie Ritter took sixth place, scoring 294.50 points.

The Tar Heels had two swimmers in the top eight in the men's 100-yard breaststroke. Dominick Glavich finished in fourth place with a time of 56.21, and Brad Hamilton finished in eighth place with a time of 56.75. Both Carolina swimmers fell short of Old Dominion senior Arni Arnason's first-place time of 53.32.

Katie Nolan and Rebecca Brooks formed a winning pair for the Tar Heels, placing first and second, respectively, in the women's 100-yard backstroke. Nolan (54.57) and Brooks (55.45) were joined in the top eight by Sarah List, who placed sixth with a time of 56.16.

UNC senior Jim Flannery made waves with his first-place performance in the men's 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 48.89. Myers wasn't far behind with a second-place time of 49.07, and Cebertowicz rounded out the top five with a time of 50.27.

"Senior and Captain Jim Flannery was right on his lifetime best, which was really impressive," DeSelm said.

The Tar Heels had another first-place relay performance as Siverling, Kelly, Cummings and Peacock won the women's 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:18.91. Carolina also pulled in a third-place spot with a 7:31.66 performance by Nolan, Carducci, Brooks and junior Jackie Rudolph.

Evan Reed, J.T. Stilley, Tom Luchsinger and Wil Singley ended Carolina's night on a high note with a first-place finish in the men's 800-yard freestyle relay, in a time of 6:33.33. Four more Tar Heels were right behind them, as Cebertowicz, Nagle, Glavich and Hamilton took second in the event with a time of 6:39.81.

"Tomorrow we have to get up, find out what we're made of, see who steps up, and do what we're here to do," DeSelm said.

A new tradition was started at the Nike Cup Friday night, as the first ever "Inflatable Raft Relay" gave some amateurs a fine shot at some fierce competition. Four teams of four students fought to complete four lengths of the pool on their raft and were only allowed to leave their vessel after tagging a teammate. As Koury Natatorium roared with laughter and cheer, it became clear that this event would be a cherished breather in the years to come.

The Nike Cup will conclude Saturday at Koury Natatorium, with preliminaries kicking off at 10 a.m., and finals closing out the action at 6 p.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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