So far this week in ACC swimming and diving, Notre Dame and Pitt have each swept their meets, North Carolina has split with South Carolina and NC State leads after day one of their meet against Wisconsin.
North Carolina at South Carolina
In a Thursday battle of the Carolinas, North and South split as the Tar Heel women beat the Gamecocks 159-141, while the men lost 168-132.
The familiar faces were multiple-event winners for UNC. Caroline Baldwin, expected to be the undisputed ace of the Tar Heel women’s team after the loss of Hellen Moffitt to graduation, won both the 100 back (53.28) and 100 free (49.07) while also leading the team to wins in the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Freshman Caroline Hauder, who picked up two wins in the Tar Heels’ opener against Georgia, swept the breaststrokes (1:01.81 in the 100 breast, 2:15.32 in the 200 breast).
UNC’s men couldn’t keep up with South Carolina in the distance events, but they did earn five wins on the day. Freshman Alvin Jiang won both the 100 back (48.76) and 100 fly (48.13), while teammate Valdas Abaliksta won the 100 breast (54.34) and Dimitrios Dimitriou took the 200 free in 1:38.03.
UNC’s Hans Schroeder, Abaliksta, Tyler Hill and J.T. Casey won the 400 free relay in 3:00.09.
Notre Dame at Purdue
Notre Dame’s first road meet of a busy fall season saw the Fighting Irish sweep the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind. Notre Dame won the women’s meet 163-137 and the men’s 169-131.
Abbie Dolan has continually excelled throughout the early going this season, and she again won the 50 (23.14), 100 () and 200 free (1:46.52) to pace the Irish. Teammate Alice Treuth was the only other double winner for Notre Dame, claiming the 100 (54.59) and 200 back (1:55.76) in dominant fashion.
Those wins, plus victories by Sherri McIntee in the 200 breast and Claire Andrews in one-meter diving and all-around depth, was enough to put Notre Dame over the top.
In the men’s meet, Zach Yeadon took his typical place atop the distance races, winning the 500 (4:28.74) and 1650 free (15:20.20). Teammate Aaron Schultz was victorious in the 200 free (1:38.61) and 100 fly (48.51), and Robby Whitacre swept the 100 (48.77) and 200 back (1:46.92).
Whitacre teamed up with Garrett Clarke, Justin Plaschka and Tabahn Afrik to win the 200 medley relay in 1:29.71, and to conclude the meet, Afrik, Plaschka, Schultz and Daniel Speers won the 200 medley relay in 2:59.62.
Michigan State, Miami and James Madison at Pitt
One week after hosting Virginia and LSU in a three-day tri-meet, the Pitt Panthers easily dispatched challenges from Michigan State as well as the Miami and James Madison women’s teams. Pitt’s men beat Michigan State 185-105, while Pitt’s women won 210-90 over the Spartans, 179-121 over Miami and 223-77 over JMU.
The Pitt women picked up key wins from Amanda Richey in the 500 free (4:51.69) and from Valerie Daigneault in the 200 IM (2:02.31) and also claimed first in both relays. Shannon Hochkeppel, Lina Rathsack, Sam Howe and Rachel Brown won the 200 medley relay in 1:42.51, and then Rathsack, Howe, Brown and Daigneault won the 400 free relay in 3:25.26.
The Miami women picked up three swimming wins: from Manon Viguier in the 200 free (1:49.99), Annie Kriakidis in the 100 breast (1:03.75) and Roxanne Yu in the 200 back (2:02.07). Carolyn Chaney won one-meter diving for the Hurricanes with her score of 292.90, and Marcela Maric won on three-meter (330.70).
The Pitt men, meanwhile, defeated Michigan State in every single event contested except for the 200 medley relay—where the team’s A-squad was disqualified. Armin Remenyi picked up wins in both the 200 free (1:38.57) and 500 free (4:29.49), while teammate Boris Kulizhnikov also won two events, the 200 breast (2:02.70) and 200 IM (1:52.86).
In the meet’s final event, Pitt’s foursome of Brian Lovasik, Samy Helmbacher, Blaise Vera and Bence Szucsik touched out the team’s B-squad to win the 400 free relay, 3:02.21 to 3:02.32.
NC State at Wisconsin (Day One)
The NC State Wolfpack posted a dominant effort on the first day of their two-day dual meet with Wisconsin. The team won all but two races, including every single men’s race. The Wolfpack women are ahead 118-68 and the men 147-39 going into Saturday’s action.
Hannah Moore won both the 1000 free (9:40.71) and 200 fly (2:00.59) for NC State on day one, and her teammates that claimed individual wins included Julia Poole (200 IM, 1:58.99), Ky-Lee Perry (22.48) and Elise Haan (100 back, 53.47).
Haan, Lindsay Morrow, Krista Duffield and Perry won the women’s 400 medley relay in 3:40.04, and to finish out the session, Haan, Perry, Duffield and Lexie Lupton won the 200 free relay in 1:30.95.
On the men’s side, Andreas Vazaios was the star of the day, picking up wins in the 200 IM (1:45.90) and 200 fly (1:45.25), while Anton Ipsen cruised to the top spot in the 1000 free (8:52.87).
Ryan Held sat out the 50 free, but teammate Giovanni Izzo filled those shoes and won the event in 20.23. Held later won the 200 free in 1:36.22, and then Jacob Molacek won the 100 breast (54.81), Coleman Stewart won the 100 back (47.39), and James Brady topped one-meter diving (345.07).
Hennessey Stuart, Daniel Graber, James Bretscher and Mark McGlaughlin took the top spot in the 400 medley relay, edging out the Wolfpack’s B-squad, 3:14.48 to 3:14.75. In the 200 free relay, McGlaughlin, Molacek, Held and Tyler Rice won in 1:20.25.
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