ACC Weekly Recap: Louisville Rolls On as UNC Still Winless

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

In action around the Atlantic Coast Conference this past weekend, the NC State men upset the defending national champion Texas Longhorns, while almost every team swam in a meet. Read about each of the competitions below.

North Carolina at Louisville

Both the North Carolina men’s and women’s teams have gone winless thus far in the 2016-2017 season, but even though the Tar Heels are still recovering from graduating a massive crop of seniors, the schedule has been the primary culprit. After hosting the mighty Georgia Bulldogs to open the season, UNC traveled to Tennessee and then to Louisville.

The Louisville women, on a roll as Mallory Comerford continues to excel, defeated the Cardinals 209-144. Comerford swept the 50 (22.97), 100 (49.24) and 200 frees (1:48.26) and helped Louisville sweep both free relays. Teammate Andrea Cottrell once again won the 100 and 200 breast, and Rachael Bradford-Feldman won both IMs. For UNC, Hellen Moffitt was her usual stellar performer, as she picked up three wins of her own in the 100 back (53.82), 200 back (1:57.60) and 100 fly (53.36) and also finished second in the 200 IM.

The Cardinal men obliterated Carolina 241-114, with Josh Quallen (100 and 200 fly), Carlos Claverie (100 and 200 breast) and Grigory Tarasevich (100 and 200 back) leading the way with two wins apiece. Jordan Meerilees continued to stand out for UNC, winning the 500 free in 4:25.26, and Jack Nyquist won both one-meter and three-meter diving, but the Tar Heels did not win any other events over the two-day meet.

Michigan & Penn State at Virginia

In our Big Ten Meet of the Week, the Virginia women took down both Michigan (196.5-156.5) and Penn State (266-87). Unsurprisingly, Leah Smith led the way with wins in the 500 (4:38.06) and 1000 free (9:32.03) and 400 IM (4:13.19) while also taking second in the 200 free (1:46.77) behind Michigan’s Siobhan Haughney. Laura Simon also swept the breaststrokes for UVA (tying with Haughney in the 200 breast), and Jen Marrkand won the 200 fly and 200 back.

The Cavalier men fell to Michigan 203-140 but took down Penn State by a 236-115 margin. Individual wins for UVA included Zach Fong in the 200 fly (1:46.30) and Austin Quinn in the 200 free (1:37.48).

Notre Dame & Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh

Notre Dame’s women’s team stormed to a pair of victories in this three-team two-day tri-meet in Western Pennsylvania. The Fighting Irish defeated Virginia Tech 190-163 and took down Pitt 224-109, while VT beat Pitt 231.5-121.5. The Irish showed solid depth and got key wins from Alice Treuth (200 back), Meghan O’Donnell (100 breast), Katie Smith (50 free) and Abbie Dolan (200 free), and that was just enough to hold off the Hokies, who got four wins out of Klaudia Nazieblo (100/200 fly & 200/400 IM) and three from Jessica Hespeler (100/500/1000 free).

The Hokie men came out on top of both of their rivals (203-150 over ND, 261-92 over Pitt), while the Irish men beat Pitt 238-115. Brandon Fiala had an impressive weekend, sweeping the breaststroke races while holding off fellow Hokie senior Robert Owen to win the 200 IM, 1:49.64 to 1:49.83. Norbert Szabo won both the 1000 free and 200 fly for Virginia Tech, while Dominic Giordano stood out for Pitt with a sweep on the boards.

Georgia at Georgia Tech

The Bulldogs traveled to Atlanta Wednesday afternoon and took down their in-state rivals. Returning to the site of their most recent National Championship, the Lady Bulldogs won all but two events in topping the Yellow Jackets 189-109. For GT, Iris Wang was the top performer of the day, finishing first in the 200 free and second in the 100 free. Another highlight came in the women’s 200 medley relay, when Maddie Paschal, Florina Ilie, Morgan Lyons and Wang edged UGA’s Chantal van Landeghem, Meghan Raab, Chelsea Britt and Olivia Smoliga in the 200 medley relay, 1:43.54 to 1:43.60.

The Georgia Tech men lost to Georgia by a score of 187.5-110.5, but the meet was not without its highlights. Just after the GT women beat Georgia by six one-hundredths in the 200 medley relay, the men edged the Bulldogs by 13 one-hundredths. Rodrigo Correia, Moises Loschi, Ben Southern and Robert Borowicz came in at 1:29.42, and Georgia’s foursome of Javier Acevedo, Chase Kalisz, Gunnar Bentz and Taylor Dale clocked 1:29.55.

Correia later won the 200 free in 1:37.42 and the 100 free in 44.14, while Loischi thrice finished second: in the 1000 free (9:15.69), 100 breast (54.48) and 200 breast (1:58.93).

Florida State, Florida Southern & West Florida at Florida Gulf Coast

The Seminoles’ visit to Ft. Myers resulted in four dual meet victories as the women swept Florida Gulf Coast (203.5-149.5), Florida Southern (290-57) and West Florida (258-95), and the men crushed Florida Southern, 258-90. The Seminole women used excellent depth to capture their trio of victories, and top highlights came from Alex Wittman, who swept the 500 and 1000 frees, and Lydia Ware, who won the 100 free, finished second in the 50 free, 200 free and 200 IM and got third in the 100 fly while contributing heavily on relays.

The FSU men saw Calvin Bryant win both the 500 free (4:30.55) and 1000 free (9:27.85) and Kanoa Kaleoaloha place first in 200 free (1:38.78) and 100 fly (49.69) and third in the 100 fly. Connor Kalisz dominated the 200 back (1:47.16), while sprinters Chad Mylin (50 free) and Jason McCormick (100 free) also picked up individual victories.

Princeton at Miami (women)

The Miami women hosted Princeton this weekend in Coral Gables and came out on top after the meet came down to the very last relay. Angela Algee won the 100 and 200 fly, Manon Viguier swept the 200 and 500 free, and Marcela Maric topped the field on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. Still, it was not over until Viguier, Iliana Oikonomou, Julie Suarez and Algee posted a 3:24.48 in the final relay to clinch the win, 151 to 147.

Keene State & Maine at Boston College

The Eagles cruised to three dual meet wins at home this weekend. The women defeated Keene State 188-96 and the men beat both Keene State (188-88) and Maine (195-94.5). BC swept at least the top five spots in the women’s 400 IM, 200 back and 50 free and the men’s 100 free, and team co-captains Conor Chamness and Josh Williams actually tied for the win in the 100 back, with both clocking 52.11.

No teams from the ACC will be competing this coming weekend, although several (including Leah Smith, Comerford and Cottrell) will be a part of Team USA at the USA College Challenge in Indianapolis. Louisville coach Arthur Albiero will be at the helm of the U.S. squad.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

1 Comment

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Veeboy Daniels

7 years ago

South Africa 0619507522 please contact me