North Carolina, Tennessee and Duke Enjoy Wins On Day Two of Nike Cup

CHAPEL HILL – The University of Tennessee’s men’s and women’s teams continued to dominate on the second day of competition at the Dowd Nike Cup, but there weren’t able to win as many events as they did on the first night of action.

Though the Volunteers were able to win the majority of the 14 events tonight, the celebration was diluted by a three swims that just missed automatically qualifying for the NCAA championships. The Lady Volunteers missed automatic qualifying yesterday in the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay, and they were a shade off tonight in the 200 medley relay. Madison Hahn, Molly Hannis, Harper Bruens and Faith Johnson combined to post a 1:37.95, just missing the automatic cut of 1:37.84. Placing second in the race was NC State with a 1:40.01, while North Carolina was third with a 1:41.24.

The Volunteers got close to the “A” cut of 1:25.63 in the men’s 200 medley relay with a 1:26.34. NC State wasn’t far behind with a 1:27.31, while North Carolina held off Air Force for third, 1:28.48 to 1:28.59.

Hannis, an NCAA finalist in the breaststroke events, just missed the “A” cut in the 100 breast, winning easily with a 59.57 but missing the cut of 59.12. Hannis’ lifetime best is a 58.22, which she did at the 2013 and 2014 SEC championships. Well back in second was Megan Sellers of East Carolina with a 1:01.30 and Kayla Brumbaum of NC State with a 1:01.85.

Peter Kropp couldn’t replicate his ACC record-breaking time of 52.02 from the 100 breast prelims, falling to second in the final with a 53.46. Another Peter took the top spot in the event, and that was Peter Stevens of Tennessee with a 53.13. The Slovenian freshman still has a second to drop to beat the NCAA championship automatic qualifying time of 52.29. Placing third in the final tonight was Michael Barnosky of the Air Force Academy with a 53.84.

Tennessee enjoyed three 1-2 finishes tonight. The first came in the women’s 400 IM when Lauren Driscoll and Amanda Carner posted times of 4:10.18 and 4:14.53, respectively. That’s a lifetime best for Driscoll, beating her 4:11.08 from back in 2010. Placing third was Emma Nunn of North Carolina with a 4:15.52.

Sam McHugh continued his impressive meet with a 3:44.63 to win the men’s 400 IM, a lifetime best by more than a second. Teammate Tristan Slater was second with a 3:50.35, while UNC’s Henry Campbell placed third with a 3:53.61, missing his lifetime best by about a second.

The third 1-2 finish for Tennessee came in the women’s 200 free. Camryne Morris took the lead at 100 yards over teammate Mary Griffith, 52.69 to 53.37. But Griffith turned on the afterburners to win with a 1:47.98 to Morris’ 1:48.13. Placing third with a 1:48.99 was NC State’s Rachel Muller with a 1:48.99.

Duke and UNC enjoyed 1-2 finishes in the women’s and men’s 100 fly finals. Duke’s Leah Goldman and Maddie Rusch took the top two spots, but Tenneessee’s Faith Johnson waged a strong fight with the Blue Devils. All three turned within two tenths of each other at 50 yards, but it was Goldman who got the win with a 53.78 ahead of Rusch’s 53.93 and Johnson’s 54.04. Sam Lewis, who had the top time in the collegiate rankings in the men’s 100 fly until two weeks ago with a 47.30, could only manage a 47.66 for the win tonight. Teammate Ben Colley posted a 47.88 for second, just ahead of the 47.92 by NC States Soeren Dahl.

Simonas Bilis continue to march through the freestyle events with a 1:36.43 for the win in the 200 free. He’s been much faster with a 1:36.52 from last month to sit third in the collegiate rankings. Thomas Duvall of Navy was second with a 1:36.69 while Sean Lehane of Tennessee claimed third place with a 1:37.34.

Tennessee took the wins in both backstroke events. Hahn’s stronger second 50 yards helped her pull out the win with a 53.58. Alexia Zevnik of NC State was second with a 53.97 while Carner was third with a 54.06 after swimming the 400 IM earlier in the session. Sean Lehane turned even with NC State’s Andreas Schiellerup at 50 yards, but Lehane specializes in the 200 backstroke, and his endurance paid off with a win in 47.22 to Schiellerup’s 47.80. Sam Lewis of UNC was third with a 48.01.

Tennessee cruised to a 7:16.86 to win the women’s 800 free relay ahead of the 7:20.90 by NC State and the 7:23.56 by UNC. In the men’s 800 free relay, NC State finally got the edge over Tennessee, posting a 6:28.93 that included a 1:35.16 anchor leg by Bilis. Tennessee was second with a 6:30.06 while Air Force took third with a 6:31.09.

Results available on Meet Mobile.

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