Tar Heels Take NIKE Cup

CHAPEL HILL, NC., Nov. 17. THERE'S no place like home for the 'Heels.

North Carolina's men's and women's swimming and diving teams eased to the Nike Cup swimming and diving championships this evening at their home Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.

The Tar Heel women won the title comfortably with 874 points. Virginia Tech edged LSU for second-place 639 to 637.5. In the men's competition UNC won with 875 points to 764 for runner-up LSU.

Carolina's lead was so large that the Tar Heels still won by more than 100 points even after Carolina's A and B 400-yard freestyle relays were disqualified in the meet's final event.

North Carolina senior Katie Hathaway capped a brilliant meet by winning her fourth individual event tonight and doing so in Nike Cup record time. She
won the 200-yard breaststroke in an unshaved pr 2:12.83, breaking her own Cup mark of 2:13.87 set in 1999.

Hathaway's career- and school-record is 2:11.94 from this year's NCAA finals, just off Virginia's Danica Wizniuk's Atlantic Coast Conference standard of 2:11.82 from the 1999 Championships.

Hathaway won individual championships this weekend in the 200-400 IMs and the breaststrokes. Sophomore teammate Jessi Perruquet had another fast swim as she won the 100-yard freestyle in 49.96 seconds, giving her a third individual championship of the meet. She also wonthe 50 free and 200 free, the latter in school-record time (1:46.64).

In fact, Perruquet's 200 is No. 2 all-time in ACC history, trailing only Clemson's Mitzi Kremer's 1:44.78 that won the former Tiger star the 1989
NCAA Championship.

Both Hathaway and Perruquet also swam on UNC's winning 400-yard free relay which capped the meet. Sophomore Kelly Weeks won the title in the 200-yard butterfly for Carolina as she clocked a 2:01.35.

On the men's side, junior Stephen Krebs walked away Saturday night with the three-meter diving championship, totaling 580.50 points. Tar Heel junior
Judd Glasco captured the Nike Cup title in the 1650-yard freestyle in 15:27.11, less than four seconds off his career-best. However that time was done when the Richmond, Va. native was shaved and rested making his
performance Saturday all the more remarkable.

Several other Heels had runner-up finishes on the last night of competition. Senior Molly Sullivan finished second in the women's 1650-yard freestyle, sophomore Yuri Suguiyama finished second in the men's 1650-yard freestyle, freshman Kathleen Quinn finished second in the women's 200-yard backstroke and senior Kevin Erndl finished second in the men's 100-yard freestyle.

Carolina is defending ACC women's champ and 'Heels' coach Frank Comfort hs high hopes of not only repeating this season but also for a Top 10 finish at
NCAAs come March in Austin, Tx.

— Bill Bell

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