University of North Carolina Tar Heels Sweep Quad Meet in Indiana

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels came away with three wins following a quad meet against the Indiana Hoosiers, the Tennessee Volunteers, and the Kentucky Wildcats. Indiana University hosted the quad meet. Full press releases are below including the breakdown of scores between the four teams.

Press Release From UNC:

The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams turned in a tremendous performance against Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee Friday afternoon, sweeping all three teams in dual meet action at Indiana University’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.

The fifth-ranked UNC women beat 10th-ranked Tennessee 184-116, 11th-ranked Indiana 180-120 and Kentucky 218-82.

On the men’s side, the #12 Tar Heels slipped past the #9 Hoosiers 152-146, while winning 166-134 against #11 Tennessee and comfortably downing Kentucky 236-64.

“This was a fantastic day for our swimmers and divers and our program. We were fortunate to get an invitation to come into a preexisting meet that included Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky and we decided to join them,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “It was a really fun day of competition. Some of our seniors told me this was the most enjoyable dual meet of their careers. I think our women were able to be fairly dominant across all events and we had enough depth to be really good. I challenged our relays to put up some specific times and both the men and women met those standards.”

In the four-team dual meet format, the Tar Heel women captured first place finishes in nine of 16 events. Junior Hellen Moffitt captured three individual events for the second straight meet as she won the 100 back (53.48), 200 back (1:55.94) and 100 fly (52.85) just as she had against Georgia 20 days ago. Senior Ally Hardesty captured a pair of individual events as she took the #1 spot in the 200 free (1:47.06) and the 100 free (49.24). Hardesty also swam on Carolina’s victorious 400 free relay with Caroline Baldwin, Lauren Earp and Sarah Hitchens that clocked in first at 3:18.31.

Other Tar Heel wins came from Emma Nunn in the 1000 freestyle in a time just six-one hundredths of a second off her career best, Caroline Baldwin in the 50 freestyle and Elissa Dawson in three-meter diving. The Tar Heels finished second in the 200 medley relay in a season best time of 1:40.87 and Sarah Koucheki was second overall in the 200 fly.

“Our depth really carried the day for both teams,” said DeSelm. “Our women were very dominant top to bottom and that showed in the results. This sets us up well for a great Louisville team that comes to Chapel Hill Friday. Our seniors were tremendous. Ally Hardesty, Lauren Earp and Emma Nunn stood out with their swims and their leadership and Ally especially was important with two individual wins. Hellen Moffitt was again great for us with three individual wins. She is really off to a great start this season and she has been excellent against both Georgia and in this meet. Abel Sanchez’s divers continue to be a big part of our success and Elissa (Dawson) was tremendous on the three-meter board.

“Some people who stepped up in a big way included Madison Bowell, Abby Fisher, Caty Hulsey and Sarah Koucheki. All four made a difference today and swam with more confidence while gaining a lot of experience in their sophomore and junior years.”

Ben Colley and Sam Lewis led the Tar Heels with individual wins on the men’s side with Colley taking the 200 fly in 1:45.20 and Lewis taking the 100 fly in 47.20, an event in which UNC went 1-2-3 with Lewis, Colley and freshman Zu Pigot taking those spots. In the four-way meet format, Carolina benefitted by taking second place finishes overall in nine events – Mitch DeForest in the 200 freestyle, Nic Graesser in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, Kurt Wohlrab in the 100 breaststroke, Sam Lewis in the 50 freestyle, Jack Nyquist in 1-meter diving and 3-meter diving, Logan Heck in the 100 freestyle, Henry Campbell in the 500 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay unit of Lewis, Graesser, Heck and Colley.

“On the men’s side we had some real standout performances,” said DeSelm. “Henry Campbell in all three of his events was tremendous, going much faster at this point of the season in the 500 and 1000 than he did as a freshman while setting a career best in the 200,” said DeSelm. “Our seniors are very seasoned and very passionate. Ben Colley threw down two tremendous relay splits and put up some very fast times in the fly. Mitch DeForest really excelled in middle distance freestyle. He swam really tough against a national level swimmer from IU and had his best unshaved 200 freestyle of his career and then turned in another great time in the 500 free.

“Nic Graesser had tremendous splits on our relays as well as really good 100 and 200 backstroke performances. Logan Heck has been working really hard this fall. He was about as sharp as I have seen him in a dual meet. He’s on track to have his best season as a Tar Heel. Sam Lewis remains a very passionate and powerful swimmer with two excellent really splits and a win in the 100 fly. He is on target to have a tremendous senior year. Kurt Wohlrab had a great split on our medley relay and went against some national level breaststrokers and represented us really well. Senior Ozzie Moyer also led us on the boards combining with the usual great performance from junior Jack Nyquist as both were up against national level divers and competed well. This meet also was a great opportunity to get high level experience for our underclassmen.”

The Tar Heels will open their home dual meet season against Louisville Friday at Koury Natatorium in a two-day meet. The teams will swim the first half of the meet Friday at 3 p.m. and conclude the competition Saturday at 9 a.m.

MEN’S TEAM SCORES

#12 North Carolina 152 #9 Indiana 146

#12 North Carolina 166, #11Tennessee 134

#12 North Carolina 236, Kentucky 64

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES

#5 North Carolina 180, #11 Indiana 120

#5 North Carolina 184, #10 Tennessee 116

#5 North Carolina 218, Kentucky 82

TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN

200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Megan Bestor 25.21, Katie Munch 23.83, Hellen Moffitt 23.87, Caroline Baldwin 22.46), 2nd Place, 1:40.87 (Season Best)

1000-Yard Freestyle: Emma Nunn, 1st Place, 9:53.08 (Season Best)

200-Yard Freestyle: Ally Hardesty, 1st Place, 1:47.06 (Season Best)

100-Yard Backstroke: Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 53.48

100-Yard Breaststroke: Abby Fisher, 3rd Place, 1:03.61

200-Yard Butterfly: Sarah Koucheki, 2nd Place, 1:59.46 (Season Best)

50-Yard Freestyle: Caroline Baldwin, 1st Place, 22.65 (Season Best)

Three-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 1st Place, 300.95 points

100-Yard Freestyle: Ally Hardesty, 1st Place, 49.24 (Season Best)

200-Yard Backstroke: Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 1:55.94

200-Yard Breaststroke: Abby Fisher, 4th Place, 2:17.01 (Season Best)

500-Yd. Freestyle: Caty Hulsey, 4th Place, 4:54.62 (Season Best)

100-Yd. Butterfly: Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 52.85 (Season Best)

One-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 4th Place, 276.15

200-Yard Individual Medley: Katie Munch, 5th Place, 2:03.76 (Season Best)

400-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Caroline Baldwin 49.67, Ally Hardesty 48.83, Lauren Earp 50.12, Sarah Hitchens 49.69), 1st Place, 3:18.31 (Season Best)

Records: North Carolina 3-1, Kentucky 0-5, Indiana 4-4, Tennessee 4-3

TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT–MEN

200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Nic Graesser 22.54, Kurt Wohlrab 24.74, Sam Lewis 20.72, Logan Heck 19.78), 3rd Place, 1:27.78 (Season Best)

1000-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 5th Place, 9:14.51 (Season Best)

200-Yard Freestyle: Mitch DeForest, 2nd Place, 1:37.38 (Season Best); Henry Campbell, 3rd Place, 1:37.96 (Career Best)

100-Yard Backstroke: Nic Graesser, 2nd Place, 48.04 (Season Best)

100-Yard Breaststroke: Kurt Wohlrab, 2nd Place, 55.66 (Season Best)

200-Yard Butterfly: Ben Colley, 1st Place, 1:45.20 (Season Best)

50-Yard Freestyle: Sam Lewis, 2nd Place, 20.32 (Season Best)

One-Meter Diving: Jack Nyquist, 2nd Place, 349.55 points

100-Yard Freestyle: Logan Heck, 2nd Place, 44.53 (Season Best)

200-Yard Backstroke: Nic Graesser, 2nd Place, 1:47.55 (Season Best)

200-Yard Breaststroke: Kurt Wohlrab, 3rd Place, 2:01.52 (Season Best)

500-Yd. Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 2nd Place, 4:23.22 (Season Best)

100-Yd. Butterfly: Sam Lewis, 1st Place, 47.20 (Season Best)

Three-Meter Diving: Jack Nyquist, 2nd Place, 371.45

200-Yard Individual Medley: Eugene Tee, 4th Place, 1:51.22

400-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Sam Lewis 44.75, Nic Graesser 44.25, Logan Heck 43.75, Ben Colley 44.06), 2nd Place, 2:56.81 (Season Best)

Records: North Carolina 3-1, Kentucky 0-4, Indiana 3-5, Tennessee 4-2-1

Indiana Press Release:

The Indiana Hoosiers men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams posted three wins in a highly-competitive quad meet with three of the top teams in the nation on Friday afternoon at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.

The No. 9-ranked Hoosier men defeated No. 11 Tennessee, 156-144, and Kentucky, 233-67. IU lost to No. 12 North Carolina, 152-146.

On the women’s side, the No. 11-ranked Hoosiers defeated Kentucky, 230-70, but fell to No. 9 Tennessee, 153-145, and No. 5 North Carolina, 180-120.

In total, the men’s and women’s swimming teams totaled 10 individual victories in the meet. Blake Pieroni won three events, with Tanner Kurz and Miranda Tucker each sweeping the 100 and 200 breaststrokes for the Hoosiers. Gia Dalesandro (200 butterfly), Kennedy Goss (500 freestyle) and Ali Khalafalla (50 freestyle) each had one win for IU on the day.

“Sometimes you learn from swimming against good programs and you have to learn the hard way,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze remarked. “We ran in to some fantastic teams today. I thought we could have won more, but the scoreboard tells the truth. We have some work to do, but it’s a great group and I know they will take this to heart and we will come out strong the next time.”

For the Hoosier divers, the team’s great effort was highlighted by a win in the 1-meter springboard by Lacey Houser. Her winning score of 293.00 was a NCAA Zones qualifying mark. Michal Bower led the IU women in the 3-meter, finishing third with a NCAA Zones qualifying score of 287.75.

On the men’s side, Cody Coldren posted a NCAA Zones qualifying score of 330.80 to place third, while Joshua Arndt finished seventh with 301.40. In the 1-meter, Arndt placed fourth with a total of 341.60, while Coldren was sixth with 323.30. Both scores are NCAA Zones qualifying marks for the IU duo.

“Overall we had a really great meet,” assistant diving coach Kelly Gufford said. “Everyone dove really well and had a great showing. It was a tremendous day overall. It was a big win for Lacey Houser in the 1-meter with four teams competing. She put together a great list and we are really proud of her.”

Cody Coldren went dual-meet personal-best on 1-meter which was awesome and Michal put together a big list of dives on 3-meter and that produced a zone cut for NCAA’s.”

In the first swimming event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, the men’s team of Bob Glover, Tanner Kurz, Max Irwin and Ali Khalafalla placed second in a time of 1:27.53 – the fastest time of any IU team this season. For the women, the relay team of Marie Chamberlain, Lilly King, Gia Dalesandro and Gabriela Rajic finished third in a time of 1:41.25. Their time was also the fastest yet this season for the Hoosiers.

In the 1000 freestyle, the Hoosier women saw Haley Lips place second overall in a time of 9:55.37, while Stephanie Marchuck finished third in 9:59.52. For the men, Jackson Miller was the runner-up in a time of 9:07.61 – just one second off his career-best mark.

Blake Pieroni tallied his first of three individual wins in the 200 freestyle, taking first with a NCAA B cut time of 1:35.91, while Anze Tavcar placed fourth in a time of 1:38.60. On the women’s side, Kennedy Goss placed third with a NCAA B cut time of 1:47.41, while Haley Lips came in fourth in 1:49.15.

In the 100 backstroke, Bob Glover led the IU men, placing third in a NCAA B cut time of 48.20, while Ryan Gordon came in fifth at 49.98. For the women, Gia Dalesandro finished fourth (55.35), while Marie Chamberlain placed fifth (55.46).

The 100 breaststroke was a great event for the Hoosiers on Friday. For the women, the freshman duo of Miranda Tucker and Lilly King finished first and second, respectively. Tucker clocked in at a personal-best time of 1:01.74, becoming the seventh-fastest 100 breast swimmer in school history. King was just off her best time of the season, timing in at 1:01.85. Both times were NCAA B cuts.

For the men, Tanner Kurz won his first of two events of the day with a NCAA B cut time of 54.52. Kurz’s time was just off his season-best time of 54.33 he swam at Texas.

In the 200 butterfly, Gia Dalesandro touched the wall first in a season-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:58.26. For the men, Max Irwin placed third with a season-best time of his own – 1:47.11 – earning a NCAA B cut.

Ali Khalfalla continued his great season, winning the 50 freestyle with a season-best and NCAA B cut time of 20.05. On the women’s side, Kaitlin Kitchens placed seventh with a season-best mark of 23.54.

Blake Pieroni was at it again in the 100 freestyle, winning in a time season-best time and NCAA B cut time of 43.64. Anze Tavcar placed third with a time of 44.85. For the women, Gabriela Rajic came in eighth in a season-best time of 51.36.

In the 200 backstroke, IU’s Bob Glover took third place with a season-best time of 1:48.05, while Joseph Lane finished fifth in 1:49.14. Marie Chamberlain led the Hoosier women, placing sixth (2:00.42), while Rachel Matsumura finished seventh (2:01.11).

The freshman duo of Miranda Tucker and Lilly King did it again in the 200 breaststroke for the Hoosiers, finishing first and second overall. Tucker won her second event of the day with a season-best and NCAA B cut time of 2:12.54, improving her place as the eighth-fastest 200 breast swimmer in school history. King placed second in a time of 2:14.96, earning a NCAA B cut.

For the men, Tanner Kurz completed his sweep of the breaststroke events, winning the 200 in a season-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:59.67.

It was another 1-2 finish for the Hoosier women in the next event – the 500 freestyle. Kennedy Goss won in a season-best time of 4:49.84, while Haley Lips placed second in a time of 4:50.36. Jackson Miller led the IU men, placing fifth with a mark of 4:29.52.

In the 100 butterfly, Gia Dalesandro finished fourth for the Hoosier women with a time of 54.55, while Max Irwin led the men with a fourth place finish of his own, clocking in at 48.38.

In the 200 individual medley, Blake Pieroni earned his third individual win of the meet, touching first in a NCAA B cut time of 1:48.38. Bob Glover finished third in a time of 1:50.72. Miranda Tucker continued her strong meet for the Hoosier, leading the women in the 200 IM with a fourth place finish in a time of 2:03.11.

In the final event of the night – the 400 free relay – the Indiana men’s team of Anze Tavcar, Ali Khalafalla, Oliver Patrouch and Blake Pieroni won in a season-best time of 2:55.85. For the Hoosier women, the team of Kaitlin Kitchens, Gabriela Rajic, Kennedy Goss and Haley Lips finished third in a time of 3:23.91 – the fastest time for any IU team this year.

The Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in action on November 7 when the teams head south to face Auburn. The meet is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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