Jan. 20, 2008

UNC Men Beat Virginia for First Time Since 1998

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - It had been 10 years since the University of North Carolina men's swimming and diving team had defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in dual meet competition, but all that came to an end Sunday afternoon in the friendly waters of Chapel Hill's Koury Natatorium. Behind a record-shattering performance by freshman Joe Kinderwater and two individual wins each by freshman Tyler Harris and senior Ryan Funderburk, the Tar Heels edged the Cavaliers 151-149 to remain undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The last time North Carolina was victorious against the Cavaliers was in Koury Natatorium on January 24, 1998 when the Tar Heels won by a 176-118.

Freshman Joe Kinderwater swam the second fastest time in ACC history and broke the Tar Heel school record in the 1000-yard freestyle to lead the Carolina effort. Kinderwater also won the 500 free in a personal best time while freshman Tyler Harris came through with wins in the 200 fly and 200 breast and senior Ryan Funderburk swept both diving events. UNC's other wins were by senior Robby Swendiman in the 100 free, senior Keith Laabs in the 100 back as well as Carolina's 200-yard medley relay unit.

• More from North Carolina
• More from Virginia

Virginia Sweeps Duke and Gardner-Webb

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Duke and Gardner Webb Saturday in Durham, N.C. Both teams won eight events apiece.

The men defeated Duke 113-91 and Gardner Webb by a score of 121-90. The women knocked off the Blue Devils 135-104 and the Bulldogs 121-89.

The women's 200-yard medley relay team got things started. Stephanie Glover, Katherine McDonnell, Kristen Wallace and Amber Bialas pulled together to claim the first event of the meet in a time of 1:45.60.

The women were 1-2-3 in the 500 free, with second-year Jen Narum leading the way with a winning time of 4:52.10. Rookies Claire Galdun and Claire Crippen placed second and third, respectively.

Freshmen Jenna Harris and Kristen Moores led the Cavaliers in the 100 free. Harris won the race in 52.42 while Moores was close behind, clocking a time of 52.75.

• More from Virginia
• More from Duke

Virginia Tech wins 20 of 28 events at Georgia Tech

ATLANTA - The Virginia Tech swimming and diving squad finished first in 20 of 28 events to sweep ACC opponent Georgia Tech as the No. 22-nationally ranked women won by a score of 177.5-84.5, while the men swam past the Yellow Jackets, 159.5-102.5, on Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, upcoming site of the 2008 ACC Championships.

With the win, the women move up to 10-2 (3-1 ACC), and the men (8-3, 2-2 ACC) earn their second ACC victory of the year to get back to .500 in the conference. The teams did not participate in the full slate of 32 events due to repairs taking place in the diving well.

"I thought the team responded well to the challenge of still being in the training phase, yet finding a way to race," head coach Ned Skinner said. "And not just post wins and points but also some good times. We were real excited about the performance of our kids."

• More from Virginia Tech
• More from Georgia Tech
  

RALEIGH, N.C. - Clemson's Swimming and Diving program picked up a pair of ACC wins on Saturday afternoon as the men downed NC State 165-133 and the women won 171-129. The men improve to 9-2 overall and 4-2 in the ACC, while the women have won five out of six to even their record at 6-6 overall and 2-4 in league competition. The Tigers have had three meets in the past eight days, all in the state of North Carolina.

Head coach Chris Ip said, "We are excited. We scheduled these two meets to try to challenge our athletes where they had to do a lot of traveling a still face a tough ACC opponent. We saw great efforts for the whole team. " The women, winners of five out of the last six, started off the meet with the group of Michelle Parkhurst, Katrina Obas, Peg Carter, and Lauren Sindall winning the 200 medley relay in 1:46.94. For Parkhurtst and Obas, it was the start outstanding individual meets.

Parkhurst won the 200 free in 1:51.53 and then bounced back and won the next event, the 100 back, by almost three full seconds. She would then go on to finish second in the 100 free to teammate Rachel Regone, who also won the 50 free, an event that she has not been beaten this season. Regone would later add a runner-up finish in the 100 fly as well.

• More from Clemson
• More from NC State

NC State Dominates Gardner-Webb

RALEIGH, N.C. - Both NC State men and women's swimming and diving teams toppled Gardner-Webb at Casey Natatorium on Friday, Jan. 18. The men (4-1, 1-1 ACC) downed the Bulldogs 167-59, while the women (3-3, 0-2 ACC) grabbed a 146-72 decision.

A 1:33.82 was good enough for first in the 200-medley relay for Stephen Mellor, Jack Roney, Taylor Goodwin and Dan Glauber. Mason McGee (4:05.60), Danny Voss (4:15.02) and Cole Yarborough (4:17.17) took one-two-three in the 400-IM, while Mellor won the 200-free with a 1:42.78. State swept the top-three positions again in both the 50-free (Crowder 21.90, Lee 22.12 and Ernst 22.32) and 200-IM (Kevin Woodhull-Smith 1:54.05, Roney 2:00.00, Dan Forsythe 2:00.46).

McGee won again in the 100-free with a 47.58, as Travis Martinez (47.74) took second. In the 100-butter Woodhull-Smith won out with a 52.07 and Ernst placed second with a 52.38. Goodwin (52.63) won the 100-back, and Yarborough (4:45.72) was tops in the 500-free.

Maryland Wraps Up Competition in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The men's swimming and diving team (3-4) finished their second day of competition, placing above Villanova with a score of 267.50-72.50, but falling to Penn State (228-116), Missouri (214-130) and Pittsburgh (178-170).

Dong Kim held the Terps only top spot of the day in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.36. Nick Cordes finished second in the race with a time of 20.76.

The University of Maryland women's swimming and diving team wrapped their second day of competition, placing above Villanova (178-169), but falling to Penn State (268-83) and Pittsburgh (231-116).

In the second day of competition, Maryland saw a fourth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Annie Fittin, Captain Emily Smoak, Jen Vogel and Maya Finkler finished with a time of 3:55.92.

• More from Maryland Men
• More from Maryland Women

Massachusetts at Boston College
Men: UMass 179, BC 119
Women: UMass 158.4, BC 141.5
More to follow...