UNC Sweeps Queens In Season-Opener

UNC vs. Queens

• September 29, 2023
• Levine Aquatic Center, Charlotte, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

For the 3rd-straight year, the North Carolina Tar Heel men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams opened their seasons with decisive victories over Queens University of Charlotte yesterday.

Final Scores:

• Men: HM UNC – 148.5 v. Queens – 111.5
• Women: #13 UNC – 180 v. Queens – 77

Men’s Recap

The Tar Heels captured eight wins, led by Louis Dramm and Ben Delmar, who contributed two each. Delmar made his collegiate debut with a near-sweep of the breaststroke events. He opened with a tie in the 100 breaststroke, as Delmar and Queens’ Noah Beladi both stopped the clock at 55.75. It was all Delmar in the 200 breaststroke, as he posted a 1:59.35 to clear the rest of the field by six seconds.

Dramm, a sophomore, picked up his victories in the first and last individual events of the meet. In the 1000, he reached the wall 1st at 9:36.31, while in the 200 IM he recorded a 1:48.22 to come within a second of the pool record from 2015. 

Senior Matej Dusa secured a sprint freestyle sweep for Queens. He got his hand on the wall 1st in the 50 with a 19.66, putting him less than two tenths shy of his own pool record from January. The 100 was much closer, as Dusa held off Patrick Hussey by 0.04 to take the event in 44.67.

Queens’ Andreas Marz, also a senior, won the 200 backstroke by over a second. He was the only swimmer to crack 1:50 with a 1:49.64. Rounding out Queens’ event winners was sophomore Daniel Meszaros, who posted a 4:39.12 to take the 500. 

UNC won the opening relay, as the team of Walker Davis (48.18), Delmar (54.91), Boyd Poelke (48.27), and Hussey (44.20) combined for a 3:15.56, which took them under the Queens’ pool record from 2016. 

Queens ended the meet on a high note, as the team of Dusa (19.66), Meszaros (19.99), Nien Levy (20.32), and Conner Wang (20.32) combined to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:20.30.

Other Event Winners:

• 200 free: Patrick Hussey (UNC) – 1:40.27
• 100 fly: Boyd Poelke (UNC) – 48.22
• 100 back: Reid Miller (UNC) – 49.43
• 200 fly: Sebastian Lunak (UNC) – 1:50.11

Women’s Recap

The Tar Heel women secured top-3 sweeps in the 100, 200 and 500 free, 100 and 200 back, 200 breast, and 200 IM. 

Among the top performers for UNC was junior Greer Pattison, who logged a 53.60 in the 100 backstroke to take down Grace Countie’s pool record from 2021. Pattison was also 2nd in the 50 (23.39) and 100 (50.29) freestyle, finishing just behind her teammate and grad transfer Delaney Carlton in both (23.02/50.09). 

As with Delmar on the men’s side, freshman Samantha Armand swept the breaststroke races for the women. Armand clocked a 1:02.66 in the 100, then followed that up with a 2:14.63 in the 200. 

Another multi-event winner for UNC was Ellie VanNote. The fifth-year senior decisively won the 200 fly in 2:01.21, then completed her sweep of the butterfly events with a win in the 100 (54.71). 

Among the top performers for Queens was fifth-year Danielle Mellili, who secured 2nd in the 50 freestyle with a 23.29. She turned around and added a 3rd-place finish in the 100 where she stopped the clock at 51.41.

Also adding top-3 finishes for Queens was senior Sophie Lange, who finished 3rd in the 1000 (10:32.01), and sophomore Annika Huber in the 100 breast (1:03.73). In the 100 fly, freshmen Madeline Foster and Abigail Zboran collected 2nd (56.03) and 3rd (56.07), respectively. Zboran went on to win the 200 IM in 2:06.21, however, UNC’s Elizabeth Sowards had the top time of the event at 2:03.34. 

In the 400 medley relay, UNC’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams both broke the pool record. Winning the event was Greer, Katja Pavicevic, VanNote, and Carlton, who combined to log a 3:39.39, beating the previous pool record by over three seconds. 

The Royals captured the final relay of the day, as the team of Melilli (23.69), Ryley Heck (23.59), Foster (24.22), and Libby Livesay (24.22) stopped the clock at 1:35.07.

Other Event Winners:

• 1000 free: Lily Reader (UNC) – 10:13.14
• 200 free: Madeline Smith (UNC) – 1:50.78
• 200 back: Emma Karam (UNC) – 1:57.82
• 500 free: Michelle Morgan (UNC) – 4:56.53

Queens followed this meet with a dual against Davidson today, while UNC has a few weeks off before taking on UNC Wilmington in late October.