Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
- January 10, 2025
- Koury Natatorium, Chapel Hill, NC
- SCY (25 yards)
- Full Results on Meet Mobile: UNC vs Duke
- Watch on ACCNX
- Final Scores:
- Women: #15 UNC 178, #16 Duke 114
- Men: #23 UNC 211.5, Duke 80.5
At their final home meet of the season, UNC hosted their in-state rivals, Duke, to honor their seniors. The #23 Tar Heel men won 11 events to defeat the Blue Devils for the 85th time in 90 scored meets all-time between the teams. Meanwhile, the top-20 showdown between the #15 UNC women and #16 Duke saw the Tar Heels take 1st in 8 events for their 5th consecutive win in this rivalry and 47th win in 51 all-time scored matchups.
Women’s Recap
Duke won the opening event in a photo-finish in the 200 medley relay. UNC’s Greer Pattison started the Tar Heels off strong with a 23.50 split, over a full second ahead of Duke’s Ali Pfaff (24.63). Kaelyn Gridley (26.43) out-split Skyler Smith (26.57) to get Duke within a second of UNC, and handed things off to Kyanh Truong (22.72), who nearly closed the gap entirely against UNC’s Elizabeth Sowards (23.38). It was down to each team’s respective anchors to determine the winner, and Duke’s Tatum Wall (21.33) got the job done against Georgia Nel (21.69) to win 1:35.11 – 1:35.14. UNC’s ‘C’ relay came in 3rd, although their ‘B’ relay was disqualified.
UNC quickly bounced back however, as they went 1-4 in the following event, the 1000 free. Lily Reader, a junior, led the Tar Heels by swimming a 9:54.89 to defend her win from last year. Freshman Grace Hodgins swam a 9:58.31 for 2nd, while Michelle Morgan rounded out the podium in 10:01.01. Duke’s top finisher was Audrey Portello, a junior, who placed 5th in 10:04.26.
The Tar Heels continued to roll by taking the top 3 spots in the 200 free. Nel won handily in a 1:46.54, and was followed by Maren Conze (1:47.99) and Madeline Smith (1:48.74). Duke’s Yi Xuan Chang came in 4th with a 1:49.88, just beating out UNC’s Lucy Walker (1:50.08).
Pfaff and Pattison went head to head for the second time tonight, this time in the 100 back, and Pattison took the win in 51.66. She split 24.68/26.98 to beat out Pfaff’s 25.41/27.10 (52.51). UNC took the next 3 spots as well, thanks to Sowards (52.91), Emma Karam (53.20), and Sophia Frei (53.95)
Duke’s Kaelyn Gridley won the 100 breast to give the Blue Devils women their first individual win of the session, clocking a 58.14 to win by a body length ahead of Smith (58.80). UNC’s depth was once again on display however, as the Tar Heels secured 3rd and 4th as well.
Mary Macaulay, a sophomore, led the Heels to a 1-2 touch in the 200 fly. It was an exciting race between the teammates, as the two were tantalizingly close throughout the entire swim: Macaulay’s closing speed in her 1:56.29 (56.39/59.90) just out-touched Taylor Bloom‘s 1:56.35 (56.31/1:00.04). With those swims, Macaulay and Bloom moved up to 9th and 10th, respectively, on UNC’s all time ranking. Duke’s Martina Peroni swam a 1:57.28 for 3rd, and the Blue Devils picked up another few points by way of Kyra Sommerstad‘s 4th place finish (1:58.01).
Duke flashed their sprint prowess in the 50 free to wrap up the first half of the swimming events, taking 1-2 thanks to the duo of Wall (22.15) and Truong (22.48). Pattison, the 200 free champion from earlier in the session, was the only other swimmer under 23 to take 3rd in 22.93.
Aranza Vazquez, a 2x Mexican Olympian and 4x NCAA Champion on the boards, swept the diving events with a pair of wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter. Although UNC will bid farewell to Vazquez after this season, as she is a graduate student, the team appears to have a promising successor. Freshman Lanie Gutch delivered an impressive performance in the 1-meter event, scoring 322.58—just shy of Vazquez’s 324.15. In the 3-meter competition, Vazquez dominated, but Gutch still secured a second place with 309.53, outperforming teammate Eliana Joyce, who earned third with a score of 293.25. Margo Omeara was Duke’s highest scoring diver on both boards, placing 3rd in the 1-meter (309.60) and 4th in the 3-meter (286.80).
Nel secured her 2nd win of the night in the 100 free with a time of 48.38 to beat out the 50 free champ, Tatum Wall (48.67). While Wall was out faster, flipping in 23.44 compared to Nel’s 23.55, Nel’s closing speed (24.83) got the best of Wall (25.23). The Tar Heels took 3rd through 5th with the help of Madeline Smith (50.20), Mackenzie Headley (50.36), and Michaela Chokureva (50.50). Nel’s 48.38 was a new personal best by 0.30, moving her up to 6th all time in UNC’s school history.
Karam led UNC to a 1-2 finish in the 200 back with a 1:54.72, just off her personal best of 1:53.73 but good enough to move up to 7th all time in UNC history. Conze took 2nd, trailing Karam by just over 2 seconds with a 1:56.76. Duke’s Molly Donlan rounded out the podium with a 1:57.18.
The 200 breast saw a repeat podium of the 100, with Gridley dominating the race from start to finish. She posted a 2:08.75, beating out Skyler Smith‘s 2:12.00 by over 3 seconds. Samantha Armand was close behind in 2:12.94, while Ava Muzzy took 4th in 2:13.20.
UNC’s Aislin Farris took the win in the 500 free with a 4:48.21, while Morgan took 2nd with a 4:49.36. Chang was sandwiched between UNC swimmers, taking 3rd in 4:51.79 but with Reader (4:51.92) and Hodgins (4:54.35) following behind.
Freshman Lily Sawyer of UNC won the 100 fly in 53.29, while Sowards was 2nd in 53.73. Duke’s Donlan got her hands on the wall for 3rd (54.39) just ahead of UNC’s Lindy Bilden (54.57).
The Tar Heels exhibitioned all 4 of their swimmers for the 200 IM. Macaulay posted a 1:59.03, however, while Ava Muzzy swam a 2:00.82. Nonetheless, Duke’s Sommerstad (2:02.58) took the win, while Gridley was 2nd in 2:08.52.
Duke’s quartet of Wall, Pfaff, Truong, and Chang won the 400 free relay in 3:19.66. However, UNC’s ‘A’ relay of Pattison, Nel, Skyler Smith, and Sowards, which was switched to an exhibition, would have won (3:15.90).
Men’s Recap
UNC did not waste any time establishing the tone for this meet, as they swept the podium in the 200 medley relay. Their ‘A’ relay of Walker Davis (21.21), Ben Delmar (23.83), PJ Foy (20.28), and Louis Dramm (19.05) combined for a time of 1:24.37, while their ‘B’ relay was not far behind, with Reid Miller (21.63), Xavier Ruiz (23.95), Boyd Poelke (19.93), and Martin Kartavi (19.65) finishing in 1:25.16. UNC’s ‘C’ relay was 3rd in 1:27.26, and Duke’s ‘A’ consisting of Michael Jiang (22.57), Jack Smith (24.49), Charlie Morici (21.18), and Milo Shue (20.31) was 4th in 1:28.55.
The Tar Heels swept the podium again the next event, with Brady Negin’s 9:07.27 taking the win ahead of Keith Williams (9:11.61) and Craig Bohlman (9:21.72). Duke’s highest finisher was Yugo Tsukikawa (9:32.88), who was 4th. Williams and Neign went on to switch places in the 500 later in the meet, swimming times of 4:26.36 and 4:31.09, respectively.
The 200 free was no different, as UNC went 1-4. Seb Lunak won in 1:36.60, Jack Donovan was 2nd in 1:37.20, Matthew Van Deusen was 3rd in 1:37.77, and David Quaresma was 4th in 1:37.82. Blake Johnson of Duke finished in 5th with a time of 1:38.13.
Davis returned to action in the 100 back, winning in 46.28 ahead of teammates Miller (47.66), JT Schmid (48.10), and Adam Maraana (48.87). Michael Jian was the sole Blue Devil under 50 and 49, with a final time of 48.87 for 5th.
Delmar swept the breaststrokes with a sub-53 effort of 52.98 in the 100 and a 1:54.56 in the 200. His teammate Ruiz also took 2nd in both breaststroke events, swimming a 53.67/1:56.70 in the 100/200.
Colin Whelehan picked up a win in the 200 fly with a 1:44.52, and second place finisher and junior Louis Dramm hit the wall in 1:45.20. Tsukikawaka swam a 1:50.03 for the Blue Devils, picking up a 5th place finish.
Kartavi continued UNC’s win streak in the 50 free to help the Tar Heels sweep the podium. The top-3 finishers all swam sub-20s, led by Kartavi’s 19.70 and followed by Foy’s 19.74 then Patrick Hussey‘s 19.95.
Charlie Berman, a sophomore, finally snapped the streak to help Duke get their first win of the meet, as he placed 1st in the 1 meter with a score of 353.55. UNC’s Rodolfo Vazquez, the younger brother of Aranza, was second with a score of 338.10. He ended up winning the 3 meter later on in the meet with a score of 320.93, and leading UNC to a 1-3 finish. Conrad Eck (316.43) and Christopher Booler (311.40) were 2nd and 3rd.
Hussey and Foy returned to the podium for the 100 free, with Hussey winning in 43.83 and Foy not far behind in 44.06. Morici became Duke’s highest placing swimmer yet by way of his 3rd place tie with Van Deusen (45.14).
After finishing as the runner-up in the 200 fly earlier, Dramm completed the dirty double by winning the 200 back (1:45.07) by a second over his teammate Maraana (1:46.68).
Poelke secured the win in the 100 fly with a 45.94 to help UNC to another 1-4 finish. Morici, a graduate transfer from Michigan, came in 5th (49.11).
The 200 IM, along with the 400 free relay were exhibitioned by UNC. In the 200 IM, Duke’s Kalen Anbar won in 1:50.70 while Jiang was 2nd in 1:51.46. Delmar and Hussey, swam times of 1:47.42 and 1:47.64, respectively, in the exhibition races.
Duke’s ‘A’ won the 400 free relay in 3:00.47, featuring a combination of Shue (45.17), Morici (45.47), Colin Mikulecky (44.39) and Blake Johnson (44.90). UNC’s ‘D’ relay, had the fastest swim however, as Foy (43.96), Nate Hohm (43.78), Schmid (44.10), and Kartavi (42.95) combined for a 2:54.89.
The streak of rivalry duals in Carolina will continue for the Tar Heels as they head to Raleigh, NC to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Friday, Jan. 16th at 6:00 p.m. EST. The dual will air on ACCNX.
Duke returns to action next week as well, as the Blue Devils will head to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech in a 2 day meet.
