Duke Women Secure “A” Cut, Northwestern Men Sweep Dual Meet

Duke vs Northwestern

• November 8-9, 2024
• Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion, Durham, NC
• SCY (yards)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “24-25 Duke vs Northwestern”
• Results PDF
• Team Scores
  • Men: Northwestern (unranked) 222.5, Duke (unranked) 107.5
  • Women: Duke (#16) 194, Northwestern (#25) 137

Northwestern’s men’s team went undefeated in swimming events against Duke while the female Blue Devils came out on top with a 400 medley relay A cut this weekend in Durham.

Women’s Meet Recap

The Duke Blue Devils, who would eventually win the two-day dual, started things off on the right foot with a 400 medley relay pool record. The team of Ali Pfaff (52.11), Kaelyn Gridley (57.82), Aleyna Ozkan (52.41), and Tatum Wall (48.12) dominated the heat, notching an NCAA A cut in 3:30.46. Even after graduating their star Sarah Foley from last year’s NCAA Championship relay, that time is already within a second-and-a-half of what they went at nationals last year. Gridley’s split was faster than her NCAA time, and Wall, the new addition, is only about three tenths off what Foley went at nationals.

This is the #2 time in the country this year, behind only Texas. An A cut means that Duke can now send their B cut relays to NCAAs as well – which so far includes only their 200 medley relay.

Wall and Gridley continued their dominant performances with two individual wins each: Wall in the sprint freestyles (22.07/48.70) and Gridley in the breastrokes (59.24/2:09.36).

The highest individual scorer of the meet went to Duke sophomore Molly Donlan. Donlan swept the backstrokes in 53.94 and 1:56.15 while securing a 4th place in the 100 fly. Northwestern’s Nikki Venema won the 100 fly in 53.42.

Northwestern’s other two pool wins came from their freshmen distance swimmers: Zoe Nordmann in the 500 (4:47.61) and Luiza Lima in the mile (16:39.95).

The 1-meter and 3-meter diving victories went to Duke’s Margo O’Meara..

This was Northwestern’s first defeat of the season after two consecutive victories. Duke is also 2-1 following this win. It is the first time the two women’s teams have ever competed against each other.

Northwestern and Duke swimmers are slated to compete against each other again in a couple weeks at the NC State Invite in Greensboro.

Men’s Meet Recap

Northwestern first-year Joshua Staples’ first ever 1650 was a successful one. The Australian native touched first by over 20 seconds, clocking a 15:19.04. He kept the momentum rolling throughout the meet, swimming 4:28.03 to win the 500 free and led off the winning 800 free relay with a field-leading 1:37.42. The relay’s final time was 6:32.98.

Since the 1650 and 800 relays aren’t typically offered in dual meets, Staples will head into midseason among the fastest in the country. 

The same can be said for Staples’ sophomore teammate Diego Nosack. Nosack won the 400 IM in 3:51.13, another event not typically swam in dual meets. The 400 IM was one of four victories for Nosack this weekend alongside the 800 relay, the 200 fly (1:47.51) and 200 free (1:38.04).

Wildcat senior Tyler Lu proved to be in excellent shape. Typically a backstroker, Lu was the only sub-2:00 200 breastroker in the field, racing to a personal best of 1:57.40. Lu also won the 100 breast in 54.16 and was a part of Northwestern’s first-place 200 medley, 400 medley, and 400 free relays (1:26.99/3:10.91/2:55.58).

The biggest relay star, however, was sophomore Cade Duncan. Duncan was a part of all four winning relays while also sweeping the sprint freestyles (20.08/43.14).

Though the Blue Devils didn’t win any swimming events, they did capture wins in the diving events. Junior Yannis Schattman made it two-for-two two meets in a row in the 1m and 3m springboard events.

This is the first time these teams have competed against each other since 2016, where Duke won. This season, Duke men are now 2-2, while Northwestern is three wins for three.