Louisville v. Virginia
- November 2nd-3rd, 2018
- Louisville, KY
- Day 1 Results
Women’s Meet Day 1
The skirmish between the top two teams at last year’s ACC Championships got underway with a win by the Louisville women, who went 1:29.85 to take the 200 free relay. All four legs were under 23 seconds. The Cavalier women were within a second at the touch, but ultimately both their A and B relays were DQ’d for early take-offs, dealing them a bad blow early on the team scores.
The Cavaliers didn’t seem to let the double DQ’s affect them, though, as they reeled off four straight individual events after the relay. First, Abby Ritcher nearly broke the 2-minute mark in the 200 IM, taking it in 2:00.04. Next, Emily Seiberlich surged to a 1:55.80 in the 200 back, winning by over a second and a half and posting the 8th-fastest time in the nation.
The 500 free featured the 2nd and 3rd-fastest women so far this season going head-to-head once again. This time, UVA’s Paige Madden got the best of Louisville’s Arina Openysheva, winning 4:48.35 to 4:49.83. Openysheva had beaten Madden when the two matched up at the SMU Classic a few weeks ago.
Freshman Kaki Christensen went 1:01.59 for Virginia’s last individual win of the evening.
Louisville elected to have Mallory Comerford swim the 100 instead of 500 free, and she responded by winning in 48.49. Grace Oglesby was Louisville’s only other individual event winner, taking the 200 IM in 1:58.55.
Richter, Christensen, Anna Pang and Morgan Hill combined for a win in the 400 medley, 3:36.35 to 3:37.51. Notably, Hill just outsplit Comerford 47.73 to 47.86.
Scores through Day 1:
Virginia 91
Louisville 74
Men’s Meet Day 1
The Louisville men led the scoring from the beginning to the end of the first day’s events, powered by their usual suspects. The Cardinals opened up with a 1:20.09 victory in the 200 free relay, powered by Andrej Barna‘s 20.04 leadoff and Matyi Kovac‘s 19.86 anchor leg.
The biggest swim of the evening, however, was the last, as Nicolas Albiero, Evgenii Somov, Zach Harting, and Barna combined for a 3:11.71 in the 400 medley. That times currently ranks #2 in the nation according to the USA Swimming database. Only Indiana has been faster so far; they went 3:11.38 a couple weeks ago.
Tonight, three of the four Cardinals on the medley relay had already earned individual event victories. Albiero doubled up with a 1:45.11 in the 200 back and a 1:46.57 in the 200 fly. Both times rank in the top ten in the country heading into this weekend’s competition. Albiero battled with Harting and Virginia’s Zach Fong the whole way, with Albiero’s 26.96 last lap proving the difference. Fong finished in 1:46.77 and Harting in 1:47.49.
Somov went 54.93 to take the 100 breast and Barna just cracked the 44 second mark to win the 100 free in 43.99. Marcelo Acosta and Daniel Sos were the other two individual event winners. Acosta went 4:23.33 to win the 500 free, and Sos went 1:47.67 in the 200 IM, with both winning by comfortable margins.
Scores through Day 1:
Louisville 109
Virginia 59
Louisville Release
Courtesy of Louisville Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Highlighted by a school record on the 3-meter by sophomore diver Daniel Pinto, the University of Louisville men’s and women’s swimming and diving team posted a collective 12 wins and five NCAA B cuts on the first day of competition against No. 7/16 Virginia Friday evening at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. After sweeping all nine events, the No. 13 Louisville men lead Virginia 109-58, while the No. 8 women trail 91-74.
“I think we’re racing really well,” said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. “There’s been some surprisingly good swims in a lot of areas. A two-day meet is designed to be like this, it’s a great championship rehearsal. No matter what happened tonight, we have to put this behind us and come back tomorrow. It’s 0-0 tomorrow. We have to have the energy to bring it in the morning.”
For the second straight meet, the Cards swept the opening relays. The Louisville women finished first and second in the 200 free relay as Arina Openysheva (22.81), Mallory Comerford (22.11), Avery Braunecker (22.41) and Casey Fanz (22.52) won with a time of 1:29.85. The Cardinals also captured the top two spots in the men’s race with Andrej Barna (20.04), Zach Harting (20.01), Mihalis Deliyiannis (20.18) and Matyi Kovacs (19.86) combining for the top spot in a time of 1:20.09.
Diana Dunn and Grace Oglesby finished second and third respectively in the 200 IM, finishing in times of 2:02.23 and 2:02.74 respectively. Daniel Sos earned the Louisville men their second straight victory, stopping the clock nearly two seconds ahead of the next closest competitor in a time of 1:47.67. Jarrett Jones was third with a 1:49.26.
In the women’s 200 back, Alina Kendzior was the Cards’ top finisher, placing second with a 1:57.33. Nicolas Albiero picked up the third consecutive victory for the Cardinal men in the 200 back, leading from start to finish to post a time of 1:45.11.
Openysheva and Sophie Cattermole staged a two-three finish in the 500 free, touching in times of 4:49.83 and 4:50.91. In the men’s event, Marcelo Acosta continued the winning streak, posting an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:23.33.
In the 100 breast, Astashkina swam to a time of 1:02.60 to take second. Evgenii Somov edged two Virginia competitors in the men’s race where the top three finishers were separated by less than two tenths of a second, winning with a time of 54.93.
Comerford earned the first individual win of the evening for the women, finishing with an NCAA B cut time of 48.49 in the 100 free. Barna also registered a victory in the men’s event with a season-best time of 43.99.
Oglesby picked up a second consecutive win and NCAA B cut for Louisville in the 200 fly, recording a time of 1:58.55. With the Cardinal men’s win streak on the line, Albiero used a strong final 50-yards to overtake Virginia’s Zach Fong and secure the victory in an NCAA B cut time of 1:46.57.
In diving, Molly Fears (291.98) and Michaela Sliney (281.40) earned a pair of NCAA Zone qualifying scores on the 1-meter. On the men’s 3-meter, Pinto set a new program record, winning with a score of 384.30.
The 400 medley relay team of Kendzior (54.04), Astashkina (1:02.32), Oglesby (53.29) and Comerford (47.86) combined for second place in a time of 3:37.51. The men closed out the meet with a sweep of all nine events as Albiero (47.74), Somov (53.95), Harting (46.89) and Barna (43.13) posted a dominant victory in the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:11.71.
“I like where we are, I liked the way we showed a lot of fight tonight. We just need to continue that and build on it in a couple spots. We’ve got to find a way to make some small improvements,” said Albiero.
The Cards return to the Ralph Wright Natatorium tomorrow morning for the final day of action against Virginia. Competition is slated for 10 a.m.
Virginia Release
Courtesy of Virginia Athletics
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded the first day of competition against ACC foe Louisville on Friday (Nov. 2) at the Ralph Wright Natatorium in Louisville, Ky., splitting the opening day’s results with the Cardinals.
The No. 7 Virginia women concluded the first day’s action leading the No. 8 Cardinals 91-74, while No. 16 Virginia men trailed 109-58 against No. 13 Louisville.
“It was a challenging and successful first session up here in Louisville on the road,” head coach Todd DeSorbosaid. “It’s our first road competition of the season and the kids have responded really well. I got to hand it to Louisville, they bring a lot of energy. They are swimming really well also, and challenging and pushing us. I am pleased with where we are at. A lot of our athletes are swimming better this weekend than they have in the last couple of dual meets. That is challenging to do on the road but that is definitely our goal, to have this be our fastest dual meet of the semester since it is our last dual meet. Our goal is always to get better as the season goes.”
The women’s team opened the meet with wins in six out of the session’s nine events. Sophomore Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) led the team, with a first-place finish and eighth fastest time nationally in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:55.80. Sophomore Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) swam a time of 2:00.04 in the 200-yard individual medley for first place, while sophomore Paige Madden Mobile, Ala.) recorded a time of 4:48.35 in the 500-yard freestyle and freshman Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.) recorded a time of 1:01.59 in the 100-yard breaststroke to top their respective events.
Junior diver Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) posted a season-best score of 300.75 on the 1m board, pacing the event and capturing the win for the Cavaliers.
The women capped the first day with the 400-yard medley relay team of Richter, Christensen, sophomore Anna Pang (London) and Hill recording a first-place finish with a time of 3:36.35.
In the men’s competition, the Cavaliers placed two swimmers inside the top three of four events. Sophomore Sam Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) led Virginia with a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, recording a season-best time of 44.52. Freshman Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio) captured a time of 1:47.04 for second place in the 200-yard backstroke, while sophomore Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.04.
The Cavalier men captured the second and third best 400-yard medley relay finishes, led by the team of junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), senior Bryce Keblish(Fairfield, Conn.) and junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.). The four swam a time of 3:14.51.
“I’m really pleased with where the kids are at and how they are racing,” DeSorbo said. “They are executing their races better here than they have in the last few weeks. It is just about getting better and battling. The women’s meet is pretty tight and we got another half of the meet session tomorrow morning, that we will need to come out and be ready to go, because I am sure Louisville will. Looking forward to the guys trying to whittle into the lead that Louisville has built.”
Virginia will conclude its dual meet with Louisville tomorrow with action beginning at 10 a.m.
