Louisville, Kentucky – The speeding bullet train that is the University of Louisville rode all over the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles on both the women’s and men’s side on day two of their ACC dual meet contest. The women Cardinals logged six total wins, while the men logged seven for the day, including four event sweeps.
Final Scores:
Louisville women 208.0, FSU women 143.0
Louisville men 239.5, FSU women 111.5
Women’s Events
The Cardinal women started out strongly and swiftly, clocking the top time in the 200y medley relay. The foursome of senior Tanja Kylliainen (26.18), sophomore Andee Cottrell (28.26), junior Kelsi Worrell (23.52), and junior Andrea Kneppers (23.05) combined for a tie of 1:41.01 to earn first place to kick off the day’s events.
Louisville immediately followed that up with a sweep of the women’s 1000y freestyle, led by Abby Chin’s 10:10.74. Freshman Marah Pugh finished in 10:11.10 for second, while teammate Abbie Houck touched the wall for third in 10:25.61.
Senior Kaitlyn Dressel accounted for two of the three individual wins on the day for FSU, as she was victorious both the women’s 50y freestyle and 200y freestyle events. In the splash and dash, Dressel topped Louisville ace, Kelsi Worrell, 23.01 to Worrell’s 23.05. This is quite a feat considering Worrell currently sits tied for fifth in the NCAA rankings with the 22.02 she clocked earlier this season. In the 200y freestyle event, Dressel led the field in a time of 1:49.68 for the win.
Bianca Spinazolla (junior) posted the other FSU women’s win, earning first in the 100y backstroke in a time of 55.69. Teammate Chelsea Britt’s time of 56.65 was fast enough to claim second place for the Seminoles. Both women have been notably faster in the event, clocking 52.68 (Britt) and 53.02 (Spinazzola) at the Georgia Fall Invite in December.
The usual suspects on the Cardinals’ roster did the rest of the damage today, both in NCAA “B” cut-clearing times to boot. Kelsi Worrell won the women’s 100y butterfly in a time of 53.67 and Tanja Killiainen commandingly ran away with the women’s 400y IM, winning a time of 4:13.86 – a whopping thirteen seconds over the rest of the field. Andee Cottrell also then clinched the 200y breaststroke event in 2:16.84, leading the field by over two seconds on her way to victory.
The FSU women were able to clear a 1-2 finish in the last event, the 400y freestyle relay, with their “A” team winning in 3:23.67, followed by the “B” team in 3:28.71. Those points, along with a Louisville “A” team disqualification in the relay was still not enough to make a dent in the point booty Louisville earned over the two-day meet.
Men’s Events
The Cardinals were essentially uncontainable on day two of the contest, clearing multiple 1-3 finishes over the course of events. They started the meet off right earning the win in the 200y medley relay in a time of 1:30.32. That time was clocked by the “B” team of sophomore Aaron Greene (23.95), senior Addison Bray (24.93), junior Pedro Coutinho (21.53), and sophomore Trevor Carroll (19.91). The “A” combination of Grigory Tarasevich (23.36), senior Thomas Dahlia (25.22), sophomore David Boland (21.42) and senior Caryle Blondell (20.55) finished just .23 behind, touching the wall in 1:30.55 for second place.
The Cardinals immediately followed up with a 1-2 finish in the 1000y freestyle, as freshman Marcelo Acosta earned the win in 9:16.48, followed by teammate Bryan Draganosky in 9:17.93.
The FSU Seminoles did put up a fight in the form of Jason McCormick’s first place finish in the 50y freestyle. McCormick’s time of 20.72 shut out Louisville’s Blondell, who clocked a 20.85 to earn second place today. McCormick currently holds the 39th fastest time in the NCAA with his 19.04 form the Georgia Fall Invite, while Blondell has yet to drop under 20-point, as his fastest time so far this year is 20.15 versus North Carolina in November.
Senior Connor Knight also denied the Cardinals a win in the men’s 100y butterfly, as he topped the field in a swift NCAA “B” cut-clearing time of 48.23. Second and third place finishers from Louisville Pedro Coutinho and Josh Quallen were the other competitors to dip under 49, with time os 48.63 and 48.69 respectively.
But the real point assassination took place when Louisville swept 1-3 finishes in the men’s 100y backstroke, 200y breaststroke, 200y freestyle, and 400y IM events, just utterly closing the book on the meet for the Cardinals. Two-time ACC Swimmer of the Week, Grigory Tarasevich earned the top spot in the 100y backstroke in 49.63, followed by Aaron Greene in 49.87 and Aaron Young in 51.07.
The 200y breaststroke was just as dominating, with Thomas Dahlia touching the wall in 2:02.69, followed by teammates Addison Bray in 2:02.92 and Venezuelan freshman Carlos Claverie in 2:03.15. Trevor Carroll led the charge in the 200y free event, racing to the wall in a 1:38.39. Matthias Lindenbauer ended up in second place with his time of 1:39.91 and Rudy Edelen rounded out the top three in 1:40.60.
The other NCAA “B” cut on the men’s side came in the 400y IM race, where Cardinal Nolan Tesone threw down a 3:52.85 to top the Louisville sweep by over nine seconds. Carlos Claverie touched in second place in 4:01.70, while Ryan Massey finished in third with this time of 4:04.65.
With a win in the final 400y freestyle relay event in a time of 2:59.05 by the Louisville “B” team, the Louisville men sealed the deal on this dominating victory.
