South Carolina vs. North Carolina
- November 1, 2019
- Columbia, South Carolina
- Full Results
- Final Scores:
- Men: South Carolina def. North Carolina 172.5-127.5
- Women: North Carolina def. South Carolina 159-141
It was a split decision in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, where the South Carolina picked up a historic win over their border rivals North Carolina, but the North Carolina women edged past South Carolina.
The win for the Gamecock men, in convincing fashion, gives head coach McGeoo Moody 62 all-time dual meet wins as the leader of the men’s program. That surpasses Keith Switzer, who led the team from 1990-1999, as the most wins in program history.
Top 6 All-Time winningest coaches in South Carolina men’s swimming & diving history
- McGee Moody (62-56, .525 winning percentage, 2007-present)
- Keith Switzer (61-46, .570 winning percentage, 1990-1999)
- Alan Gentry (42-21, .667 winning percentage, 1970-1977)
- Steve Collins (39-31, .557 winning percentage, 1978-1987)
- TIE: Jack Thompson (26-19, .578 winning percentage, 1964-1968) & Kris Kirchner (26-16, .619 winning percentage, 1985-1990)
The South Carolina men got a big lift early in the meet when sophomore Coleman Kramer won the men’s 1000 free in 9:27.07 in the first individual men’s swimming event of the day, leading a 1-2 finish for the Gamecocks. That time for Kramer was a new collegiate-best for him by 13 seconds (missing just the 9:23 he did at a taper meet as a high school senior).
“We were really good today,” South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said. “This was by far, collectively, the best meet we’ve had this season. We were sharp. and we talked about it as a team that we would have to be our fastest to compete with UNC. One thing we’ve been working on is getting our hands on the wall and how fourth- and fifth- place finishes are important. We had so many of our kids step up and out-touch UNC by one-one hundredth of a second. I’m proud of our kids.”
The Gamecocks picked up wins from all over the place, including one in the men’s 100 back from senior Kevin Liu in the men’s 100 back in 49.88 – less-than-a-tenth ahead of a UNC 2-3-4-5 finish in that race. Another freshman, Jordan Yip Zhu Ern, picked up his first career collegiate win, taking the 200 fly in 1:50.00. He later won the 100 fly as well in 4.84.
Former University of Virginia sprinter Lewis Burras is making his impact felt early for the Gamecocks, winning both the 50 free (20.42) and 100 free (44.88).
In spite of South Carolina winning the 100 yard version of each stroke, UNC was able to fight them surprisingly-closely in the meet-opening 400 medley relay, with South Carolina winning in 3:16.11 and North Carolina finishing 2nd in 3:16.61. Those are season-best times for both teams, and rank them 4th-and-5th in the country so far, respectively.
“On the men’s side, we were a little flat and we lost a couple of close races which decided the outcome of the meet,” UNC first-year head coach Mark Gangloff said of his team’s performance. “Tyler Hill stepped up today and had some very nice swims which was nice to see.”
Hill wasn’t one of the 4 individual event winners for the UNC men on Friday, but he did swim a lifetime best in the 100 fly in 48.96 to place 2nd by .12 seconds behind Yip.
Among the highlights for the UNC men was a 1-2 finish in the 200 back, where Chris Thames won in 1:48.37 and rookie Alex Mays was 2nd in 1:48.45.
The men’s meet was littered with close finishes, with several races finishing within 2-tenths for the win, validating Moody’s assertion that it was winning the close races that swung the meet for the Gamecocks.
The women’s meet was more lopsided in the team scoring, with the Tar Heels led by senior Bryanna Cameron.
“It was a hard fought meet with some ups and downs,” head coach Mark Gangloff said after the meet. “You always want to come away with a win, which is what our women’s team did. Some very tough racing from Bryanna Cameron and many of the women.”
Cameron set the tone early by winning the 1000 free by 12-and-a-half seconds in 10:04.56. That’s within 3 seconds of her lifetime best and is better than she was at this point in each of the last 2 seasons.
She would roll on to win the 200 fly, her best event, in 1:58.94, and the 500 free in 4:56.20. That’s her 2nd time under 1:59 already this season, and her 2nd time hitting the NCAA “B” standard.
In total, the UNC women won 10 events (including a sweep of diving)
A highlight for the South Carolina women was a victory in the men’s 100 breaststroker from freshman Taylor Steele in 1:02.04. They also won the women’s medley relay, thanks in part to having the meet’s top sprinter, Christina Lappin, who won the 50 free (22.94), 100 free (50.88, part of a 1-2 Gamecock finish), and 100 fly (54.43).
Press Releases
Courtesy: North Carolina Athletics
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Led by triple winner Bryanna Cameron, the University of North Carolina women’s swimming and diving team improved to 2-1 on the year with a 159-141 over South Carolina Friday afternoon at Carolina Natatorium. The Gamecock men scored a 172.5-127.5 win over the Tar Heels, who were led by double winner Valdas Abaliksta.
“It was a hard fought meet with some ups and downs,” head coach Mark Gangloff said after the meet. “You always want to come away with a win, which is what our women’s team did. Some very tough racing from Bryanna Cameron and many of the women.
“On the men’s side, we were a little flat and we lost a couple of close races which decided the outcome of the meet. Tyler Hill stepped up today and had some very nice swims which was nice to see.
“Overall the entire program was tough and we fought hard.”
The Carolina women won 10 events on the day and had multiple instances of teammates finishing in the top three. Among those included Sophie Lindner and Emma Cole in the 200 free (1-2), Grace Countie and Heidi Lowe in the 100 back (1-3), Lilly Higgs and Allie Reiter in the 100 breast (1-3), Higgs and Reiter again in the 200 breast (1-2), and Cole and Brooke Perrotta in the 100 fly (2-3).
Cameron took first in the 500 and 1000 free as well as the 200 fly. Her time of 1:58.94 in the 200 fly was just off her season best in the event and her second time reaching the NCAA B standard in the event.
Despite being defeated by the Gamecocks, the men also had some solid performances. Tomas Sungaila and Dimitrios Dimitriou finished 1-2 in the 200 freestyle, both of them with personal bests for the season (1:39.30 and 1:40.53). In addition to his personal best in the 200 free, Dimitriou won the 500 freestyle and shaved more than two seconds off of his seed time for a new personal record of 4:33.20.
Abaliksta and Jacob Rauch finished 1-3 in the 100 breast with personal bests of 54.50 and 56.64. Chris Thames and Alex Mays also finished 1-2 in the 200 back. On the 100 back, Mays, Thames, Tucker Burhans, and Luka Tomic secored second through fifth, a strong showing for the Tar Heels.
Freshman diver Paige Burrell won the women’s 3-meter diving with a score of 283.88, a 23.03 point improvement from her former personal best in the event. Her teammate, Emily Grund, placed third in the event. In the 1-meter, Grund placed first with a personal best of 284.33, and Burrell came in third.
“It was a great day on the women’s side with wins in both competitions,” head diving coach Yaidel Gamboa said after the meet. “Another really solid performance on the 1-meter for Emily getting close to 300 points and the first win for freshman Paige Burrell. I was also excited with freshman Gracyn Segard’s performances as she showed a lot of improvement on both boards. Credit to Taylor, Emma and Sabrina as well.”
“On the men’s side, a solid day by Fabian with a second on 1-meter and a third on 3-meter, with personal best scores on both. Alex also did well, specially on 3-meter. With solid performances from Andrew and Bryan, in general pretty satisfied with the effort by the whole team.
“Everyone is continuing to improve and that’s the main goal at this point of the season.”
Fabian Stepinski posted a pair of top-3 finishes for the men, with Bryan Allen joining him with a third-place finish in the 1-meter and Alex Hart taking second in the 3-meter.
The Tar Heels, who have had three meets in the past month, will take a three-week break from competition before traveling to the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta from November 22-24.
Courtesy: South Carolina Athletics
COLUMBIA, S.C.— In the 2019 rendition of the Battle of the Carolinas, South Carolina swimming and diving split with North Carolina. The men’s team picked up its first victory of the year 172.5-127.5, while the women fought hard but were edged out 159-141.
With the win on the men’s side, head coach McGee Moody became the men’s program’s all-time leader in wins with 62.
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
–South Carolina started off the meet hot, sweeping the 400 medley relays. The team of Emily Cornell, Taylor Steele, Hallie Kinsey and Christina Lappin won the women’s event, while Kevin Liu, Lionel Khoo, Jordan Yip and Lewis Burras won for the men.
–Sophomore Coleman Kramer set a new personal collegiate record when he won the 1000 freestyle, finishing with a time of 9:27.07 – 13 seconds faster than his previous best.
–Senior Kevin Liu took home the win in the 100 backstroke, his first of the season in that event.
–Freshman Taylor Steele picked up the win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.04.
–Freshman Jordan Yip Zhu Ern notched his first win of the season, winning the 200 butterfly with at time of 1:50.00
–Senior Christina Lappin and sophomore Lewis Burras asserted their dominance in the 50 and 100 freestyle, sweeping both events.
–Senior Emily Cornell took home her first 200 backstroke win of the season. She is the program record holder in the event.
–In diving, sophomore Anton Down-Jenkins continued his hot streak, sweeping both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 354.75 and 437.55.
QUOTEABLE: HEAD SWIMMING COACH MCGEE MOODY
“We were really good today. This was by far, collectively, the best meet we’ve had this season. We were sharp. and we talked about it as a team that we would have to be our fastest to compete with UNC. One thing we’ve been working on is getting our hands on the wall and how fourth- and fifth- place finishes are important. We had so many of our kids step up and out-touch UNC by one-one hundredth of a second. I’m proud of our kids.”
QUOTEABLE: HEAD DIVING COACH TODD SHERRITT
“UNC has some great divers; I’m very proud of how our guys did today. Anton dove really well, and he had a great 3-meter today. The girls did solid today. Overall, I’m happy with how everything went. It was great competition today, and I’m looking forward to the Georgia Tech Invite.”
For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
