Big leads from day 1 held up as the UNC Tar Heels got a pair of big ACC wins at home over the Louisville Cardinals.
Men’s Meet
Sam Lewis won two individual races and a relay as the Tar Heels took 7 of 10 wins on the men’s side. Lewis won the 50 free in 20.33, going 1-2 with teammate Logan Heck. That also capped a run of three straight events wins for the Tar Heels to open day 2, putting the meet just about out of reach early.
Lewis would come back to win the 100 fly in 47.08, blowing out the field by over a second. Late in the meet, he joined with Heck, Nic Graesser and Ben Colley to take the 400 free relay in 2:56.58. Graesser had the top split at 43.97, but Heck was 44.07 on the leadoff leg.
Colley also won the 200 free earlier in the night. His 1:37.77 beat out Louisville’s Trevor Carroll by just a tenth.
The Cardinals got some momentum going through the middle of the meet with back-to-back wins from Grigory Tarasevich and Carlos Claverie. Tarasevich won the 100 back in a touchout of Graesser, 47.80 to 47.90. One event later, Claverie dipped under two minutes to win the 200 breast in 1:59.98.
Other event winners:
- UNC’s Henry Campbell went 9:20.21 to lead a 1-2-3 punch in the 1000 free at the beginning of the meet.
- But Louisville’s Nolan Tesone would deny Campbell a second win in the 400 IM, going 3:50.77 take a decisive win later.
- The Tar Heels had a big 200 medley relay win, going 1:28.01. Graesser’s 22.15 leadoff leg and Heck’s 19.66 anchor were the difference-makers.
- UNC’s Jack Nyquist won the 1-meter diving contest, getting revenge for a Louisville win on 3-meter Friday night.
Final Score: UNC 221 – Louisville 130
Women’s Meet
After a crushing day 1, UNC kept its foot on the gas to cap off a decisive victory over Louisville. The Tar Heels won 6 of 10 events on Saturday.
Hellen Moffitt and Allyn Hardesty added wins to their victories from Friday night. Moffitt continued her strong junior year run, winning the 100 back in 53.70 and winning by nearly a second. Moffitt had already paced the 200 by a wide margin on day 1.
Maybe Moffitt’s best swim was the race she lost, though. The junior took defending NCAA champ Kelsi Worrell down to the wire in the 100 fly, making a late charge and going 52.89. Worrell held on for the win in 52.62, but the times were very strong for both women.
Hardesty added the 200 free to her 100 free win from a day ago. The Tar Heel senior went 1:47.60 to beat Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, the 500 free champ from last night.
Hardesty also combined with Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens and Lauren Earp to win the 400 free relay in 3:18.49. That included a 49.22 split from Hardesty and a flying 49.12 anchor job from Earp.
Louisville’s Andee Cottrell completed a breaststroke sweep with a 2:14.78 win in the 200 breast. She also put up a game-changing leg of the winning 200 medley relay for Louisville. Her 27.99 split brought the team back from an early deficit, outsplitting UNC’s breaststroker by more than a second. Worrell was 23.15 on fly, also outsplitting the Tar Heels by roughly a second, and Louisville held on for the win in 1:39.95. Baldwin did anchor the UNC team in 22.09 for a final time of 1:40.20.
Baldwin would follow that up with an individual win in the 50 free at 22.72. The Tar Heels went 1-2 in that event, with Hitchens second.
Other event winners:
- Emma Nunn won the 1000 free in 8:58.10. That was a 1-2-3 sweep for North Carolina.
- Louisville struck for a late win as Rachael Bradford-Feldman paced the 400 IM in 4:16.52. That’s a margin of victory of 5 seconds for the freshman.
- Elisa Dawson repeated as diving champ for the Tar Heels.
Final Score: UNC 230 – Louisville 123
UNC has been steadily improving under Coach DeSelm. Thier work is really starting ro show itself now in these dual meets against top competition.
Who cares Louisville women got stomped by UNC?! Did you see their video in the airport?? LOL! So trendy and funny and spontaneous!
Come on people, lets look at what’s really important!!