Virginia Cavaliers Sweep Virginia Tech Hokies in Commonwealth Clash

Virginia Tech v. Virginia

• Saturday, January 16, 2021
• UVA Aquatic and Fitness Center, Charlottesville, VA
• Dual Meet format
• SCY
• Full Results
• Scores
  • Men: Virginia 161, Virginia Tech 137
  • Women: Virginia 202.5, Virginia Tech 96.5

College swimming rivalries generally aren’t quite as intense as football rivalries, but it’s still always fun to watch traditional intrastate rivals go at it in the pool. The Virginia Tech Hokies, who we ranked #18 for men and #19 for women in our first round of power rankings (women/men), traveled a couple hours up I-81 and I-64 this morning to take on the #2 (women) and #13 (men) University of Virginia Cavaliers.

While both schools seem to be on the rise under relatively new coaching staffs, the Hokies weren’t able to pull off an upset here, falling to the Cavaliers 202.5-96.5 on the women’s side and 161-137 on the men’s. UVA was without head coach Todd DeSorbo and diving coach Drew Livingston, due to positive Covid tests, the school announced Thursday.

Women’s Recap

The Cavalier women very nearly swept the swimming portion of the meet, winning 12 of the 14 events contested in the pool, and missing out on a clean sweep by mere hundredths of a second.

Kate Douglass led UVA by taking part in four event wins, including three individual victories. The versatile sophomore led off UVA’s 200 medley relay in 24.68, trading places with Caroline Gmelich, who usually swims backstroke, but split 23.85 on the fly leg. They were joined by a 27.99 breast split by Alex Walsh and a 22.33 anchor leg by Lexi Cuomo, combining for a 1:38.85. Alexis Wenger split 27.55 on the breaststroke leg of UVA’s ‘B’ relay.

Douglass would go on to win the 100 back in 53.35, just 0.15s ahead of Gmelich, then take the 100 free in 48.80, the only woman under 49.0 on the day, and then wrapped up the session with a 1:57.05 in the 200 IM, an event in which she’s the 3rd-fastest woman ever.

Sophomore Maddie Donohoe was the only other woman to double up individually, taking the 1000 free in 9:54.66, and then the 500 free in 4:51.44.

It’s also worth noting that today’s meet was the surprise college debut for UVA backstroker Reilly Tiltmann, who we ranked #12 in the high school class of 2021. Tiltmann appears to have graduated high school early and have started at Virginia. She swam back on UVA’s ‘B’ medley relay, then placed 5th in the 100 back with a 55.05 and 4th in the 200 back with a 2:00.50.

Virginia Tech’s sole swimming win came courtesy of senior Sarah Shackelford, who touched out Walsh in the 50 free, 22.91 to 22.95. Shackelford also took 2nd in the 100 free, touching in 49.55 to join Douglass as the only two women under 50.0. Chase Travis added a pair of 2nd-place finishes, finishing behind Donohoe in both the 1000 (9:58.45) and the 500 (4:55.09).

The Hokies swept the diving events, which were competed on Friday, with Izzi Mroz winning the 3m with 323.55 and Teagan Moravek taking the 1m with a score of 323.25.

Men’s Recap

It was a bit closer on the men’s side, where the Hokies took four swimming events, but the ‘Hoos still won comfortably, 161 to 137.

Junior Justin Grender led the Cavaliers by taking part in four winning events. He led off UVA’s medley relay in 22.22, combining with Keefer Barnum (24.41), Max Edwards (20.95) and Matt Brownstead (19.82) for a 1:27.40 victory. Grender then earned two individual victories as he swept the backstrokes, going 47.68/1:43.96. He wrapped up the day by splitting 43,77 on the 2nd leg of UVA’s 400 free relay, joining with Brownstead (43.98 leadoff), August Lamb (43.68), and Jack Wright (44.12) to win in 2:55.55.

Senior Matt Otto put a stamp on his final home meet by also winning two individual events. He took the 1000 free in 9:16.91 to open up the day, then won the 200 breast in 1:57.72, part a 1st-3rd sweep by the Cavaliers. Otto also took 2nd in the 100 breast to fellow senior Keefer Barnum, 54.33 to 54.33. Once again, UVA swept the top three spots in that event.

Freshman Matt Brownstead also doubled for Virginia, sweeping the sprint freestyles with times of 19.99 and 43.91. Virginia Tech was able to blunt Brownstead’s double a bit by taking 2nd-4th in the 50 free, and 2nd and 3rd in the 100 free.

Virginia Tech’s star of the day was Antani Ivanov, who won half of the Hokies’ swimming victories. First, he took the 200 fly, an event in which he finished 3rd at the 2020 ACC Championships, in 1:46.12. Then he came back in the second half of the day to win the 500 free in 4:27.18.

Just as on the women’s side, the Hokie men swept the diving events, courtesy of Noah Zawakzki doubling with a 321.07 in the 1m and a 373.73 in the 3m.

Virginia Release

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated Virginia Tech on Saturday (Jan. 16) as the Cavalier swimmers closed the two-day meet against the Hokies at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The No. 2 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team defeated No. 15 Virginia Tech 202.5-96.5, while the No. 10 Cavalier men’s team defeated the No. 15 Hokies 161-137.

The Cavaliers won 23 events throughout the day, including sweeping both relay events. Eight different female swimmers and five male swimmers won an individual event at the competition.

Women’s Meet
The Cavaliers won 13-of-14 races on Saturday. Sophomore Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) led the team with three individual wins and one relay win, going 53.35 in the 100-yard backstroke, 48.80 in the 100-yard freestyle and 1:57.05 in the 200-yard individual medley.

Douglass was the leadoff swimmer for the 200-yard medley relay team as she and teammates freshman Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.), senior Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.) and sophomore Lexi Cuomo (Clifton, Va.) finished first with a time of 1:38.85.

Sophomore Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.) picked up a pair of wins with a time of 4:51.44 and 9:54.66 in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle, respectively.

Junior Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.53 as freshman Anna Keating (Vienna, Va.) won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:13.34.

Virginia also topped both butterfly events with sophomore Lexi Cuomo (Clifton, Va.) going 53.39 in the 100-yard butterfly and freshman Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.) going 1:58.95 in the 200-yard butterfly.

Freshman Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.) went 1:47.90 to win the 200-yard freestyle as senior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:54.70.

The Cavaliers closed the meet with the 400-yard freestyle relay team of senior Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.), Cuomo, freshman Quinn Schaedler (Austin, Texas) and Madden finishing first with a 3:21.10.

Men’s Meet
Senior Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.), junior Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio) and freshman Matt Brownstead (Port Matilda, Pa.) paced the men’s team as all three Cavaliers won a pair of individual events.

Otto won the 1000-yard freestyle in a time of 9:16.91, before following up the performance with a time of 1:57.72 in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Grender swept the backstroke events going 47.68 in the 100-yard backstroke and 1:43.96 in the 200-yard backstroke, while Brownstead recorded a time of 19.99 in the 50-yard freestyle and a time of 43.91 in the 100-yard freestyle.

Senior Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) swam a time of 54.33 in the 100-yard breaststroke, while sophomore Sean Conway (Round Hill, Va.) went 1:48.10 for the top time in the 200-yard individual medley.

The Cavaliers also won both relays as Grender, Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), sophomore Max Edwards (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Brownstead finished first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:27.40 and Brownstead, Grender, sophomore August Lamb (Charlottesville, Va.) and sophomore Jack Wright (Wexford, Pa.) finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 2:55.55.

Quote from Todd DeSorbo
“I continue to be amazed at the commitment and resiliency of this team,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “To come out and perform at a high level every day in practice and on the weekend in competition is a true testament of their commitment to excellence. With both myself and head diving coach (Drew) Livingston out this week, I have to tip my hat to the rest of the staff for stepping up in our absence. This shows how great our staff really is. And of course, the athletes just continue to thrive and showed up big against our cross-state rival. It’s always a fun and intense competition with VT and our young men and women stepped up to the challenge as they always do! I’ve come to expect this of our squads. We had eight different women and five men win events and many others contributing to the overall wins. It takes an army and we’ve got a group always willing to go to battle for each other. A couple great team wins to boost us into the next segment of our season as we near championship time.”

Next
The Cavaliers will continue ACC competition heading to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Jan. 22 to face North Carolina, before traveling to Raleigh on Jan. 23 to compete against NC State.

Virginia Tech Release

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 15/15 Virginia Tech swim and dive team came up short against No. 2/10 Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville.

TECH MEN

Antani Ivanov had an impressive performance claiming first place in the 500 free (4:27.18) and 200 fly (1:46.12). Ivanov also contributed to a second and fourth place finish in both the 400 free and 200 medley relays.

The men dominated the 200 fly taking four of the top-5 spots. Ivanov led in first, Dylan Eichberg placed second (1:47.29), Alexander Neff placed fourth (1:53.86) and Ryan Vipavetz placed fifth (1:55.20). Eichberg also found success finishing second in the 200 IM (1:48.33).

Blake Manoff performed well placing first in the 200 free (1:36.30), and second in both the 100 free (44.10) and the 100 fly (47.56). Youssef Ramadan was just in front of Manoff in the 100 fly placing first with a time of 46.97. Ramadan also placed third in the 50 free (20.32) and contributed to second place finishes in both the 200 medley and 400 free relay.

The Tech men fought hard with a final score of 137-161 behind the Wahoos.

TECH WOMEN
Sarah Shackelford was victorious in the 50 free with a time of 22.91 and placed second in the 100 free (49.55). Shackelford also contributed to a second place finish in the 400 free relay and a third place finish in the 200 medley relay.

Reka Gyorgy was strong once again placing second in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.57, and third in both the 200 breast (2:20.31) and 200 IM (2:03.05)

Freshman Chase Travis and Emma Atkinson  continued to perform well. Travis placed second in both the 1000 free (9:58.45) and 500 free (4:55.09). Atkinson placed second in the 200 back with a time of 1:55.09 and third in the 100 back (53.95).

The Hokie women fell to Virginia 96.5 – 202.5.

UP NEXT
The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s swim and dive team will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to take on No. 4/6 NC State on Saturday Jan. 30.

FINAL SCORES
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
3rd – Atkinson, Landon, Vereb, Shackelford (1:42.12)
5th – Slayton, Thompson, Franz, Larson (1:46.05)

Men’s 200 Medley Relay
2nd – Webb, Coll Marti, Ramadan, Herbert (1:28.05)
4th – Tornqvist, Pouch, Ivanov, Hallock (1:28.48)

Women’s 1000 Free
2nd – Chase Travis (9:58.45)
3rd – Brooke Travis (10.02.34)

Men’s 1000 Free
3rd – Ryan Vipavetz (9:27.04)
4th – Filippo Dal Maso (9:28.72)

Women’s 200 Free
2nd – Reka Gyorgy (1:49.57)
5th – Loulou Vos (1:52.65)

Men’s 200 Free
1st – Blake Manoff (1:36.30)
5th – Noah Desman (1:39.72)

Women’s 100 Back
3rd – Emma Atkinson (53.95)
4th – Caroline Bentz (54.95)

Men’s 100 Back
2nd – Forest Webb (48.54)
3rd – Sam Tornqvist (48.89)
5th – Will Koeppen (49.04)

Women’s 100 Breast
3rd – Jenna Thompson (1:06.49)
4th – Nadia Gonzales de Oliveria (1:08.72)
5th – Mary Burt (1:10.62)

Men’s 100 Breast
4th – AJ Pouch (55.31)
5th – Carles Coll Marti (55.45)

Women’s 200 Fly
4th – Morgan Miller (2:04.31)
5th – Molly Sheffield (2:06.39)

Men’s 200 Fly
1st – Antani Ivanov (1:46.12)
2nd – Dylan Eichberg (1:47.29)
4th – Alex Neff (1:53.86)
5th – Ryan Vipavetz (1:55.20)

Women’s 50 Free
1st – Sarah Shackelford (22.91)
4th – Anna Landon (23.47)
5th – Abby Larson (23.63)

Men’s 50 Free
2nd – Thomas Hallock (20.23)
3rd – Youssef Ramadan (20.32)
4th – David Herbert (20.41)

Women’s 100 Free
2nd – Sarah Shackelford (49.55)
5th – Caroline Bentz (51.77)

Men’s 100 Free
2nd – Blake Manoff (44.10)
3rd – Henry Claesson (44.90)

Women’s 200 Back
2nd – Emma Atkinson (1:55.09)
3rd – Emily Meilus (2:00.23)

Men’s 200 Back
2nd – Sam Tornqvist (1:46.09)
5th – Forest Webb (1:47.91)

Women’s 200 Breast
3rd – Reka Gyorgy (2:20.31)
4th – Jenna Thompson (2:30.36)

Men’s 200 Breast
4th – Carles Coll Marti (2:00.65)

Women’s 500 Free
2nd – Chase Travis (4:55.09)
3rd – Brooke Travis (4:57.46)
4th – Loulou Vos (5:01.30)

Men’s 500 Free
1st – Antani Ivanov (4:27.18)
3rd – Filippo Dal Maso (4:31.92)

Women’s 100 Fly
4th – Karisa Franz (56.58)
5th – Molly Sheffield (57.32)

Men’s 100 Fly
1st – Youssef Ramadan (46.97)
2nd – Blake Manoff (47.56)
4th – Henry Claesson (48.61)

Women’s 200 IM
3rd – Reka Gyorgy (2:03.05)
5th – Caroline Bentz (2:04.01)

Men’s 200 IM
2nd – Dylan Eichberg (1:48.33)
5th – Sam Tornqvist (1:52.50)

Women’s 400 Free Relay
2nd – Shackelford, Gyorgy, Atkinson, Bentz (3:16.50)

Men’s 400 Free Relay
2nd – Hallock Manoff, Ramadan, Ivanov (2:57.07)