By David Rieder
RALEIGH − Less than 24 hours after sweeping Duke in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina swimming and diving teams travelled to Raleigh to face rival NC State at Carmichael Natatorium, but they had to settle for a split. The Tar Heel women, ranked number five in the latest CSCAA poll, won a tight battle with the Wolfpack (ranked 12th), 155.5-144.5, but the eighth-ranked NC State men thoroughly dominated the Tar Heels.
The first event of the day was a sign of just how competitive the women’s team battle would be. NC State anchor Riki Bonnema made up a deficit of more than a half second on the anchor leg to win the 200 medley relay. Bonnema used a split of 22.17 to get to the wall four one-hundredths of a second ahead of UNC anchor Allyn Hardesty.
NC State’s team of Alexia Zevnik, Kayla Brumbaum, Ashlyn Koletic, and Bonnema touched in 1:40.49, followed by UNC’s Hellen Moffitt, Catherine Munch, and Hannah Lincoln, and Allyn Hardesty in 1:40.53. UNC would respond, however, with three straight individual victories, beginning with Emma Nunn’s triumph in the 1000 free (9:54.59).
Danielle Siverling then won the women’s 200 free in a time of 1:48.33, and she later claimed the 500 free title in 4:49.68. Moffitt swept the backstroke events for the Tar Heels, with times of 53.60 in the 100 and 1:56.49 in the 200, and she also took the 100 fly in 54.22, while Nunn doubled up with a win in the 200 fly (1:59.03).
Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
But Brunbaum picked up some big points for the Wolfpack as she swept the breaststroke events for NC State. She dominated the 100 breast, winning by almost two seconds in 1:01.88, and she later claimed first in the 200 in 2:15.87.
Bonnema won the 50 free for NC State, touching out teammate Lauren Poli, 22.97 to 22.98, and teammate Natalie Labonge completed the sprint sweep for the Wolfpack, edging UNC’s Hardesty in the 100, 50.46 to 50.61. Teammate Addisynn Bursch picked up the win in the 200 IM in a time of 2:01.44.
With the meet already decided, NC State still wanted to put on a show for their home fans. Labonge, Krista Duffield, Koletic, and Bonnema won the 400 free relay in 3:19.37. They couldn’t, however, pull off the 1-2 finish as Hardesty, Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens, and Siverling touched out NC State’s B-squad, of Poli, Lotta Nevalainen, Lauren Rhodes, and Yurie Nakano.
UNC’s Kelly Corish won the one-meter diving competition with a score of 330.45. Results from the three-meter event were not available at press time.
On the men’s side, NC State dominated their rivals from the very beginning, winning the meet 180-118. The Wolfpack, ranked eighth in the country in the latest CSCAA poll, lost just one swimming event all day, as they began their dominance with a triumph in the 200 medley relay. Andreas Schiellerup, Derek Hren, and Soeren Dahl staked NC State to a big lead before David Williams blasted a 19.31 anchor split to finish in 1:26.91, ahead of UNC’s 1:28.27.
Anton Oerskov Ipsen dominated the distance events, winning the 1000 free by more than 15 seconds. Ipsen clocked the only sub-9:00 time of the day with an 8:55.70. Not done at that point, Ipsen returned in the 500 free to win by nine seconds, finishing in 4:19.97.
The Wolfpack men finished first and second − at least − in the 50, 100, and 200 free events. Simonas Bilis got under 20 in the 50 with a 19.80 triumph, and he was followed by Ryan Held (20.02) and Williams (20.12). Bilis doubled up in the 100 as he touched out Held, 43.69 to 43.70, while Schiellerup (44.29) took third. Dahl, meanwhile, won the 200 free, as his 1:36.65 comfortably beat Bilis (1:37.56).
Photo Courtesy: Greg Mintel
Schiellerup took the win in the 100 back in 47.31, while Hennessey Stuart dominated the 200 back in 1:43.91. Hren won the 100 breast in 54.80, and he finished just behind Christian McCurdy, 2:01.33 to 2:01.38, in a 1-2 sweep of the 200 breast. For McCurdy, that was his second win of the day after he narrowly defeated UNC’s Dominick Glavich in the 200 fly, 1:44.68 to 1:44.87.
UNC won just one events on the men’s side, but Sam Lewis did his part for the Tar Heel cause, defeating Dahl in the 100 fly, 47.44 to 47.51. Stephen Coetzer quickly restored Wolfpack dominance in the very next event, winning the 200 IM in 1:48.10, while teammate McCurdy made it another 1-2 for NC State, clocking 1:48.61.
The NC State men wrapped up their dominant day with a five second triumph in the 400 free relay. Held, Bilis, Schiellerup, and Williams combined to clock 2:53.73, with the outcome of the race never really in doubt.
UNC’s John Nyquist led a Tar Heel sweep in the one-meter diving, scoring 370.65 for the win over teammates Ryan Fox and Sean Burston. Three-meter diving scores have yet to be released.
