The Virginia swimming and diving team made a successful trip down Tobacco Road this weekend, beating Duke Friday night and North Carolina Saturday afternoon. Both the men and the women are the only teams still undefeated in ACC competition.
The 12th-ranked Virginia men (6-1, 4-0) won both meets handily, crushing the 21st-ranked Tar Heels 189-111 and cruising past Duke, 111-80.
"We did less than we had hoped in terms of times, but we scored really well," sophomore Ian Prichard said.
Against Duke, the Cavaliers won the first seven events, including three top three sweeps. Sophomore Adam Kerpleman won two events, the 50-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly, and swam on Virginia's victorious 200 medley relay.
After jumping out to a big lead, the Cavaliers exhibitioned much of the meet's second half. With a meet the following afternoon, the large lead allowed Virginia to rest some for North Carolina.
"Duke has some good swimmers but their team is not of the caliber that we are," Prichard said.
The Virginia men won 11 of 16 events the following afternoon against UNC to stay undefeated in the ACC. Three sophomores each won two events in leading the Cavaliers to the victory. Luke Anderson won the 50 and 100 free races, Luke Wagner won the 100 and 200 backstrokes, and Ian Prichard took the 500 and 1,000 free events. Anderson also swam legs on the 200 medley and 400 free relay victories.
|
The 14th-ranked Virginia women (7-0, 4-0) pulled out very narrow victories, beating Duke 112-105 and North Carolina 156-144.
The Cavaliers won the first six individual events against Duke and exhibitioned the last two events. Those six wins included two top-three sweeps in the 50 and 500 free events.
Led by junior all-American Cara Lane, the Cavaliers rallied to win the last five events and beat the 12th ranked Tar Heels to stay undefeated. Lane, who missed the first six weeks of the season with a rib injury, won three events and anchored the winning relay in the meet's final event.
Despite being named last week's ACC swimmer of the week, Lane said that she does not feel fully recovered. Yet she posted NCAA 'B' qualifying times in her wins in the 200 fly and 500 free and also won the 1,000 free.
The Cavaliers didn't clinch the meet until Lane crossed the finish line of the 400 free relay, giving the Cavaliers a time of 3 minutes, 26.27 seconds and a meet victory.
"I think we really came together as a team this weekend," Lane said. "We knew we would have to finish first and third in the relays [to win the meet]. The people swimming in front of me swam really fast, and we got first and second."
Junior Alison Sharp also swept the diving events for the Cavaliers.
Virginia will return to action Saturday when they travel to South Carolina, whose men's team is ranked ninth.
Read More
Football lands three additional transfers
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayOne common trait that stands out with this most recent batch of transfers is size.
Men’s basketball suffers road drubbing versus California
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayVirginia submitted another rudderless performance.
