Tar Heels Lead After Opening Day Of ACC Championships

Wednesday, February 14

Greensboro, N.C.

10 a.m. prelims, 4:15 p.m. finals

North Carolina

ACC Championships (Women's Swimming/Men's & Women's Diving)

Maria Lohman (runner-up women's one-meter), Greg Duncan (champion, men's three-meter)

February 14, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

2/14/18 Complete Results

UNC's Duncan wins men's 3-meter diving title.

By: Dave Lohse

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The University of North Carolina women's swimming and diving team stands in first place after the opening day of the 40th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels' men's diving contingent has the Tar Heels in a three-way tie for first place in the men's team standings after the opening day of competition. Three men's diving events will be contested this week and the scores from those events will be added in when the men's swimming championships are held in Greensboro next week.

UNC freshman Greg Duncan and Tar Heel junior Maria Lohman led the Tar Heels on the opening day of competition as Duncan won the men's three-meter diving competition and Lohman finished as the runner-up in the women's three-meter diving event.

The Tar Heel women lead after the opening day with 151 points with Virginia currently in the No. 2 spot with 143 points. The remainder of the field includes Duke with 139 points, Louisville with 138, Notre Dame and NC State with 135, Virginia Tech with 133, Florida State with 131, Miami with 109, Pittsburgh with 101, Georgia Tech with 87 and Boston College with 60.

North Carolina, Florida State and Duke all have 61 points to lead on the men's side followed by Virginia Tech with 44, Notre Dame with 38, NC State with 38, Miami ith 22, Georgia Tech with 17, Virginia with 13 and Louisville with 7.

"We've had a great start to the ACC Championships with some terrific performances by our swimmers and divers tonight," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "Our 200 medley relay made the NCAA "A" cut and was just off our school record. Caroline Baldwin had a great leadoff swim and freshman Caroline Hauder had the fastest breaststroke split in the entire field and finished extremely well. Freshman Emma Cole had her lifetime best fly split and Brooke Bauer closed the relay to earn fourth place and the A cut. We believe we can be faster at the NCAA Championships."

UNC Relay Results on Opening Night of ACC Championships
200-Yard Medley Relay - 4th Place, 1:36.82, NCAA "A" qualifying time
Caroline Baldwin (24.04), Caroline Hauder (27.12), Emma Cole (23.56), Brooke Bauer (22.10)
800-Yard Freestyle Relay - 6th Place, 7:07.93
Caroline Hauder (1:46.45), Zhada Fields (1:44.97), Emma Cole (1:49.96), Robyn Dryer (1:46.55)

"In the 800 free relay, Hauder, swimming her second relay of the night, led off with a lifetime best time and Zhada Fields split a career best," said DeSelm. "Emma Cole, also on her second relay of the night, was a bit off what we hoped for but she will be better the next time. Robyn Dryer anchored the relay with another lifetime best."

UNC Diving Results on Opening Night of ACC Championships
Men's Three-Meter Diving
1. Greg Duncan, 416.10
9. Sean Burston, 330.85
19. Andrew Owsiany, 300.45
22. Bryan Allen, 277.65
Women's One-Meter Diving
2. Maria Lohman, 308.20
7. Elissa Dawson, 278.95
30. Qian Yi Pang, 215.30

"Today was a great day for the Tar Heels," said UNC diving coach Abel Sanchez. "To start us off we had the women in one-meter diving. Both Elissa (Dawson) and Maria (Lohman) qualified for finals.

"I didn't think Elissa was going to be able to dive in this meet after she hit the board a few weeks ago. The fact that she was able to dive, is amazing. However she stepped it up several notches and was a finalist at the ACC Championships. I'm so proud of her for grinding it out. Our other one-meter diver, Maria Lohman, gave me a scare in prelims. Maria was playing musical chairs with the top three divers until her fourth dive.

"Maria was amped, and found herself leaning too far forward to recover for her reverse 1 ½ flips in pike. She earned eight points and now was 18 points out of contention for one-meter finals and make it into the Top 8. Maria lit up the scoreboard in her last two dives and snuck into finals in the eighth spot. I would have to commend Maria for her composure and will to compete in finals. Maria seized the opportunity that was given to her and again she started to play musical chairs for the top spot. Since Maria was the first diver, she was able to place pressure on all the competitors. Today's women's one-meter ACC finals was a nail biting contest, and Maria was able to capture a silver medal."

"On the men's three-meter springboard we had four men competing. Sean (Burston) was steady, however, he missed one dive which was enough to put him out of finals. I believe he missed it by just a few points. Watch out for him tomorrow in one-meter diving. Our freshman, Greg Duncan, was also steady and missed one dive. Going into his last dive, Greg was able to punch a ticket into finals. What a show that was. All the divers were sharing the top spot back-and-forth which created an exciting event. Greg missed his second dive in finals so he was playing catch up the entire contest. Greg needed 80.5 point to win and killed his last dive for 81.6 points. His was a heart pounding victory".

"The divers had a great day, highlighted by freshman Greg Duncan's victory on the three-meter board. He had a monster final dive to seal the win in a very tight contest," said DeSelm. "Maria Lohman and Elissa Dawson finaled in the one-meter board, going second and sevneth respectively. Sean Burston finished ninth, just missing the final and Andrew Owsiany and Bryan Allen each scored as well in 19th and 22nd, securing all four men scoring."

Duncan's win in the three-meter event was the first for a Tar Heel men's diver at the ACC Championships in 14 years. Eric Poitras won the three-meter event at the 2004 ACC Championships.

Lohman's podium finish was the first of her career at the ACC Championships. Her best previous finish was a sixth place in three-meter diving in 2017 and a sixth place in one-meter diving in 2016.

Lohman's second place finish was the best by a Tar Heel at the ACC Championships since Elissa Dawson took second in three-meter diving in 2016.