University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Nike Cup Finals
Carolina Men & Women Swim to Large Leads After Day One of Nike Cup
November 18, 2010 | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 18, 2010
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A bevy of outstanding individual performances position North Carolina very favorably through day one of 2010 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup action at Koury Natatorium. The Tar Heel men posted 455.5 points on the evening, solidifying 1st place status over 2nd place Navy (250 points) and the rest of the eight-team field. Likewise, the UNC women's 452-point performance earns them a 272-point spread over the next closest competitor -- the University of South Carolina with 180 points.
In the prelims earlier Thursday morning, freshman Stephanie Peacock broke the women's 500 free Nike Cup record. In the finals tonight, she did one better. With a time of 4:38.54, Peacock eclipsed not only her eight-hour old Nike Cup record, but also the UNC and ACC records previously held by former Tar Heel Whitney Sprague and the 21-year-old-pool record held by four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans.
"Stephanie is having a really good fall," said North Carolina head coach Rich DeSelm, "She's just a delight to work with. She works hard, she listens, and I think she's just scratching the surface of a tremendous year."
Seniors Katura Harvey (4:43.79) and Ashley Miller (4:50.47) also notched impressive 500 free performances, placing 2nd and 4th, respectively.
It wasn't just Peacock faring well however, as from the first splash, the Tar Heels continued to post impressive time after impressive time. In the women's opening 200 free relay event, Carolina jumped out to a quick start, sweeping the top two spots. Senior Rebecca Kane, juniors Layne Brodie and Sarah Tanner, and sophomore Katie Nolan teamed up to post a 1:31.88 top finish while juniors Sarah List and Candace Cooper, sophomore Stephanie Eisenring, and freshman Danielle Jansen notched a 1:33.23 time good for 2nd.
"Event by event, we had some people really excelling, and we're quite a bit ahead of where we were last year," DeSelm said, "It's a lot of fun--500 free was good, 200 IM was good, relays were good, diving was good."
The Tar Heel men quickly followed suit, taking the top spot behind a Nike Cup record 1:19.62 from senior Tommy Wyher and juniors Steve Cebertowicz, Brock Park, and Brad Hamilton. Junior Evan Reed and seniors Tyler Smith, David Zolno, and Josh Hafkin also fared well, placing 4th with a 1:22.91 performance.
The men's 500 Free then saw the first swimmer not donning a Carolina Blue cap take home 1st, as South Carolina's Michael Flach grabbed top honors with a 4:21.68 finish. Seniors Joe Kinderwater (4:22.74) and Tyler Harris (4:23.45) and junior Wil Singley (4:28.48) were close behind though, placing 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, respectively.
In the women's 200 IM, Brodie took to the pool to defend her Nike Cup record established earlier this morning and did not disappoint, posting a 1st place finish behind a 1:58.43 time. A pack of Tar Heels finished soon after, with junior Marie Pesacreta taking 4th (2:01.43), Tanner 5th (2:01.60), and sophomore Rebecca Brooks 6th (2:02.71).
"Layne (Brodie) had four pretty great performances in a short period of time," DeSelm said. "It's really nice when an athlete starts to see their potential and do the things that work toward that potential. She's taking steps toward being great."
Immediately following a personal best in the 500 free, Harris placed 1st in the 200 IM with a 1:47.87 performance. Junior Colin Bridier joined Harris on the podium with a 3rd place 1:50.30 time while senior Vinny Pryor placed 6th with a time of 1:51.03.
"Tyler is really dialed in. It's his senior year and he's training hard," DeSelm said, "We've got a plan for him this year that's a little different, and he put out a really fine 500 free against a good field tonight."
The 50 free sprints followed next, with UNC placing four swimmers in the top seven of the women's 50 free. Kane took top honors with a 22.41 time, 0.01 seconds off the UNC school record, while Brodie (23.00), Jansen (23.45), and Tanner (23.68) followed after, placing 3rd, 6th, and 7th, respectively.
In the men's 50 free, Duke broke the Carolina string of top finishes, as sophomore Ben Hwang posted a 20.17 1st-place performance. Cebertowicz then placed 2nd (20.35), while Hamilton's 6th place finish (20.71) and Park's 8th place result (20.82) rounded out the Tar Heel 50 free championship finals contingent.
As the meet entered its final 400 medley relay event, the records continued to fall for the Carolina women. Sophomore Carly Smith, Brodie, Nolan, and Kane shattered the three-year old Nike Cup record by five seconds, posting an impressive 3:37.11. Cooper, junior Laura Moriarty, Tanner and Peacock placed 2nd (3:42.99), while List, Keel, Jansen, and Harvey (3:44.62) helped the Tar Heels complete a top three sweep.
Meanwhile, the men took home 1st, 2nd and 4th place honors in the 400 medley relay. Wyher, Bridier, Luchsinger, and Cebertowicz cruised to a 1st-place finish (3:14.02) by five seconds, followed by junior Jim Flannery, Pryor, Hamilton, and Reed in 2nd (3:19.68) and Hafkin, senior Flynn Jones, Park and freshman J.T. Stilley in 4th (3:21.35).
In one-meter diving action, Duke's Cody Kolodziejzyk placed 1st with a score of 337.90, edging out UNC's David MacDonald by just eight points. Sophomores Jake Kinzbach and Ryland Jones also scored double digit points for Carolina, taking 7th and 8th place, respectively.
On the women's side, North Carolina junior Jenna Moore shattered the Tar Heel school record in three-meter diving. Moore's total of 323.50 in the final earned her second place and broke the school mark of 312.40 set by Mandi Arak in 2005.
The Tar Heels will be back in action Friday morning at 10 A.M. in Koury Natatorium as preliminaries will continue as part of day two of the 2010 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup.
