University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Tennessee
Carolina Drops Pair of Dual Meets At SEC Power Tennessee
October 22, 2016 | Swimming & Diving
KNOXVILLE, TENN. – The University of North Carolina men's and women's swimming and diving teams concluded their two-day dual meet against the University of Tennessee Saturday morning at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
After the first day, the Tar Heels were locked in a close battle with the Volunteers but the traditional Southeastern Conference power pulled away on the second day to prevail against Coach Rich DeSelm's UNC teams. The Tennessee women won by a score of 205-167 while the Volunteers' men's team notched a win 216-156.
“The two-day format we used to swim Tennessee this weekend allowed us to see a lot of our team members swim multiple times. That plus having second heats in most events helps us better know where we are and what we need to work on when we get back to training Monday,” said 10th-year Tar Heel head coach Rich DeSelm. “Overall, we were more competitive with a strong Tennessee team on Friday. Today we needed to be more competitive. Credit UT head Matt Kredich, his staff and team for being ready.
“Overall, we were better than two weeks ago, but needed to be better still to come out victorious as a team. We will get back to training Monday and keep preparing.”
Carolina's men were led by senior Jorden Merrilees, an Australian native and transfer from Oakland University. He swept four individual events to lead the Tar Heel cause. On the women's side, senior co-captain Hellen Moffitt took the top placing in three individual events while also swimming on a victorious relay.
Jack Nyquist had a tremendous meet on the boards to lead UNC's diving contingent, sweeping the one- and three-meter boards. His score in three-meter diving came within a point of breaking David MacDonald's school record set back in 2009. He also finished third in platform diving.
“Our divers continue to compete well,” added DeSelm. “Tennessee is known to have a tremendous diving program so we knew the contests would be pretty intense. It was great to watch some tremendous diving from both teams. Coach Abel Sanchez and the divers were ready and competed extremely well. Senior Jack Nyquist won both the one- & three-meter boards while Elissa Dawson was first on three-meter and third on one-meter and Maria Lohmann finished second on both boards. Our depth in diving is getting better so we are excited to see more from the divers.”
The Tar Heels' women's relay teams did a great job on the opening day, capturing both events. Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens, Brooke Bauer and Katie Ford combined to win the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:31.77. The 400-yard medley relay team of Baldwin, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Hitchens touched first in 3:41.36.
Tar Heel senior women's captain Hellen Moffitt also swam outstandingly in individual events. She won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:58.72, eclipsing UT's Micah Bohon by 1.95 seconds. On Saturday, she went on to secure two more wins. She took the 100-yard backstroke in 53.22 in a tight battle with UT's Kira Toussaint. Just two events later, Moffitt turned in a dominant performance in the 100-yard butterfly, winning in 53.06, 1.33 seconds ahead of the Volunteers' Heather Lundstrom.
Her fellow captain, junior Caroline Baldwin, won the 100-yard freestyle in 50.36 on Friday and she recorded another individual win on Saturday, taking the 50-yard freestyle in 22.93.
UNC divers, ably led by coach Abel Sanchez, were a key factor on the both days. Elissa Dawson and Maria Lohman went 1-2 in three-meter diving with Dawson far ahead of the field in a big way with a score of 377.93, less than seven points off her own school record. Lohman was the runner-up on the one-meter board and Dawson took second place in platform diving.
On the men's side, Jack Nyquist was his steady and consistent self as he scored 363.75 points to win one-meter diving by less than a four-point margin over Tennessee's Liam Stone. He came back to win the three-meter event with 446.93 points. It is the second highest three-meter diving score in UNC history, just behind David MacDonald's three-meter score of 447.50 from 2009. On Saturday, Nyquist was third in platform diving while freshman Bryan Allen excelled with a runner-up finish in the event.
Carolina senior Jorden Merrilees had tremendous Friday and Saturday sessions as he emerged as the swimmer-of-the-meet for the Tar Heel men's side, winning four events overall. On Friday, the Australian won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:26.14, almost four full seconds over junior teammate Henry Campbell. Just minutes later, Merrilees led a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard backstroke with fellow Tar Heel Heyward Harrison, winning in 1:47.08. He continued his dynamic performance on Saturday as he won the 100-yard backstroke in 48.56 seconds, 1.45 seconds ahead of Tennessee's Joey Reilman. Shortly after that the Aussie was well ahead of the field in the 200-yard freestyle as he won in 1:37.75, 1.5 seconds ahead of Kyle Decoursey of the Volunteers.
“To mention a few individuals that stood out senior Hellen Moffitt had a nice weekend with wins in the 100 fly & back, 200 back and helping our 400 medley relay take the win,” DeSelm says. “Other standouts for us were Caroline Baldwin, winning the 50 & 100 frees and as part of two winning relays on Friday. For the men, Jorden Merrilees keeps showing his abilities and took wins in the 100 & 200 back and 200 & 500 freestyles.”
On Friday, the Tar Heel men had solid finishes in the 200 IM as Eugene Tee, Michael Meyer and Michael McBryan went 2-3-4. The UNC women produced a similar 2-3-4 finish in the 500-yard freestyle with swims from Macey Arnold, Bryanna Cameron and Caty Hulsey. The UNC men also went 2-3-4 in the 200-yard butterfly behind Collier Cobb, Michael Meyer and Henry Campbell.
On Saturday, the UNC women took 2-3-4 in the 1000-yard freestyle (Natalie Ward, Bryanna Cameron, Macey Arnold). In the men's 400-yard individual medley, the Tar Heel contingent placed 2-3-4-5 in the persons of Michael Meyer, Eugene Tee, Noah Cairns and Josh Beals.
UNC will open its ACC season when it travels to Louisville, Ky., on November 4& 5 to meet the University of Louisville Cardinals.
MEN'S TEAM SCORE
Tennessee 216, UNC 156
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORE
Tennessee 205, UNC 167
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT--MEN
200-Yard Freestyle Relay – Lucas Popp, Craig Emslie, J.T. Casey, Philip Perdue, 2nd Place, 1:22.65
One-Meter Diving – Jack Nyquist, 1st Place, 365.75
200-Yard Individual Medley – Eugene Tee, 2nd Place, 1:50.43
500-Yard Freestyle – Jorden Merrilees, 1st Place, 4:26.14
100-Yard Breaststroke – Craig Emslie, 2nd Place, 55.07
200-Yard Backstroke – Jorden Merrilees, 1st Place, 1:47.08
100-Yard Freestyle – Lucas Popp, 3rd Place, 45.51
200-Yard Butterfly – Collier Cobb, 2nd Place, 1:51.68
Three-Meter Diving – Jack Nyquist, 1st Place, 446.93
400-Yard Medley Relay – Jorden Merrilees, Craig Emslie, Michael Meyer, Lucas Popp, 2nd Place, 3:17.85
200-Yard Medley Relay – Jorden Merrilees, Craig Emslie, Michael Meyer, Lucas Popp, 2nd Place, 1:30.17
1000-Yard Freestyle – Eugene Tee, 4th Place, 9:28.36
50-Yard Freestyle – Lucas Popp, 3rd Place, 21.03
100-Yard Backstroke – Jorden Merrilees, 1st Place, 48.56
200-Yard Breaststroke – Michael McBryan, 3rd Place, 2:03.41
100-Yard Butterfly – Christian Caveness, 3rd Place, 50.21
200-Yard Freestyle – Jorden Merrilees, 1st Place, 1:37.75
400-Yard Individual Medley – Michael Meyer, 2nd Place, 3:58.03
Platform Diving – Bryan Allen, 2nd Place, 287.33
400-Yard Freestyle Relay – Philip Perdue, J.T. Casey, Craig Emslie, Lucas Popp, 2nd Place, 3:01.84
Records: North Carolina 0-2, Tennesse 1-0
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Freestyle Relay – Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens, Brooke Bauer, Katie Ford, 1st Place, 1:31.77
Three-Meter Diving – Elissa Dawson, 1st Place, 377.93
200-Yard Individual Medley – Hellen Moffitt, 4th Place, 2:04.24
500-Yard Freestyle – Macey Arnold, 2nd Place, 4:53.19
100-Yard Breaststroke – Katie Munch, 4th Place, 1:04.94
200-Yard Backstroke – Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 1:58.72
100-Yard Freestyle – Caroline Baldwin, 1st Place, 50.36
200-Yard Butterfly – Sarah Koucheki, 3rd Place, 2:00.03
One-Meter Diving – Maria Lohman, 2nd Place, 312.60
400-Yard Medley Relay – Caroline Baldwin, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt, Sarah Hitchens, 1st Place, 3:41.36
200-Yard Medley Relay – Caroline Baldwin, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt, Sarah Hitchens, 2nd Place, 1:41.07
1000-Yard Freestyle – Natalie Ward, 2nd Place, 10:11.33
50-Yard Freestyle – Caroline Baldwin, 1st Place, 22.93
100-Yard Backstroke – Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 53.22
200-Yard Breaststroke – Abby Fisher, 2nd Place, 2:18.79
100-Yard Butterfly – Hellen Moffitt, 1st Place, 53.06
200-Yard Freestyle – Macey Arnold, 4th Place, 1:51.61
400-Yard Individual Medley – Caty Hulsey, 2nd Place, 4:19.62
Platform Diving – Elissa Dawson, 2nd Place, 316.33
400-Yard Freestyle Relay – Kylie Mihok, Zhada Fields, Katie McKay, Katie Ford, 2nd Place, 3:29.10
Records: North Carolina 0-2, Tennessee 1-0
Players Mentioned
