University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCSU/GAC Thursday Finals
Baldwin's School Record Leads Tar Heels on First Day
November 18, 2016 | Swimming & Diving
“Today was a terrific day for us on the boards and in the pool. I loved our team energy and the support they gave one another,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “We have a lot of new team members who are learning quickly how to step up and perform. There is great competition in this meet with many heats in finals, and, today, there was some great racing, great diving and tremendous results.
Baldwin twice shattered the school record in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday, going 22.01 in the preliminaries and then winning the championship in the event in the finals, clocking a 21.98. Her previous career best had been 22.48. She broke the UNC record of 22.17 set by Hannah Lincoln in 2014.
“For the swimmers, junior Caroline Baldwin was stellar,” DeSelm added. “In the prelims, she set a new personal best time and broke our UNC school record only to go faster at night and, with her :21.98, joined an elite group of women who have broken 22.00 seconds. Earlier in the evening, our 200 free relay quartet of Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens, Hellen Moffitt and Brooke Bauer broke another UNC record with their 1:28.19 time that makes the NCAA A qualifying time.”
UNC won the event with a time of 1:28.19, well under the NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:28.98. Carolina's previous school record time was 1:28.62 set in 2014 by Baldwin, Lincoln, Hitchens and Ally Hardesty.
The Tar Heel women lead the team standings after the first day of the competition with 582.5 points. NC State is in second place with 563. The remainder of the women's field includes Duke with 483 points, Notre Dame with 355 points, Tennessee with 268.5 points, West Virginia with 191 points, Marshall with 180 points and Miami with 125 points.
The Carolina men, led Thursday by excellent swims by seniors Jorden Merrilees and Michael Meyer, are in fourth place with 365 points. The top three teams in the field include NC State with 616 points, Notre Dame with 493 points and Duke with 398 points. Trailing Carolina in the standings are Tennessee with 301, Air Force with 290 and West Virginia with 191.
In addition to the win in the 200 free relay, the Tar Heels took second in the 400 medley relay on the women's side as Caroline Baldwin, Katie Munch, Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Hitchens touched in 3:34.58. The men's relays both finished sixth. The 200 free relay clocked a 1:20.13 and included Craig Emslie, Lucas Popp, J.T. Casey and Graham Weaver. The 400 medley relay team included Jorden Merrilees, Craig Emslie, Michael Meyer and Lucas Popp, recording a time of 3:14.21. Merrilees swam the opening leg of the 400 medley relay in 47.88, moving him into sixth place all-time in Tar Heel history in the 100 backstroke.
Tar Heel divers also had a great day in support of the UNC team effort. Jack Nyquist and Sean Burston finished second and third in one-meter diving with scores of 332.25 and 316.30 points while Andrew Owsiany was ninth with a total of 271.40. UNC also finished second and third in women's three-meter diving with Elissa Dawson scoring 313.85 points while Maria Lohman totaled 283.10 points.
“Our divers continue to shine, getting 2nd and 3rd on both the men's and women's boards today,” said DeSelm. “Coach (Abel) Sanchez has his divers training and competing extremely well.”
Four Tar Heels clocked career best times in the women's 500-yard freestyle – Caty Hulsey, Bryanna Cameron, Natalie Ward and Liliana Casso. Two Tar Heels swam in the championship final of the event with Hulsey taking third in 4:46.07 and Macey Arnold placing sixth in 4:48.34. Another four Tar Heels swam in the “B' final of the event.
Jorden Merrilees was the runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle and in the process moved into second place among UNC's all-time performers in the event as he swam a time of 4:17.86. Junior Henry Campbell won the “B” final of the event with a time of 4:21.60.
In the 200-yard individual medley, freshman Reni Moshos claimed sixth place with a time of 2:01.48 while senior Emily Pfeiffer captured eighth in 2:02.57. Sarah Koucheki, Katie Munch, Susan LaRochelle and Abby Fisher placed 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th, respectively.
On the men's side, senior Michael Meyer won the “B” final of the 200-yard individual medley, going 1:46.85. That time moves him into eighth all-time in Tar Heel history in the event.
The top four Tar Heel finishers in the women's 50-yard freestyle all set career best times led by Baldwin's school record time. Sarah Hitchens placed fourth in a time of 22.39, Brooke Bauer was 11th in 22.73 and Katie Ford was 17th in 23.07. With her time, Hitchens moves into the position as the fourth fastest performer ever in the event in Carolina history.
Action in the NC State/GAC Invitational continues on Friday with preliminaries at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m.
“Overall, we had some outstanding time drops on the season and many lifetime best times, which is not always an easy accomplishment in November. We are looking forward to tomorrow,” concluded DeSelm.
Players Mentioned
