University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Monday Finals
UNC Leads After First Day Of ACC Championships
February 14, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, GA. - The University of North Carolina women's swimming and diving team sits in first place following the first day of the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatics Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
The Tar Heels were led Monday by a third place finish in the 200-yard medley relay in a school record and automatic NCAA qualifying time. In women's three-meter diving, junior Elissa Dawson placed third and sophomore Maria Lohman captured sixth place.
In the men's one-meter diving competition on Monday, senior Jack Nyquist squeezed into the championship final and then improved five places to take the bronze medal in the final.
The Tar Heels lead the women's swimming and diving standings after the first day with 153 points with Louisville in second place with 149 points and Duke in third place with 144 points. Spots fourth through 12th in the standings are as follows: Virginia Tech 134, Miami 127, NC State 126, Florida State 124, Notre Dame 106, Virginia 102, Georgia Tech 90, Pittsburgh 88, Boston College 62 and Clemson 27.
"Overall, we had a great day. Our team energy and unity was tremendous," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "The team is very positive and has a great focus."
Carolina opened the evening with a third place finish in the 200-yard medley relay in a school record time of 1:36.39. UNC's time was also an automatic qualifying time for the 2017 NCAA Championships next month. Carolina's relay included Caroline Baldwin (23.88), Katie Munch (28.26), Hellen Moffitt (22.29) and Sarah Hitchens (21.96).
"It was awesome to start off with a school record in the 200 medley relay. Caroline's (Baldwin) leadoff was the fastest 50 back in UNC history," DeSelm commented. "Katie Much did a stellar job on the breaststroke leg. Hellen Moffitt swam her fastest fly split ever by .05 and was the fastest in the entire field. Finishing up, Sarah Hitchens anchored with another 21plus free split and we believe there are a few things that she can improve upon at NCAA's."
The previous University record was set by the same four swimmers in 2016 with a time of 1:37.04. The splits on that relay were 24.55 by Baldwin, 27.80 by Munch, 22.74 by Moffitt and 21.95 by Hitchens.
UNC's divers did a tremendous job Monday under the able leadership of coach Abel Sanchez.
"I can't tell you how happy I am and proud of all these divers," says Sanchez. "Elissa (Dawson) and Maria (Lohman) did something never done before and you see history by having two female divers in finals."
In the women's three-meter diving competition, junior Elissa Dawson took third place with 349.30 points while sophomore Maria Lohman placed sixth with a total of 294.10 points. In the preliminaries of the event, Lohman was second with 338.45 points and Dawson third with 332.20 points.
"Maria and Elissa dove wonderfully in prelims, finishing second and third. In finals, they were juiced up and were just a little bit off point. Elissa did a great job coming back from eighth place after her first dive, moving all the way up to third.
"I am so proud of these divers," says Sanchez. "Jack (Nyquist) did a fantastic job place sneaking into finals and then putting together a consistent solid list, placing him third in the conference. The other men also did a wonderful job scoring points for the team in two weeks."
Nyquist, a senior co-captain from Alpharetta, Ga., earned the last place in the men's one-meter diving competition preliminaries, taking sixth with 303.90 points. He seized that opportunity and moved up to third place in the finals, soaring to 385.35 points, more than 80 points more than he scored in the prelims. Other Tar Heel men's divers in the one-meter competition who scored points were Sean Burston in 12th with 285.95 and Bryan Allen in 22nd with 263.30. The men's diving points will be added into the team totals when the 2017 ACC Men's Swimming Championships are held at Georgia Tech February 27-March 2.
In the other event on Monday night, Carolina's 800-yard freestyle relay team took sixth place with a time of 7:06.97. The relay included Caty Hulsey (1:46.28), Zhada Fields (1:47.44), Sarah Koucheki (1:47.15) and Macey Arnold (1:46.10). On the front end of the relay, Husley's time of 1:46.28 moves her into a tie for sixth place in school history in the 200-yard freestyle event behind only Danielle Siverling, Jessi Perruquet, Ally Hardesty, Stephanie Peacock and Lauren Earp.
"Our 800 free relay was very solid," DeSelm says. "Caty Hulsey led off with a lifetime best time and was followed by great efforts from Zhada Fields, Sarah Koucheki and Macey Arnold. We can do better in that relay in a month."
The ACC Championships continue Tuesday with preliminaries at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. Check GoHeels.com for real time results links for both sessions. ACC Network Extra will air Tuesday's finals with live streaming on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. Again check GoHeels.com Tuesday night for the video link.
Players Mentioned
