University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday, November 11
West Lafayette, Ind.
All Day
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ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Tar Heels Rack Up Season-Best Performances at ACC/Big Ten Challenge
November 11, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Tar Heels and their ACC swimming and diving teammates wrapped up a weekend of competition on Sunday at the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge hosted by Purdue University. The Big Ten men took the meet with a 179 to 174 victory and the Big Ten women won the first conference matchup, 251 to 102.
"It's exciting to come and be a part of this and to do something new," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "This has never been done before — two conferences joining together and having a dual meet. So a little bit of history making which is always fun."
After finishing day one with a personal record, three season bests and three NCAA 'B' qualifying times, Carolina's all-star student-athletes continued to show improvements as they collected four more season bests.
"Yesterday, we had Bryanna Cameron go a lifetime best in the 400 IM and Valdas Abaliksta hit a lifetime best 100 breaststroke split on a relay," DeSelm said. "Alvin Jiang led off one of the 400 medley relays and unfortunately his touchpad didn't work properly so his given time was probably slower than what he truly swam, but regardless he swam several good events."
Valdas Abaliksta returned to the pool two more times during the second session. His winning 400 medley relay lineup with NC State's Coleman Stewart and Justin Ress and Florida State's Kanoa Kaleoaloha claimed second in Sunday's 200 medley relay as they clocked another 'A' cut time of 1:24.56. Abaliksta also competed in the 100 breaststroke and finished with a season-best time of 53.85 for fifth.
Alvin Jiang earned Carolina's highest finish of the weekend as a time correction put him just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Duke's Max St. George. His third-place time of 46.74 keeps him at the top of Carolina's depth chart and marks a new season-best for the sophomore swimmer.
Both Bryanna Cameron and Grace Countie earned season bests in their Sunday appearances. Cameron swam a season-best 'B' cut time of 1:57.35 for fourth in the women's 200 fly and Countie represented the ACC in the 50 free, setting a new season-best time of 22.81.
Chris Thames also competed in his second relay of the two-day event as his ACC relay clocked 1:30.14 in the men's 200 medley relay to finish 8th.
"It was worthwhile with good camaraderie," DeSelm said. "Great to get together with the ACC and the other teams and coaches from our conference to pull together to try to get a victory. We didn't get a victory but we swam tough and it was fun. It was a really good event."
On the diving boards, Maria Lohman finished ninth on the women's three-meter springboard with a final score of 289.40.
"I thought the meet was pretty cool," said UNC diving coach Abel Sanchez. "It's a great idea and it's nice to see what's happening in the Big Ten. It was a good beginning to the season to see where everyone is and to see what we need to work on. It was good to come out here and the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as a whole was a success. Going forward, I'm sure there are going to be some tweaks and what not, but I think it'll be good."
TAR HEEL RESULTS
Valdas Abaliksta
400-yard Medley Relay • 3:06.10 'A', 1st
200-yard Breaststroke • 1:58.00 'B', 5th
200-yard Medley Relay • 1:24.56 'A', 2nd
100-yard Breaststroke • 53.85 'B', 5th
Alvin Jiang
400-yard Medley Relay • 3:08.56, 4th
100-yard Backstroke • 46.74 'B', 3rd
Chris Thames
800-yard Freestyle Relay • 6:47.41, 7th
200-yard Medley Relay • 1:30.14, 8th
Bryanna Cameron
400-yard Individual Medley • 4:13.87, 5th
200-yard Butterfly • 1:57.35, 4th
Grace Countie
50-yard Freestyle • 22.81, 6th
Maria Lohman
3M Springboard • 289.40, 9th
UP NEXT
As the ACC and Big Ten representatives return to their school teams, the Tar Heels look forward to getting back on the road together when they head south to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 15-17.
"It's exciting to come and be a part of this and to do something new," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "This has never been done before — two conferences joining together and having a dual meet. So a little bit of history making which is always fun."
After finishing day one with a personal record, three season bests and three NCAA 'B' qualifying times, Carolina's all-star student-athletes continued to show improvements as they collected four more season bests.
"Yesterday, we had Bryanna Cameron go a lifetime best in the 400 IM and Valdas Abaliksta hit a lifetime best 100 breaststroke split on a relay," DeSelm said. "Alvin Jiang led off one of the 400 medley relays and unfortunately his touchpad didn't work properly so his given time was probably slower than what he truly swam, but regardless he swam several good events."
Valdas Abaliksta returned to the pool two more times during the second session. His winning 400 medley relay lineup with NC State's Coleman Stewart and Justin Ress and Florida State's Kanoa Kaleoaloha claimed second in Sunday's 200 medley relay as they clocked another 'A' cut time of 1:24.56. Abaliksta also competed in the 100 breaststroke and finished with a season-best time of 53.85 for fifth.
Alvin Jiang earned Carolina's highest finish of the weekend as a time correction put him just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Duke's Max St. George. His third-place time of 46.74 keeps him at the top of Carolina's depth chart and marks a new season-best for the sophomore swimmer.
Both Bryanna Cameron and Grace Countie earned season bests in their Sunday appearances. Cameron swam a season-best 'B' cut time of 1:57.35 for fourth in the women's 200 fly and Countie represented the ACC in the 50 free, setting a new season-best time of 22.81.
Chris Thames also competed in his second relay of the two-day event as his ACC relay clocked 1:30.14 in the men's 200 medley relay to finish 8th.
"It was worthwhile with good camaraderie," DeSelm said. "Great to get together with the ACC and the other teams and coaches from our conference to pull together to try to get a victory. We didn't get a victory but we swam tough and it was fun. It was a really good event."
On the diving boards, Maria Lohman finished ninth on the women's three-meter springboard with a final score of 289.40.
"I thought the meet was pretty cool," said UNC diving coach Abel Sanchez. "It's a great idea and it's nice to see what's happening in the Big Ten. It was a good beginning to the season to see where everyone is and to see what we need to work on. It was good to come out here and the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as a whole was a success. Going forward, I'm sure there are going to be some tweaks and what not, but I think it'll be good."
TAR HEEL RESULTS
Valdas Abaliksta
400-yard Medley Relay • 3:06.10 'A', 1st
200-yard Breaststroke • 1:58.00 'B', 5th
200-yard Medley Relay • 1:24.56 'A', 2nd
100-yard Breaststroke • 53.85 'B', 5th
Alvin Jiang
400-yard Medley Relay • 3:08.56, 4th
100-yard Backstroke • 46.74 'B', 3rd
Chris Thames
800-yard Freestyle Relay • 6:47.41, 7th
200-yard Medley Relay • 1:30.14, 8th
Bryanna Cameron
400-yard Individual Medley • 4:13.87, 5th
200-yard Butterfly • 1:57.35, 4th
Grace Countie
50-yard Freestyle • 22.81, 6th
Maria Lohman
3M Springboard • 289.40, 9th
UP NEXT
As the ACC and Big Ten representatives return to their school teams, the Tar Heels look forward to getting back on the road together when they head south to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 15-17.
Players Mentioned
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