Tar Heels Wrap Up Regular Season With Senior Meet Against Duke

Saturday, February 2

Chapel Hill, N.C.

12:00 P.M.

North Carolina

Duke

Tar Heels Wrap Up Regular Season With Senior Meet Against Duke

February 1, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Live Results Watch

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina swimming and diving will celebrate their senior class on Saturday, Feb. 2 as the Tar Heels host the Duke Blue Devils for the final meet of the regular season. The meet is schedule to begin at 12 p.m. noon in Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

"We're excited for our meet with Duke," head coach Rich DeSelm said. "It's our senior day. We'll have a lot of parents in the stands as always, but it's always fun. Our staff has the band and Ramses coming to the meet and we have a kids day so look for a great crowd to be here. Duke is vastly improving and we've had great meets the past many years. We are definitely excited to compete and our team wants to step up for the seniors and for themselves. I think we match up pretty well against Duke and it's very possible that it could come down to the last relay like it has in the past few years. It'll be fun and we hope a lot of fans will come out. We also want to improve our final performances before championship season — swimming better, diving better, improving your skills, cleaning some things up."

Eleven senior competitors and two senior managers will close out their dual meet careers against their Tobacco Road rivals.

"Recognizing our seniors is always important so we're glad to have a chance to do that against Duke this year," DeSelm said.

SENIOR CLASS OF 2019
"This group has been a very impactful class," DeSelm said. "They each have their own story and each have made tremendous contributions to the team. All of them have done extremely well in school and five are captains. They're involved in the Carolina Leadership Academy, community service projects and they've competed at a high level with some even advancing to the NCAA meet. You always hate to lose seniors, but I'm very proud of who they are and what they've done for this program."

Tom Bilden has primarily competed in butterfly and IM events during his time at Carolina. A local of Chapel Hill, N.C., Bilden attended Carrboro High School and swam for the North Carolina Aquatic Club before committing to the Tar Heels. Bilden is currently a participant in the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy's Leadership Lab and has earned a spot on the ACC Academic Honor Roll for the last three years. In 2018, Bilden was also named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention. After his freshman season, he also competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the men's 200-meter butterfly. Bilden plans to graduate in May with a degree in business administration and a Classics minor.

Sean Burston is a native of Stamford, Conn. and a staple of the North Carolina men's diving program. A graduate from Westhill High School, Burston holds two spots in UNC's record books. His score of 380.25 points in one-meter springboard competition ranks third all-time and his three-meter personal best of 413.85 points ranks fourth. Despite redshirting the 2015-16 season, Burston is a three-time ACC Championship team member and even finished as high as fifth after scoring 351.60 points in the 2015 conference championships as a freshman. Burston plans to graduate in May with a degree in communications.

Noah Cairns, another local swimmer, attended Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C. and trained with the North Carolina Aquatic Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. before joining the Tar Heels in 2015. The Chapel Hill, N.C. native mostly appeared in distance freestyle and IM competitions over the course of his four years with UNC. Cairns was twice named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and in 2018 was named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention. A captain of the 2018-19 squad, Cairns plans to graduate in May with a degree in business administration.

Patrick Cusick has been a backstroke and IM specialist for UNC. Originally from Alpharetta, Ga., Cusick ranks among the top-10 performers in the history of Carolina swimming and diving in two events. His personal-best 100 back time of 47.80 is ninth all-time at UNC as is his 200 back time of 1:43.92. Cusick represents the men's swimming and diving team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and is a member of Carolina Leadership Academy's highest level, Accelerate. He was also named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention back in 2016 following his freshman year. Cusick, a graduate of Alpharetta High School and a former member of Dynamo Swim Club, plans to graduate in May with a degree in biology.

Nick Loomis transferred from Indian River State College to North Carolina for the 2017-18 season and immediately made his presence known. Though injury created obstacles for Loomis to overcome, he managed to make the Tar Heel's ACC Championship team after just one season with his new team. He topped off the season by swimming his two fastest times of the year in the 100-yard fly and 200-yard fly at the ACC Championships. The butterflier and sprint freestyler is originally from St. Augustine, Fla. where he attended St. Augustine High school. Loomis plans to graduate in May with a degree in exercise and sports science.

Austin Sellers competes in breaststroke and IM events for the Tar Heels. A graduate of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla., Sellers swam for Academy Aquatic Club before coming to Chapel Hill. Four years later, he is a team captain and represents the men's swimming and diving program on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. Sellers has also been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll in each of the past three years and competed at the ACC Championships as a sophomore and junior. Sellers will graduate in May with a degree in business administration.

Kate Boyer came to Carolina all the way from Dallas, Texas back in 2015. A graduate of Highland Park High School and former swimmer for the Dallas Mustangs, Boyer has specialized in freestyle and breaststroke events while at UNC. She has earned a spot on the ACC Academic Honor Roll in each of her three years and even made Dean's list for two stellar freshman semesters. In 2018, Boyer was aimed a CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention. Boyer double-majored and plans to graduate in May with a degree in biostatistics and mathematics.

Robyn Dryer is a distance freestyler from Springfield, Va. where she attended West Springfield High School. As a Tar Heel, Dryer has majorly contributed to the North Carolina swimming and diving program and this year not only co-captains the team, but also represents the women's swimming team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and participated in the Carolina Leadership Academy. Dryer has been named to the ACC Academic Roll three times and was a CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention in 2018. Hoping to make her third ACC Championship appearance in February, Dryer plans to graduate in May with a degree in biology and double minors in chemistry and neuroscience.

Zhada Fields, a co-captain of the 2018-19 swimming and diving team, has made a name for herself during her years at Carolina. A three-time NCAA Championship competitor and a two-time All-America honorable mention, Fields competes in freestyle and backstroke events for UNC. Her career-best times of 1:44.70 in the 200 free and 49.01 in the 100 free respectively rank second and eight all-time in UNC history. Fields grew up in Toledo, Ohio and attended St. Ursula Academy while swimming for the Greater Toledo Aquatic Club. She plans to graduate in May with a degree in psychology and a minor in neuroscience.

Maria Lohman is one of Carolina's most notable female divers in the history of North Carolina swimming and diving. Lohman is one of five senior captains and also represents the women's diving team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. She is a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier and even earned first-team All-ACC honors in one-meter diving at the 2018 ACC Championships. A graduate of Chartiers Valley High School and a diver for the Pitt Aquatic Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., Lohman ranks among the top-10 UNC divers in each of the three collegiate competitions. Her personal-best three-meter and one-meter springboard scores of 354.60 and 316.58 rank third all-time and her career-high platform score of 228.90 is seventh in school history. Lohman plans to graduate in May with a dual degree in psychology and communications.

Andi Mack is a butterfly and freestyle specialist for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Ashburn, Va. native has made tremendous efforts in the classroom which has earned her a place on the ACC Academic Honor Roll each of the last three years. She even made the Dean's List both semesters during her freshman year in 2015-16. Prior to Carolina, Mack attended Stone Bridge High School and competed for the Nations Capital Swim Club. Mack plans to graduate in May with a degree in business administration.

Seniors Sara Maleski and Kali Becker have also played pivotal roles for Carolina swimming and diving. Though they could have walked away after injury forced them to medically retire, Maleski and Becker took on new roles as stellar team managers. The duo has helped the diving program with day-to-day practice video and scoring tables needs since retiring from diving.

Maleski is originally from Charlotte, N.C. where she attended Marvin Ridge High School and competed for Carolina Diving Academy. She plans to graduate in May with a degree in peace, war and defense from the college of arts and sciences.

Becker graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Md. She also competed for Montgomery Dive Club before coming to Chapel Hill inc 2015. Becker plans to graduate in May with a degree in exercise and sport science with double minors in Spanish for the Professions and African American & Diaspora Studies.

The North Carolina Tar Heel swimming and diving team greatly appreciates all that the class of 2019 has done for the program during their four years at Carolina.

LAST TIME OUT
The North Carolina Tar Heels gave a great effort in Koury Natatorium against Virginia's nationally-ranked women's (#5) and men's (#14) teams on Friday. Carolina's women fell 126-172 and the men were bested 112-187 in their second-to-last dual meet of the 2018-19 season.

Six Tar Heels and the women's 400 medley relay collectively recorded nine season bests and UNC took 23 top-two times/scores against the Virginia Cavaliers. Carolina went one-two in three events, including the women's 100 back, men's 100 breast and women's 200 free relay and also finished nine events with the best performance of the meet.

Freshmen Grace Countie (53.65) and Sophie Lindner (54.25) paired up to finish first and second in the women's 100 back while sophomore Alvin Jiang immediately followed their performances with a 100 back title of his own in the men's race, clocking the top time of 47.85.

Sophomore Valdas Abaliksta and freshman Sterling Smith followed their teammates' lead in the men's 100 breast. Abaliksta touched the wall in 54.11 for the first of his two individual wins and Smith recorded a time of 54.46 — a whole second faster than the third-place finisher. Abaliksta would also go on to finish first in the men's 200 breast with a time of 1:59.71.

On the diving boards, senior Maria Lohman had an impressive showing with season-best scores in both of her events. Lohman took the three-meter springboard title with a season-high 334.95 points and was the women's one-meter runner-up with another season-best score of 302.93.

OTHER CAROLINA HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior Bryanna Cameron finished first in the women's 200 fly (1:58.43).
• Sophomore Eli Coan made a stunning run from lane one to take the men's 50 free in 20.58.
• Sophomore Caroline Hauder won the women's 200 IM with a time of 2:00.40.
• Three freshmen — Grace Countie, Lilly Higgs and Sophie Lindner — teamed up with senior Zhada Fields for the fastest women's 400 medley relay time of the season (3:40.13).

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
The meet will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra through ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

Fans can follow @uncswimdive on Twitter to receive information as results are made available. Live results will also be available online. A meet recap and results will be posted on GoHeels.com following the completion of competition.