Louisville Men and Women Lead Day 1 of Dual With UNC

LOUISVILLE VS. UNC

• Results
• Hosted by University of Louisville
• Friday, November 4th – Saturday, November 5th
• 25 yards
• Dual meet format

TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 1

• Men: Louisville 104, UNC 44
• Women: Louisville 87, UNC 61

The UNC Tarheels traveled to the University of Louisville’s campus on Friday to kick off a 2-day ACC dual met against the Cardinals. Following the first day of competition, Louisville leads the meet on both the men’s and women’s sides.

On the men’s side, Louisville standouts Zach Harting and Carlos Claverie helped the men jump to the day 1 lead. Harting won his signature 200 fly, clocking a 1:48.88 to lead a 1-2 punch with teammate Jarrett Jones (1:49.62). Claverie charged to a 54.56 in the 100 breast to outpace UNC’s Michael McBryan (55.36).

UNC distance stud Jordan Merrilees picked up the 500 free title for the Tarheel men. Merrilees was neck-and-neck with Louisville’s Marcelo Acosta, as the two finished within 4 hundredths of eachother. Merrilees got his hand on the wall a touch faster, winning in 4:25.26 to Acosta’s 4:25.30.

All-Americans Andee Cottrell and Mallory Comerford were both individual winners for the Cardinals on day 1. Cottrell, a breaststroke specialist, finished almost 2 seconds ahead of the field to win the 100 breast in 1:01.06. Comerford’s victory came in the 100 free, where she clocked a 49.24 ahead of UNC’s Caroline Baldwin (49.84).

UNC seniors Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Koucheki each brought home an individual win for the Tarheel women. Moffitt’s victory came in the 200 back, where she finished in 1:57.60 ahead of Louisville’s Alina Kendzior (1:59.17). Koucheki, on the other hand, was the 200 fly champ with her 1:58.53.

PRESS RELEASE – UNC:

Louisville, KY. – The University of Louisville leads the North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams after the opening day of a two-day dual meet at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

Eighteen of 40 events were concluded on Friday. The Louisville women lead 93-74 after the first day while on the men’s side UL leads 110-57.

“Credit to Louisville. They are an outstanding team that we have a lot of fun competing against. We find ourselves in a bit of a whole, but one of the positives for us is that the majority of our team is making gains. The scoreboard doesn’t reflect our swimming as the Cardinals are a top ten team,” said head coach Rich DeSelm. “We have another day left and we plan to come out and fight. Our goal is to perform better on this second day than we did two weeks back against Tennessee.”

The Tar Heels’ women’s relay teams had solid showings on the opening day. Caroline Baldwin, Catherine Munch, Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Hitchens combined to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:41.91.

Tar Heel senior women’s captain Hellen Moffitt also had strong swims in individual events.  She won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:57.60, eclipsing UL’s Alina Kendzior by 1.57 seconds. Her fellow senior teammate, Sarah Koucheki won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:58.53.

UNC divers, ably led by coach Abel Sanchez, were quite productive on the first day. Elissa Dawsonand Maria Lohman went 1-2 in three-meter diving with Dawson far ahead of the field in a big way with a score of 374.63.

On the men’s side, Jack Nyquist continued his dominance as he scored 377.93 to win one-meter diving by a whopping 34.88-point margin.  Sean Burston was not far behind with a third place finish.

Carolina senior Jorden Merrilees had a tremendous Friday session as the Australian won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:25.26.

The Tar Heel men had respectable finishes in the 200 IM as Eugene Tee and Michael Meyer went 2-4.  The UNC women produced a similar 2-4 finish in the same event with swims from Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Koucheki.

North Carolina will return to the pool on Saturday when it completes its two-day dual meet against the Cardinals in Louisville, Kentucky.  Saturday’s session is set to kick off at 10 a.m.