The Duke Blue Devils took another big step forward on Friday, building on recent big-picture program momentum, beating the Florida State Seminoles for the first time in program history.
Duke also beat defending NCAA Division II Champions Queens University as part of a home tri meet that included a handful of new pool records.
Men’s Scores:
- Duke 175 – Queens 114
- Duke 164 – Florida State 129
- Florida State 189 – Queens 103
Women’s Scores:
- Duke 206 – Queens 81
- Duke 184 – Florida State 110
- Florida State 202 – Queens 94
The Duke men and women moved to 2-0 in dual meets on the season. The Florida State women are now 0-2, dropping their second-straight, and the Florida State men are 1-1.
“I expected that we would definitely be in a position to win tonight,” said Duke head coach Dan Colella. “I didn’t know that it would turn out the way that it did. We’re always excited when it does. Everyone came in tonight ready to race. For them to stand up and perform the way that they did was a real testament to how much they wanted it this evening. And that’s what we need as a program. If we’re going to begin to be really competitive at a high end, both ACC and nationally, that’s the kind of athletes we need. They’re impressing me every time we compete.”
The meet came out as a dream result for the Blue Devils. The team broke four pool records en route to their dominating victories:
- Junior Kaz Takabayashi won the men’s 100 back in 48.54, two seconds better than Florida State’s Connor Kalisz (50.35). That took down the 2012 record of Virgnia Tech’s Zach McGinnis, who swam 48.75.
- Freshman Maddie Hess swam a 1:59.08 in the 200 back, which breaks the 2014 record done by another Virginia Tech Hokie: Klaudia Nazieblo (1:59.48 – 2014).
- And the grandaddy of them all at Taishoff – Leah Goldman (53.77) and Isabella Paez (54.31)both were faster than the old 100 butterfly pool record, set by Diane Johannigman in 1978.
- Finally, Goldman, Mickayla Hinkle, Shanley, and Maddie Rusch raced to a 1:40.62, which broke their own pool record set in the team’s first meet of the season.
Duke’s suddenly vaunted breaststroke group also had a good day. Peter Kropp, the fastest 100 breaststroker in the country this season, wasn’t nearly as good as his season-opening 52.02, but he swam an otherwise very-good 53.64 to win by two weconds. That was part of a Duke 1-2-3 sweep, with NCAA Division II leader Rost Fedyna from Queens placing 4th in 56.21.
Kropp came back to win the 200 in equally-comfortable fashion later in the meet with a 1:59.85.
On the women’s side, Ashleigh Shanley moved into Duke’s all-time top 5 in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:03.12. For the junior, that’s not only a lifetime best for her – but the first time in her collegiate career that she’s gone faster than her high school best of 1:03.22.
She won that race early, taking a quick lead over Florida State’s Sami Pochowski (1:03.33) before holding on to the win.
Shanley later won the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.77, doing just the opposite: sitting back early, before exploding on the third 50 to overtake Natalie Pierce (2:19.55) and again hold on for the win.
Despite the numbers, Shanley said after her swims that the times weren’t her focus.
“It felt really good to be able to contribute to our team and the team goal of winning this meet,” Shanley said. “We talked about before the meet that it wasn’t so much about the times this meet – just getting your hand on the wall first and beating the girls next to you. It felt really good to be able to do that.”
The Blue Devils weren’t the only team breaking pool records at the meet. While Connor Kalisz was well off the pace in the 100 back, in the 200 back he won by five seconds in 1:46.71 – close to the time he swam at the team’s opening All-Florida invite. That broke yet another Facility Record previously held by a Hokie – Collin Higgins’ 1:46.76 from 2014.
That win, though, wasn’t enough to keep the scoring close after Duke opened the meet by winning the first 11 events (men and women combined). Other Florida State wins include sophomore Alexi Smith out-touching Rusch in the 50 free 23.15-23.17. Rusch would get her revenge in the 100 free by a 50.57-50.87 margin over Smith.
Both the Duke men and women exhibitioned races by the meet’s end, keeping the score closer than it really was.
Full meet results available here.
Great to see the Blue Devils off to such a good start. Kropp’s times (including 23.9 50 breast) make him seem like an NCAA contender this year.
No Chelsea Britt for FSU? Looking to transfer?