Kropp Qualifies for NCAAs on Day Two of Nike Cup

Friday, November 21

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two at Nike Cup Invitational

Kropp Named ACC Male Swimmer of the Week

Kropp Qualifies for NCAAs on Day Two of Nike Cup

11/21/2014 10:06:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Sophomore Peter Kropp clocked the nation's fastest time this season in the 100-yard breaststroke and surpassed the NCAA automatic qualification standard in the event on a record-breaking day of competition at the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational Friday at Koury Natatorium.

The Duke women have totaled 786.5 points through two days of action in Chapel Hill to sit in fourth place, while the men's team is currently seventh of nine squads with 503 points.

“I'm really excited with everybody's performances and very proud of the way they're standing up and racing,” said head coach Dan Colella. “For us, it's a test to see where we are at this point in the season, and we're definitely very excited about where we are. We're looking forward to tomorrow's events and to the second half of the season.”

Kropp led the field in the 100 breaststroke preliminaries with an impressive 52.02 showing, breaking the previous ACC (52.59), Duke (52.99), Nike Cup Invitational (53.32) and Koury Natatorium (52.60) records in the process. The Los Angeles, Calif., native also solidified a trip to this spring's NCAA Championship in Iowa City, Iowa. Kropp followed up his morning performance with a 53.46 swim Thursday evening to place second in the championship final.

“We knew going into the meet that Peter, with the way he's been training and performing this fall, had the ability to have a really special swim,” Colella said. “I knew it would be fast. I didn't quite expect 52.0, but we're all thrilled and very proud of him. It's great for him to have qualified with an automatic time, so he knows he's on his way to NCAAs in the spring.”

The Blue Devil women placed six swimmers in the 100 butterfly finals, including three in the championship final. Freshman Leah Goldman touched the wall first at 53.78 for an NCAA provisional standard and the third-fastest mark in school history. Sophomore Maddie Rusch was just behind in second at 53.93, while freshman Isabella Paez joined Goldman and Rusch in collecting NCAA 'B' cuts with a fifth-place performance (54.42).

“We had some real depth in the 100 fly, especially for them to go one-two,” Colella said. “I think what was really special was to see how they closed in the last 20 yards. They've all done a great job of developing and working their underwater game and I think we saw it in action tonight.”

Sophomore Brittany Friese secured a spot in the 200 freestyle 'A' final with a strong swim in the morning preliminaries, and went 1:50.87 Friday evening to place seventh. Freshman Lizzie Devitt recorded the seventh-fastest mark on Duke's all-time top-10 list in the same event while taking 10th (1:50.12). Sophomore Bradley Cline paced the men in the 200 freestyle, coming in ninth with a season-best time of 1:38.91.

Friday afternoon's diving events saw junior Kendall McClenney place 10th on the 1-meter springboard with an award of 275.80 in the consolation final. Sophomore Kirby Quinn also competed in the consolation final, taking 13th with a score of 252.30.

The women also picked up points in Friday evening's relay events, earning fourth-place finishes in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. Sophomores Jessie Sutherland and Ashleigh Shanley teamed with Goldman and Rusch to clock 1:42.03 in the 200 medley relay, marking a season best and the eighth-fastest time in program history. Sutherland also had a season best individually in the 100 backstroke (55.11), placing 12th overall. Goldman was 11th in the same event, tapping the wall at 55.01 to rank third on the Blue Devils' all-time top-10 chart.

The Duke men earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay as sophomore Kaz Takabayashi, Kropp, junior David Armstrong and senior Stefan Knight combined for the sixth-best time in school history at 1:28.60.

The 2014 Nike Cup Invitational reaches its conclusion Saturday, Nov. 21, with the final day's events set to include the 1,650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 10-meter platform diving (at Duke's Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion) and the 400 freestyle relay. Preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m.

Team Scores
Duke Women: 4th/9 (786.5)
Duke Men: 7th/9 (503)

Top Duke Finishers By Event
Women's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Jessie Sutherland, Ashleigh Shanley, Leah Goldman, Maddie Rusch (4th), 1:42.03
Men's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Kaz Takabayashi, Peter Kropp, David Armstrong, Stefan Knight (5th), 1:28.60

Women's 400-Yard Individual Medley: Verity Abel (15th), 4:23.08
Men's 400-Yard Individual Medley: Tyler Toren (23rd), 4:04.77

Women's 100-Yard Butterfly: Leah Goldman (1st), 53.78
Men's 100-Yard Butterfly: David Armstrong (12th), 49.03

Women's 200-Yard Freestyle: Brittany Friese (7th), 1:50.87
Men's 200-Yard Freestyle: Bradley Cline (9th), 1:38.91

Women's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (11th), 1:04.66
Men's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Peter Kropp (2nd), 53.46

Women's 100-Yard Backstroke: Leah Goldman (11th), 55.01
Men's 100-Yard Backstroke: Bradley Cline (9th), 49.60