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Swimming & Diving
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Blue Devils to Wrap Up Fall at Nike Cup Invite
11/17/2015 3:16:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
| THURSDAY-SUNDAY, NOV. 19-21: JANIS HAPE DOWD NIKE CUP INVITATIONAL |
| Time | Location | Links |
| All Day | Koury Natatorium l Chapel Hill, N.C. | Live Results | Twitter |
DURHAM, N.C. – Boasting unbeaten ledgers in dual meet competition, the Duke men and women will seek to close the fall season on a high note this week at North Carolina's Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. The annual meet begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Tar Heels' Koury Natatorium, with preliminaries set for 9:30 a.m. and finals for 5:30 p.m. each day.
Blue Devils Remain Ranked in National Polls
This fall, the Duke men and women have received national rankings for the first time in program history. The Blue Devil women were tabbed No. 17 in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll, five spots above their initial ranking, while the men came in at No. 23 last week.
Duke Atop ACC Standings
The Blue Devil men and women continue to sit atop the conference standings along with Virginia Tech with 2-0 records against ACC foes. Duke topped the Pittsburgh men and women in the season opener Oct. 3 before dispatching the Florida State squads Oct. 23. The men and women's teams are 5-0 overall with dual meet victories over non-conference opponents Queens University of Charlotte, Old Dominion and William & Mary.
Last Time Out
The Duke men and women collected first-place finishes in all but three events to down Old Dominion (M-181-106; W-177-100) and William & Mary (M-164-108; W-181-87) Nov. 7 at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. With the wins, the programs concluded the dual meet portion of their fall season undefeated (5-0) for the first time in school history.
Hess Enjoys Record-Setting Day in Taishoff
Freshman Maddie Hess continued to etch her name in the Duke record books in the tri-meet with the Monarchs and the Tribe. The Brandon, Fla., native became the first Blue Devil female swimmer to break 54 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke, earning program and facility records with her 53.95 performance. She turned in another record-breaking effort in the 200 backstroke, shattering the previous program and Taishoff benchmarks with a 1:57.09 swim. Hess then returned to the water to split 50.34 as the leadoff on the Blue Devils' winning 400 freestyle relay. She teamed with Maddie Rusch, Chelsea Ye and Leah Goldman to break the pool record at 3:23.33.
Another Taishoff record fell in the men's 200 medley relay, as junior Kaz Takabayashi, junior Peter Kropp, senior David Armstrong and junior James Peek reset their own record for the third time in as many meets. Their 1:26.73 clocking is the third-fastest in the country to date.
Young Divers Continue to Impress
Freshmen Mackenzie Willborn and Evan Moretti made it a clean sweep for Duke on the springboards in the wins over Old Dominion and William & Mary. Willborn garnered a season-best award of 298.73 on the 1-meter board, marking the fourth-best score in school history, while Moretti joined Willborn in surpassing the NCAA Zones qualification standards in both competitions. Moretti continues to rank among the ACC's top five divers on the 1-meter board (362.33) and Willborn paces the league's female divers at the 3-meter height (356.7).
A Look at Duke
Kropp maintains the nation's top time in the men's 100 breaststroke with his season-opening clocking of 52.13, and is fourth in the ACC at the 200-yard distance. Kropp and 200 medley relay teammates Takabayashi, Armstrong and Peek pace the league with their 1:26.73 showing two weeks ago, in addition to ranking third nationally. For the women, sophomore Verity Abel's mile time of 16:44.99 ranks first in the ACC and fifth nationally while classmate Leah Goldman ranks third in the ACC and ninth in the country in the 100 butterfly. For a full breakdown, check out the table below.
Duke Men in the Conference/National Landscape:
| Name | Event | Time/Score | ACC Rank | National Rank |
| James Peek | 50 Free | 20.14 (B) | 5 | 20 |
| Riley Hickman | 1,650 Free | 15:51.52 | 5 | 25 |
| Matt Johnson | 1,650 Free | 16:04.04 | 10 | 41 |
| Kaz Takabayashi | 100 Back | 48.54 | 10 | 35 |
| Peter Kropp | 100 Breast | 52.13 (B) | 1 | 1 |
| Dylan Payne | 100 Breast | 54.79 (B) | 5 | 14 |
| Mike Seaberg | 100 Breast | 55.45 | 10 | 36 |
| Peter Kropp | 200 Breast | 1:59.01 (B) | 4 | 11 |
| David Armstrong | 100 Fly | 48.47 | 8 | 40 |
| Kaz Takabayashi | 200 Fly | 1:48.16 | 6 | 41 |
| Armstrong, Legard, Takabayashi, Peek | 400 Free Relay | 3:00.70 | 5 | 22 |
| Takabayashi, Kropp, Armstrong, Peek | 200 Medley Relay | 1:26.73 | 1 | 3 |
| Evan Moretti | 1M Diving | 362.33 (Z) | 4 | -- |
| Evan Moretti | 3M Diving | 374.33 (Z) | 8 | -- |
Duke Women in the Conference/National Landscape:
| Name | Event | Time/Score | ACC Rank | National Rank |
| Maddie Rusch | 50 Free | 23.09 | 9 | 32 |
| Verity Abel | 1,650 Free | 16:44.99 | 1 | 5 |
| Maddie Hess | 100 Back | 53.95 (B) | 7 | 20 |
| Maddie Hess | 200 Back | 1:57.09 (B) | 6 | 19 |
| Leah Goldman | 100 Fly | 53.77 (B) | 3 | 9 |
| Isa Paez | 100 Fly | 54.31 (B) | 9 | 19 |
| Isa Paez | 200 Fly | 1:58.90 (B) | 5 | 12 |
| Leah Goldman | 200 IM | 2:02.00 | 9 | 27 |
| Hess, Rusch, Ye, Goldman | 400 Free Relay | 3:23.33 | 5 | 17 |
| Hinkle, Shanley, Goldman, Rusch | 200 Medley Relay | 1:40.62 | 6 | 17 |
| MaryEllen Targonski | 1M Diving | 290.25 (Z) | 9 | -- |
| Mackenzie Willborn | 1M Diving | 286.65 (Z) | 10 | -- |
| Mackenzie Willborn | 3M Diving | 356.70 (Z) | 2 | -- |
| MaryEllen Targonski | 3M Diving | 315.90 (Z) | 7 | -- |
Nike Cup Field
A strong group of teams will descend upon Chapel Hill this week for the 25th edition of the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational. In addition to host North Carolina, other competing teams include NC State (men and women), Navy (men's swimmers and divers, women's divers), the Blue Devils (men and women), East Carolina (men and women), Old Dominion (men and women), Yale (men and women), Marshall (women) and James Madison (divers only).
Each finals session will include four finals heats – a Championship A final (places 1-8), a Consolation B final (places 9-16), a Bonus C final (places 17-24) and a non-scoring D final. All events will be held at Koury Natatorium with the exception of 10-meter platform diving, which will be held in Duke's Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion Saturday. See below for a full schedule of events.
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | 200 Medley Relay | 1,650 Freestyle |
| 500 Freestyle | 400 IM | 200 Backstroke |
| 200 IM | 100 Butterfly | 100 Freestyle |
| 50 Freestyle | 200 Freestyle | 200 Breaststroke |
| Women's 3M Diving | 100 Breaststroke | 200 Butterfly |
| Men's 1M Diving | 100 Backstroke | Platform Diving |
| 400 Medley Relay | Women's 1M Diving | 400 Freestyle Relay |
| Men's 3M Diving | ||
| 800 Freestyle Relay |
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
Mid/Dist/IM
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Fly/Free
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Fly/IM/Back
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Back/Free
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Mid-Free
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Mid-Free/Dist.
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Breast/IM
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Diving
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Breast/Fly/Sprnt
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Sprint Free
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Sprint Free/Fly
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Breast/IM
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Fly/Back
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Diving
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Diving
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Sprint Free/Fly
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