10/20/2016 10:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
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| Duke at VT, vs. WVU and W&M |
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| When: Fri-Sat, Oct. 21-22 | 5 p.m./11 a.m. | ||||||||||||
| Where: Christiansburg Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Live Results (also on Meet Mobile) |
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| DUKE | ||||||||||||
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| 2015-16 Top Times | ||||||||||||
| VIRGINIA TECH |
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| Coaches |
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| WEST VIRGINIA |
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| WILLIAM & MARY |
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| @Duke_SWIM_DIVE | ||||||||||||
| /DukeSWIMDIVE | ||||||||||||
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DURHAM, N.C. – The Blue Devils head to Christiansburg, Va., this weekend to open the 2016-17 season against West Virginia, William & Mary and ACC opponent Virginia Tech. The Hokies will host the quad meet at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, with action beginning Friday at 5 p.m. and resuming Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Duke men and women were slated to begin the 2016-17 campaign two weeks ago against Florida State and Minnesota, but were unable to make the trip to Tallahassee due to Hurricane Matthew.
Duke is coming off of a successful 2015-16 campaign that saw both squads send representatives to the 2016 NCAA Championships. The men garnered a top-40 finish at the national meet with the 200-yard medley relay of Kaz Takabayashi, Peter Kropp, David Armstrong and James Peek and freshman diver Evan Moretti all collecting honorable mention All-America accolades. The women's team was represented at NCAAs for the fourth consecutive season, sending seven Blue Devil swimmers to Atlanta.
The Blue Devil men rounded out the season listed in the final College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll for the first time, ending the year at No. 19.
For a look at Duke's returning personnel and other program storylines, check out the season preview here.
Scouting the Hokies
Virginia Tech returns three All-Americans from its 2015-16 squads, which both earned top 25 finishes at the 2016 NCAA Championships. The Hokie men were fourth and the women fifth at last year's ACC Championship meet.
The men's swimmers kicked off the fall by taking first at the FGCU Classic in early October, while the women were third. Both squads then topped Penn State in dual meet action Oct. 15 in Christiansburg. The performances placed both programs inside the top 20 of CollegeSwimming.com's latest power rankings.
Duke and the Hokies last met in dual meet action during the 2014-15 campaign, with Virginia Tech coming away with a pair of wins. The Blue Devil men are 17-8 all-time against the Hokies while the women sport a 5-6 record in the series.
Scouting the Mountaineers
The Blue Devils will face West Virginia for the first time in program history this weekend. The WVU men are coming off of a program-best second-place finish at last year's Big 12 Championship. Head coach Vic Riggs was named the Men's Coach of the Meet after guiding the men to the historic performance and the women's team to a fourth-place showing.
The Mountaineer men opened the season with a victory at the West Virginia State Games while the women earned a second-place finish. The two squads then claimed the Big 12 vs. Big East title for the second consecutive year last weekend.
The West Virginia teams are both ranked inside the top 41 on CollegeSwimming.com.
Scouting the Tribe
The William & Mary men and women enter the 2016-17 campaign as the reigning Colonial Athletic Association champions. The Tribe men have captured two straight conference titles, and despite losing its most successful class in program history to graduation, return seven individual conference champions.
Both William & Mary squads kicked off the season with wins over Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Oct. 8 in the Georgetown Triangular to earn spots among the top 50 teams on CollegeSwimming.com.
Duke and the Tribe go head-to-head for the third consecutive season. The Blue Devils posted a pair of victories over William & Mary last year in a tri meet with Old Dominion in Durham.
Meet Format
Friday's events in Christiansburg include the 200-yard freestyle relay, 200 IM, 500 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 400 medley relay. Saturday's events begin with the 200 medley relay and also include the 1,650 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 400 IM and the 400 freestyle relay.
Colella's Take
“Having cancelled the FSU meet has our athletes even more hungry for this meet since it's the first meet of the season,” said head coach Dan Colella. “We're incredibly excited about the coming year. We have most of our athletes returning. Those that were at NCAAs, it's a group that has grown considerably even in the offseason. The attitude, the culture seems to be even at a higher level than it was last year. Then you inject the freshman class, and we've got the ingredients for some really successful swimming and diving this year.”
#GoDuke
