Duke Starts Strong at NC State GAC Invite

Thursday, November 17

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at NC State GAC Invite

Duke Starts Strong at NC State GAC Invite

11/17/2016 8:52:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Live Results Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke swimmers reset two school records and featured a number of career-best times and sophomore Evan Moretti paced the Blue Devil divers with a win on the 1-meter board on the opening day at the NC State GAC Invite. The Blue Devil men and women rounded out the first of three days of competition in third place with a combined score of 881 points.

Following a morning session that saw a number of Blue Devils notch career-best performances, the squads kicked off Thursday evening's finals with the women's and men's 200-yard freestyle relays. The women's quartet of senior Maddie Rusch, freshman Alyssa Marsh, freshman Kira Page and junior Leah Goldman clocked the fourth-fastest mark in school history at 1:30.40 while the men's relay of sophomore Yusuke Legard, senior Michael Seaberg, sophomore Sean Tate and senior Dylan Payne also cracked the program's all-time top 10 at 1:19.61.

Junior Verity Abel turned in an impressive performance in the women's 500 freestyle, dipping under her previous career best with a 4:43.56 clocking to take second in the field. The mark was good for an NCAA 'B' cut and the ninth-fastest time in the country to date. Three other Blue Devils also earned spots in the event championship final, as senior Brittany Friese took fifth (4:48.22), sophomore Hunter Aitchison seventh (4:48.45) and freshman Brittany Kampfer eighth (4:50.05).

Duke continued to take advantage of opportunities to swim in championship finals, as Goldman and sophomore Judd Howard both came in third in the 200 IM. Goldman broke her own program record with a 1:57.33 showing in finals and Howard moved up to fourth on the Blue Devils' all-time performance list at 1:47.17. Rusch and Legard followed suit with third-place finishes in the 50 freestyle, with Legard recording the third-fastest mark in school history at 19.74.

Moretti added to the individual success by winning the men's 1-meter springboard diving competition. He received a career-best award of 365.70 in the event finals, while freshman Nathaniel Hernandez also topped the NCAA Zones qualification standard in fourth (312.35). Senior Kirby Quinn led the way in women's 3-meter diving, turning in a finals score of 261.60 to place sixth.

“Evan did an awesome job coming back – he missed a few dives this morning in prelims,” said head diving coach Nunzio Esposto. “He came back in finals and hit those dives and also did his others for a little bit better than he did in prelims. The final was pretty exciting to watch and he was very motivated and very excited to compete. Whenever a coach sees that, it's very pleasing to see that he's going after things and being aggressive.”

The Blue Devil women saw a second program record fall at the end of the evening in the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Mickayla Hinkle, senior Ashleigh Shanley, Goldman and Marsh combined for a time of 3:37.47 to take fourth overall. On the men's side, senior Kaz Takabayashi, senior Peter Kropp, senior Michael Miller and Legard placed second at 3:11.10, with the clocking good for the second-fastest in school history.

Host NC State headlines the combined team scores after day one with 1179 points and the Wolfpack also sit atop the men's standings (616). North Carolina leads all women's squads with 582.5 points.

Action continues at the Greensboro Aquatic Center Friday, with events on tap including the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women's 1-meter diving, men's 3-meter diving and the 800 freestyle relay. Live results will be available here.

Team Scores:
Duke Combined: 3rd/9 (881)
Duke Women: 3rd/8 (483)
Duke Men: 3rd/7 (398)

Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Maddie Rusch, Alyssa Marsh, Kira Page, Leah Goldman (3rd), 1:30.40
Men's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Yusuke Legard, Michael Seaberg, Sean Tate, Dylan Payne (5th), 1:19.61