Swimming & Diving Wraps Up GAC Invite

Saturday, November 19

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three at NC State GAC Invite

Swimming & Diving Wraps Up GAC Invite

11/19/2016 8:26:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Full Meet Results Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Duke men's and women's swimming and diving teams continued to rewrite the program's all-time performance list on the final day of action at the NC State GAC Invite Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Both the men's and women's teams earned third-place finishes among a field that included eight ranked teams. The women totaled 1561.5 points to finish behind only host NC State (1938) and North Carolina (1845.5) while the men recorded 1361 points to come in behind only the Wolfpack (2133) and Notre Dame (1593).

“This was a total team effort this weekend,” said head coach Dan Colella. “This is about taking the next step and when you want to keep moving up in the ranks, it's not just about having a few individuals but having depth … We had a lot of people swimming at night and a lot of people making it back to A and B finals. And not only that, but one of the things they did an incredible job of was improving upon their performances from prelims to finals and in a lot of cases moving up in the standings.”

The Blue Devils' distance group shined in the mile, with junior Verity Abel coming in at third overall on the women's side. The Westport, Conn., native came in under the NCAA provisional standard in the event at 16:27.40, while freshman Brittany Kampfer clocked 16:36.86 for eighth. Junior Matt Johnson also earned an NCAA 'B' cut at 15:23.28 in a ninth-place finish.

“We're incredibly proud of how the distance group started us off this evening,” Colella said. “Lindsay Schlichte got us started on the women's side with her best performance in four years. Parker Pearson had a great race, swam it really well. And it just built from there throughout the milers, Verity being the last one that competed, going a season-best time. [Assistant Coach] Doak [Finch has] been doing a terrific job with them and they're responding to the training really well.”

A pair of Duke swimmers represented the program in the 'A' finals of the men's and women's 200-yard backstroke, with sophomore Max St. George taking seventh (1:46.61) and sophomore Hunter Aitchison eighth (1:59.27). Freshman Chris Murphy added a 10th-place finish on the men's side, clocking 1:46.60 to move into fifth on the program's all-time performance list.

After matching Lauren Weaver's 100 freestyle record of 49.32 in preliminaries, senior Maddie Rusch returned to the water Saturday evening to place seventh overall (49.40). Freshman Alyssa Marsh also earned an NCAA 'B' cut in 12th with a 49.68 finals swim. Sophomore Sean Tate headlined the Blue Devils in the men's sprint event, going 44.78 for 15th.

Sophomore Judd Howard and senior Peter Kropp represented Duke in the men's 200 breaststroke 'A' final, with Howard claiming second (1:57.90) and Kropp sixth (1:59.10). Senior Ashleigh Shanley (2:18.16) and sophomore Susan Hynes (2:18.41) touched at 13th and 14th, respectively, in the same event on the women's side.

The Blue Devil women placed six swimmers in the 200 butterfly finals, led by junior Isabella Paez in second (1:56.61). Senior Brittany Friese continued what has been an impressive showing in Greensboro with a fifth-place finish in a career-best time of 1:58.69, while junior Leah Goldman was 10th, freshman Kylie Jordan 11th, junior Anna Quinn 14th and senior Colleen Wixted 22nd. The men's 200 butterfly saw senior Kaz Takabayashi touch the wall fifth (1:48.20), freshman Roger Kriegl eighth (1:50.03) and senior Michael Miller ninth (1:47.54).

The Duke divers saw their first action of the season on the platform, with junior MaryEllen Targonski (246.80) and sophomore Evan Moretti (311.65) each earning third-place finishes. Sophomore Mackenzie Willborn (242.85) and freshman Jaina Gaudette (234.50) were just behind Targonski in fourth and fifth, as were sophomore Josh Owsiany (302.20) and freshman Nathaniel Hernandez (296.05) in the men's competition.

In the final event of the meet, Goldman, Marsh, Aitchison and Rusch garnered an NCAA 'B' cut with a second-place showing in the women's 400 freestyle relay. Their mark of 3:16.69 was good for the second-fastest in school history. Tate, freshman Miles Williams, senior Bradley Cline and senior Dylan Payne teamed up for a sixth-place showing in the men's 400 freestyle relay (2:57.34) to close things out.

“This weekend was an opportunity to have a dry run of what it's like in the championship season with prelims and finals,” Colella said. “It was a great, great weekend of learning and will be a great motivator for the second half of the season.”

The Blue Devil teams return to action Saturday, Dec. 3 in a dual meet at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C.

Team Scores:
Duke Combined: 3rd/10 (2922.5)
Duke Women: 3rd/8 (1561.5)
Duke Men: 3rd/7 (1361)

Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (3rd), 16:27.40
Men's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Matt Johnson (9th), 15:23.28

Women's 200-Yard Backstroke: Hunter Aitchison (8th), 1:59.27
Men's 200-Yard Backstroke: Max St. George (7th), 1:46.61

Women's 100-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Rusch (7th), 49.40
Men's 100-Yard Freestyle: Sean Tate (15th), 44.78

Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (13th), 2:18.16
Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Judd Howard (2nd), 1:57.90

Women's 200-Yard Butterfly: Isabella Paez (2nd), 1:56.61
Men's 200-Yard Butterfly: Kaz Takabayashi (5th), 1:48.20

Women's Platform Diving: MaryEllen Targonski (3rd), 246.80
Men's Platform Diving: Evan Moretti (3rd), 311.65

Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Leah Goldman, Alyssa Marsh, Hunter Aitchison, Maddie Rusch (2nd), 3:16.69
Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Sean Tate, Miles Williams, Bradley Cline, Dylan Campbell (6th), 2:57.34