UNC has victory over Duke in swimming and diving

Whenever North Carolina takes on Duke in any competition, it is considered a bitter rivalry.

In the case of men's and women's swimming and diving, UNC clearly came out on top.

The Tar Heels coolly cruised to a dominating 213 to 84 win for the men, and a 199 to 94 win for the women Tuesday night against their arch rivals at Koury Natatorium.

The victory was the 68th straight on the men's side against the Blue Devils and the 31st straight on the women's side.

Part of the reason for the Tar Heels domination is the fact that Duke is limited with no swimming and diving scholarships, while UNC can offer athletic scholarships to top swimmers.

With the victories, both the men and women's teams improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. The Duke men fell to 1-4 and 0-3 in the conference, and the women dropped to 2-3 and 0-3.

UNC's men placed first in 14 of 16 events, while the women placed first in 11 of 16.

Several top swimmers did not compete for UNC, as Coach Frank Comfort decided to give younger swimmers the opportunity to compete.

Freshmen Lindsey Marck, a heralded women's butterfly swimmer, had the chance to compete in events outside of her norm.

Marck won the women's 200- and 100-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 52.99 seconds and 52.50, respectively.

She also swam the 400 Individual Medley in 4:29.07, placing second behind fellow Tar Heel freshman Kelly Woodruff.

Woodruff blew her previous listed career best time of 4:56.82 out of the water with an impressive time of 4:20.85.

"On our women's team we had some lifetime bests, so that was very exciting," said coach Frank Comfort.

Senior tri-captain Virginia Hanson also contributed a strong performance.

She finished first in the 50 free and the 500 free in 24.35 and 4:58.50, respectively.

"These are off-events against Duke, and we basically try to establish better times," Hanson said.

The UNC women also swept the two relay races, winning the 200 medley and 200 free with times of 1:46.21 and 1:36.37. Freshman Kelsey Morrissy anchored the medley, and Hanson anchored the free.

On the men's side, the swimmers also placed solid performances across the board.

Junior Chad Ames won the 200 fly in 1:52.42 and the 100 fly in 50.46. Fellow junior Patrick Woodruff was first in the 500 free with a time of 4:41.94.

"It was my lifetime best in season swim," Patrick Woodruff said. "So I was pretty happy."

Sophomore Aaron Burns and junior Jon Albrecht led the team with three event wins. Both participated on the winning 200 medley and 200 free relays while also winning individual races in the 200 breast and 100 back, respectively.

Men's senior co-captain Eric Mohr won the 1000 free in 9:36.17 and the 400 IM in 4:05.63.

For diving, men's freshman Ben Herboth won on both the 1- and 3-meter boards as did women's sophomore Lauren Karatanevski.

"It was mostly about getting experience and gaining some confidence with some of our younger swimmers," Comfort said. "It certainly worked out well."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.