The swimming and diving teams returned to action last night, after splitting with Clemson on the road last weekend where the women’s team won, while the men lost.
The Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center was filled with Wolfpack fans, parents and alumni to watch the Wolfpack square off against No. 12 North Carolina.
Although the men captured six first place finishes, it was not enough to knock off the Heels, losing by a score of 178-122. The defeat drops the men’s record to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. The women drop to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the ACC with last night’s 197.5 to 99.5 defeat. Despite the losses, coach Brooks Teal said the both teams put up a good fight and made the Tar Heels earn the victory.
“The teams’ efforts were excellent,” Teal said. “There were some impressive wins going up against one of the top teams in the country.”
After being named NCAA Performer of the Week, two weeks ago, sophomore Julianna Prim thought the whole team did its best.
“I expected UNC to come here and try to beat us down early,” Prim said. “But even if it didn’t show up in the point’s part, we showed our best.”
Prim, who says a prayer each time she’s about to dive off the block, was second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.67. Capturing first place finishes for the women were Zina Grogg in the 100 butterfly with a 56:54 time and Marifrances Henley in the 200 butterfly, with a 1:50.68 time. Along with Prim, other women finishing second were Marifrances Henley in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:57.78 and Allison Hendren in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 24.01. Divers Hannah Hopkins and Kirstyn Shepler took second and third in the 3-meter dive, respectively.
Brandon Kingston, who had high hopes for himself coming into the meet, captured two of the first place finishes for the men.
“I had been training really hard this week and was personally ready to do my best,” Kingston said. “After seeing the results, I’m really happy with how I swam.”
Kingston’s time of 1:40.31 put him first in the 200 freestyle, and finshed first again in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:34.47. Other first place finishers for the men’s team were Dan Forsythe’s 56.79 in the 100 breaststroke, Joe Martin’s 20.87 in the 50 freestyle and Barrett Miesfeld’s 49.79 in the 100 butterfly. Diver Hudson Rains collected first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 345.30.
The Wolfpack will travel to Norfolk, Va., on Saturday to take on Old Dominion at noon.
