Duke Women, South Carolina Men Win in Saturday Tri-Meet
An ACC-SEC showdown in Columbia, S.C., saw the visiting Duke Blue Devils take down the hosting South Carolina Gamecock women as well as the group from the University of North Carolina Asheville. Duke beat South Carolina 170-130 while winning 244-56 over Asheville, and South Carolina beat Asheville 254-46. But the South Carolina men were dominant against the Blue Devils, winning 204-91.
The Duke women opened with a win in the 200 medley relay as Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall clocked 1:39.93. Yixuan Chang won the 200 freestyle (1:48.80) before Pfaff won the 100 backstroke (54.03) and Gridley topped the 100 breaststroke (1:01.96). Martina Peroni earned a come-from-behind triumph in the 200 butterfly (1:58.34) before Wall won Duke’s fifth consecutive race in the 50 free (23.22).
After the diving break, Pfaff got a second win in the 200 back (1:57.90), and Ozkan hit the pad first in the 100 fly (53.97). Sarah Foley came through for a win in the 200 IM (2:01.87), and Duke’s Margo Omera topped 1-meter diving (312.30). Molly Donlan, Chang, Wall and Pfaff swam a time of 3:23.43 for a 400 free relay win to conclude the meet.
South Carolina scored wins from Grace Daniels in the 1000 free (10:07.48), Aubrey Chandler in the 100 free (51.05), Delaney Franklin in the 200 breast (2:12.77) and, Breckin Gormley in the 500 free (4:52.63). Blair Isenhour won 3-meter diving for the Gamecocks (317.03).
In the men’s meet, South Carolina opened with a statement performance in the 200 medley relay, going 1-2-3 with Michael Laitarovsky, Linus Kahl, Rateb Hussein and Mark Shperkin touching first in 1:29.02. Connor Fry was victorious in the 1000 free (9:18.48), followed by teammate Jose Castro taking first in the 200 free (1:39.94) and Laitarovsky dominating the 100 back (48.35) and Kahl coming through in the 100 breast (55.18).
Gage Hulbert led the way in the 200 fly (1:48.51), and Shperkin topped the 50 free (20.33) and 100 free (44.63). Duke made a run at its first win in the 200 back as Michael Jiang led for most of the race, but Wylie Kruse finished hard to secure the win in 1:47.16. Daniel West won for the Gamecocks in the 200 breast (2:05.27), holding off teammate Liam Kerns by two hundredths before Fry’s second win of the day in the 500 free (4:30.81).
Kahl became the third Gamecock double winner as he topped the 100 fly (48.30), and he added a third win in the 200 IM (1:48.51). Charley Bayer finished first on 1-meter diving (341.10), and the team of Shperkin, Laitarovsky, Quinn Buck and Ryan Hufford finished off the meet with a 400 free relay win (3:01.31). Duke’s only win came courtesy of Seamus Harding in 3-meter diving (333.83).