Grace Countie, Louis Dramm Lead North Carolina to Sweep of Archrival Duke
In a dual meet between fierce local rivals, the University of North Carolina took down Duke Friday evening in Chapel Hill. After racing Virginia and NC State last week, the Tar Heel women earned a 156-144 win here in a down-to-the-wire showdown and the UNC men winning by a more comfortable 180-119 margin. Fifth-year swimmer Grace Countie provided the top moments for the UNC women while freshman Louis Dramm, a native of Germany, posted three individual wins to lead the men.
Countie took the 100 backstroke in 51.88, and she won the 100 freestyle in 48.73. Both of those events were North Carolina 1-2 finishes, with Sophie Lindner placing second in the backstroke and Greer Pattison in the 100 free. Pattison, Skyler Smith, Ellie Vannote and Countie won the 200 medley relay in 1:35.65, with Countie splitting 21.56 to make up a three-tenths deficit and take the win over Duke, and Countie, Pattison, Smith and Olivia Nel finished the meet with a 200 free relay win (1:28.78).
Nel won the 50 free in 22.27, and Lindner claimed first in the 200 back (1:54.48). Vannote posted a strong time of 51.79 to win the 100 butterfly. In diving, Aranza Vazquez won both 1-meter (350.70) and 3-meter (391.05).
Duke’s women kept it close thanks to a monster effort from Sarah Foley, who won the 200 free (1:45.70), 200 breaststroke (2:09.33) and 200 IM (1:56.19). Yixuan Chang won the 1000 free (9:54.96) and 500 free (4:48.34) for the Blue Devils.
In the women’s 200 fly, Duke’s Martina Peroni used a furious final 50 surge to come from more than one second behind and overtake Vannote. Peroni won the race in 1:53.76 while Vannote placed second in 1:54.07. Those times rank fifth and seventh in the country this season, respectively. Also for Duke, Kaelyn Gridley took first in the 100 breast (59.12).
The UNC men got the win with Dramm touching first in the 1000 free (9:07.72), 500 free (4:24.61) and 200 IM (1:46.81), and Nick Radkov took first in the 200 free for the Tar Heels in 1:35.97 before taking the 100 free in 44.21. Boyd Poelke swept the 200 fly (1:45.80) and 100 fly (46.07), and diving was once again the realm of Anton Down-Jenkins, who won 1-meter (362.48) and 3-meter (429.08). Walker Davis won the 100 back (47.20), and Matthew Van Deusen took first in the 200 back (1:44.67).
Duke actually earned wins in both relays, with David Chang, Cole Reznick, Charlie Gingrich and Coleman Kredich topping the 200 medley relay in 1:26.26, narrowly edging out North Carolina, and the meet ended with Brad Sanford, Gingrich, Kredich and Dave Hallaron winning the 200 free relay in 1:19.97. Additionally, Reznick won the 100 breast (53.56) and 200 breast (1:57.61), and Sanford won the 50 free (20.04).
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