Kaelyn Gridley, Carles Coll Marti Impressive as Duke, Virginia Tech Split
In one of the first Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns of the season, Duke hosted Virginia Tech Saturday, with the result a split: the Duke women topped Virginia Tech 165-135, and Virginia Tech dominated the Blue Devils by a 220.5-79.5 margin.
Duke’s women opened with a strong win in the 400 medley relay. Kaelyn Gridley split under 1:00 on the breaststroke leg, and she combined with teammates Ali Pfaff, Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall to record a time of 3:38.20. Duke also capped the meet with a relay win, courtesy of Wall, Clare Logan, Kyanh Truong and Pfaff in the 200 free relay (1:28.62). Diving was also paramount for Duke, with Margo Omera winning on 1-meter (340.05) and 3-meter (380.18).
Gridley posted wins in both breaststroke events, the 100 (1:01.52) and 200 (2:15.64), and Martina Peroni led the way in the 200 butterfly (2:00.79). Wall grabbed first in the 50 freestyle (23.03), and Pfaff topped the 200 backstroke (1:55.48). Audrey Portello was the winner in the 400 IM (4:22.24), with Duke’s 1-2-3 finish (along with Kyra Sommerstad and Peroni) giving the Blue Devils the win.
Virginia Tech’s Kate Anderson clocked 10:05.99 for the win in the 1000 free, and Emma Atkinson topped the 200 free in 1:49.77, winning over Duke’s Yixuan Chang (1:49.82) by five hundredths. The Hoies got another extremely tight win in the 100 back, with Carmen Weiler Sastre prevailing over Pfaff, 52.55 to 52.57. Weiler Sastre won again in the 100 free (49.30). Chaira Klein won the 500 free (4:56.16), and Athena Meneses Kovacs came in first in the 100 fly (55.26).
On the men’s side, the Hokies started out with a 1-2 finish in the 400 medley relay, led by Youssef Ramadan, Carles Coll Marti, William Hayon and Brendan Whitfield in 3:13.41. Lee Naber scored the first individual win in the 1000 free (9:26.42), followed by Whitfield topping the 200 free (1:38.68) and Mario Molla Yanes winning the 100 back (49.07). Whitfield would add a second individual win in the 100 free, clocking 44.09.
Coll Marti secured individual wins in the 100 breast (53.62), 50 free (19.63) and 400 IM (3:59.43), with teammate Landon Gentry coming out on top in the 200 fly (1:49.27). Joseph Hong won the 200 breast (2:01.84), followed by Luis Dominguez Calonge securing a victory by just seven hundredths in the 500 free. He topped Duke’s Yugo Tsukikawa, 4:34.46 to 4:34.53.
Ramadan, the 2023 NCAA champion in the 100 fly, reached the winner’s circle in his signature event, clocking 47.94 to win the 100 fly. Virginia Tech’s Will Fisher finished first in 3-meter diving (417.75), and the team of Ramadan, Whitfield, Dominguez Calonge and Hayon won the 200 free relay in 1:20.50.
Duke’s Michael Jiang posted the team’s first win in the racing pool with a time of 1:47.70 to dominate the 200 back, and that was the only first-place result on the day aside from diving, in which Will McCollum won 1-meter (360.83).