South Carolina Women, North Carolina Men Victorious in Dual Meet
A brilliant season for the University of South Carolina women continued Friday as the Gamecocks knocked off North Carolina for the first time since 1985. The South Carolina women won 176-124 over the Tar Heels while the visiting UNC men prevailed 174.5-125.5.
South Carolina’s women set the tone with a come-from-behind win in the 200 medley relay to kick off the meet. Dylan Scholes split 21.65 on the anchor leg to pull the team ahead by two tenths at the finish. Amy Riordan, Elizabeth Goodwin-Birnie and Taylor Grimley joined in the victory with a final time of 1:38.06.
Nora Fluck opened the individual scoring with a win in the 1000 freestyle, and Breckin Gormley followed with a strong performance in the 200 free (1:47.15). Riordan went 52.04 for the win in the 100 backstroke. Jordan Agliano topped the 200 butterfly (1:56.05), and Scholes picked up the win by two hundredths in the 50 free (22.55).
Riordan doubled up with a win in the 200 back (1:52.28) while Delaney Franklin dominated the 200 breaststroke (2:10.58). Gormley won again in the 500 free (4:46.51), and Taylor Grimley was first in the 100 fly (53.77). Diving played an important role in the win as Sophie Verzyl topped 3-meter (347.03) and 1-meter (342.75).
North Carolina’s first win came from Samantha Armand in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.44), and Michaela Chokureva won the 100 free (49.35). Mary Macaulay was first in the 400 IM (4:12.34), and the team of Chokureva, Mackenzie Headley, Maren Conze and Kamryn Meskill finished off the meet with a 400 free relay win (3:17.93).
The men’s meet saw veteran Louis Dramm set the tone for the Tar Heels as he anchored the second-place 200 medley relay in 18.88, nearly pulling off a come-from-behind win. Shortly after, Dramm won the 200 free in 1:35.47, and Ben Delmar came through for first in the 100 breast (52.17). Seb Lunak led the way in a UNC sweep in the 200 fly (1:44.74), and Sean Setzer came through in a tight 50 free (20.09).
Dramm’s second win came in the 100 free (43.39), and JT Schmid followed with a first-place finish in the 200 back (1:43.34) before Delmar was dominant in the 200 breast (1:52.49). A third win followed for Delmar in the 400 IM, with a time of 3:45.33 beating the field by almost six seconds. North Carolina’s only relay win all day came in the last event as Dramm, Sam Huggins, David Quaresma and Setzer held off South Carolina to take the 400 free relay in 2:54.26.
South Carolina’s men won the 200 medley relay in 1:25.65 with Ryan Hufford, Einar Margeir Agustsson, Eldor Usmonov and Quinn Buck (1:25.65). Connor Fry followed up with a solid win in the 1000 free (9:00.83) while Hufford took the 100 back (47.23). Charles Bayer won 1-meter diving (356.93) while Max Spencer won on 3-meter (). Pierre Largeron secured first-place points in the 500 free (4:24.94), and Usmanov won the 100 fly (46.72).
