No. 1 UVA Women's Swim Defeats No. 4 NC State and No. 18 UNC in Tri-Meet

The Cavalier women won a total of 13 events and defeated the Wolfpack and Tar Heels this weekend in North Carolina

The Virginia swimming & diving teams competed in a two-day tri-meet with North Carolina and NC State this weekend, with the first day of competition taking place in Chapel Hill and the second day being held in Raleigh. 

The No. 1-ranked Virginia women's swimming & diving team swept both opponents, defeating No. 4 NC State 223-130 and No. 18 North Carolina 261-92 and winning 13 total events in the process. The No. 14-ranked UVA men's swimming & diving team beat North Carolina 250-103, but fell to No. 4 NC State 264-89. 

The two-time defending national champion Cavalier women swept all four of the relay races, beginning with the 400-yard medley relay as Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, and Maxine Parker took first in 3:28.63. 

Claire Tuggle and Maddie Donohoe went 1-2 in the 500-yard freestyle, with the freshman Tuggle turning in a season-best 4:46.12. Senior Ella Nelson won two events on Friday, starting by going 1-2 with freshman Emma Weber in the 200-yard breaststroke. Virginia took the top four spots in the 400-yard individual medley, headlined by Nelson winning in 4:03.66, followed by Alex Walsh, Abby Harter, and Sophia Wilson. 

Alex Walsh also won the 200-yard butterfly, taking first in 1:55.95. UVA swept the podium in the 50-yard freestyle, as Gretchen Walsh swam a 21.43 to win the event, followed by Kate Douglass in 21.87 and Maxine Parker in 22.34. Finally, Virginia won another relay to cap day one in Chapel Hill as Gretchen Walsh, Maxine Parker, Lexi Cuomo, and Kate Douglass placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:27.46, a full two seconds ahead of the second-place team.

Virginia kept things going on day two in Raleigh, as Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass and Maxine Parker won the 200-yard medley in 1:35.71. UVA went 1-3 in the 1000-yard freestyle with Maddie Donohoe taking first in 9:57.04 and freshman Sophia Knapp finishing third. A pair of Cavalier freshmen, Aimee Canny and Claire Tuggle, finished second and third in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively. 

Virginia owned the first, third, and fourth-place finishes in both the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke events. Kate Douglass won the 100 free in 47.77 with Maxine Parker and Claire Tuggle taking third and fourth, respectively. Alex Walsh placed first in the 100 breast in 59.90 followed by Zoe Skirboll in third and Emma Weber in fourth.

Gretchen Walsh added a win in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in 50.76, before swimming the leadoff leg in UVA's 400-yard freestyle relay tea, of Walsh, Kate Douglass, and Maxine Parker, which placed first in 3:14.45 to conclude the meet.

---

The Virginia men's swimming & diving team finished second in three of the four relay races, including two second-place finishes on Friday. Jack Aikins, Noah Nichols, Josh Fong, and Matt Brownstead finished second in the 400-yard medley relay to open the meet. 

UVA went 1-2 in the 200-yard breaststroke as Noah Nichols won the event in 1:56.77 and Max Iida took second in 1:59.60. Aikins took second in the 200-yard backstroke and Brownstead was third in the 50-yard freestyle. Matt Brownstead, Jack Aikins, Kamal Muhammad and August Lamb finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay to close competition on Friday.

To open day two in Raleigh, Matt Brownstead, Noah Nichols, Kamal Muhammad, and August Lamb took third-place in the 200-yard medley relay. Brownstead added a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle and Nichols was second in the 100-yard breaststroke, missing first place by just 0.13 seconds. 

Virginia ended the individual events with a podium sweep in the 200-yard individual medley, with Sean Conway taking first in 1:48.17, followed by Nichols in second and Tim Connery in third. 

UVA notched another second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the team of Matt Brownstead, Jack Aikins, Jack Wright, and August Lamb swam a 2:55.10 to take second. 

Up next, Virginia will host the Cavalier Invite at the UVA Aquatic & Fitness Center in Charlottesville from February 3-5, as the last event before the ACC Championship begins on February 14th in Greensboro. 

To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:

Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN