SPORTS
Thursday, January 23, 2014
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Swimming heads to Duke, North Carolina No. 7 women, No. 18 men prepare for legendary Tar Heel rivalry meet Chanhong Luu Senior Writer
The Virginia swimming and diving teams continue their seasons on the road this weekend against ACC opponents Duke and North Carolina. The Cavaliers were impressive last weekend in Christiansburg, Va., capturing five of the six dual-meets. The No. 7 Virginia women’s team improved to 7-1 with wins against Miami, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, while the No. 18 Virginia men’s team defeated No. 24 Harvard and Wisconsin but lost to Virginia Tech, bringing their record to 4-3 on the season. “We unfortunately lost [to Virginia Tech], and we know that it was the first time in a while since they had beaten us,” junior David Ingraham said. “It certainly was a wake up call to lose to them. But I think we saw more positives in that meet than negatives.” The Cavaliers will travel to both Duke and North Carolina to compete this weekend, and although it is unusual to swim at two different pools during one road trip, coach Augie Busch is not worried about any issues of
Courtesy Virginia Athletics
Junior David Ingraham won the 400-yard IM last Saturday in Christiansburg, Va. The No. 18 Cavalier men defeated No. 24 Harvard and Wisconsin, but fell to Virginia Tech, 217-153.
fatigue. “It’s going to be a pretty easy trip up and back in both directions,” Busch said. This is also the first time in recent memory that the men’s and women’s teams will combine for a united score in the North Carolina meet. “It’s always been separate meets, the male and the female,” Busch said. “That will make it easier logistically too.” The Cavaliers battle Duke first, a team that was not impressive in its last away meet two weekends ago against South Carolina. In Columbia, the Blue Devils lost both the men’s and women’s competitions. “They have gotten a lot better over the past few years, but they serve as kind of a nice mental prep and rehearsal for the big day on Saturday,” Ingraham said. That “big day on Saturday”
is in Chapel Hill against North Carolina, historically Virginia’s fiercest swimming rival. Virginia’s men’s and women’s teams have each claimed the last six ACC championships, with the men claiming a staggering 14 of the last 15 — but since the ACC Championship meet began, North Carolina men and women have combined to finish in the top three 59 out of 60 times. “It goes without being said, but this is a legendary rivalry,” Ingraham said. “We lacked passion when we swam in Christiansburg last week, but that will not be lacking this weekend ... because we’re cognizant of it and ... because it’s North Carolina, and the passion is always there. We’ll be riled up and hopefully revenge the loss to them two years ago in Chapel Hill.” The Tar Heels swept their last matchup two weeks ago against
Navy. The No. 9 North Carolina women (7-1) won all 16 of their events, while the No.14 North Carolina men (4-2) had the top times or scores in 12 of their 16 events. The most intriguing match of this weekend will be between Virginia freshman Leah Smith and North Carolina senior Stephanie Peacock in the distance freestyle events. Smith, who specializes in the distance freestyle, was named ACC Female Swimmer of the Week after her performance last week. She won three individual events – the 1,650-yard, 200-yard and the 500-yard freestyle – and swam the first leg of Virginia’s victorious 800 freestyle relay. Peacock continues to show that she is one of the best distance freestylers in the nation. In North Carolina’s last meet against Navy, she won both the 200-yard and
500-yard freestyle. Both swimmers’ times are neck and neck in the 500 free, with Smith having posted a mark 0.11 seconds faster. “They have the best distance swimmer in the country on their women’s team [in] Stephanie Peacock,” Busch said. “So with Leah, who knows? That will be a great challenge.” On the diving side of the pool, junior JB Kolod will lead Virginia against Duke senior Nick McCrory and North Carolina freshman Jack Nyquist. Kolod won the 3-meter diving event and placed second in the 1-meter diving event at Virginia Tech. Both McCrory and Nyquist swept their respective diving events in their last competition. The Cavaliers start competition against the Blue Devils 5 p.m. Friday and will compete against the Tar Heels 12 p.m. Saturday.
Virginia football releases 2014 schedule, will face 10 2013 bowl teams In approximately 10 months, eager consumers around the nation will swarm retail stores on “Black Friday” to gobble up favorable discounts. The Virginia football team, on the other hand, will be shopping for something unavailable on the shelves of Wal-Mart: a Commonwealth Cup. For the first time since 1996, the Cavaliers will play Virginia Tech the day after Thanksgiving next season. Per Wednesday’s release of the full 2014 football schedule, Virginia will need to weather a daunting slate of opponents to enter that game with a respectable record. The Cavaliers will face a whopping 10 opponents this fall who
earned bowl berths in 2013, including a road tilt against defending national champion Florida State and home dates with UCLA and ACC newcomer Louisville. A year after playing a record eight home games, Virginia will play only seven this fall. A season-opening three-game homestand begins against UCLA Aug. 30. Led by ballyhooed quarterback Brent Hundley, the Bruins — who dismantled Virginia Tech 42-12 in December’s Sun Bowl — are expected to compete for Pac-12 and national championship honors in 2013. Virginia will visit UCLA in 2015 as part of the schools’ homeand-home agreement. After hosting Richmond — the
school Cavaliers coach Mike London led to an FCS national championship in 2008 — on Sept. 6, Virginia will play new conference foe Louisville for just the third time ever and the first time in 25 years. The Cardinals have sported a 23-3 record the past two seasons and won the 2013 Sugar Bowl with now-departed head coach Charlie Strong and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The grueling starting stretch continues for the Cavaliers with a Sept. 20 trip to Provo, Utah, to face Brigham Young. Virginia edged the Cougars 19-16 in 2013’s season opener, the team’s lone win against an FBS opponent. Kent State, a team the Cava-
liers have never played, visits Scott Stadium the next weekend, before Pittsburgh invades Charlottesville for the first time as an ACC rival Oct. 4. Following the Oct. 11 bye week, Virginia travels to battle its recent bugaboo, Duke. Fresh off an ACC Championship game appearance and a 10-win season, the Blue Devils will aim to knot the all-time series with the Cavaliers at 33 with their fifth win in six tries. Virginia hosts North Carolina, whom it has yet to defeat under Mike London, Oct. 25. Next, a road clash with Georgia Tech awaits Nov. 1. The Cavaliers will then visit a Florida State team who is widely
expected to begin 2014 ranked No. 1 and returns reigning Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Jameis Winston. Although the Seminoles have dominated the all-time series 14-3, Virginia did snatch a thrilling 14-13 victory at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2011. Following their final home game of the season against Miami Nov. 22, the Cavaliers will conclude the season at Lane Stadium, yearning for their first victory in the rivalry with Virginia Tech since 2003. Virginia endured one of its worst seasons in program history in 2013, finishing 2-10 and failing to win a single game in ACC play. —compiled by Fritz Metzinger