Women swimmers win, men fall at Wilmington

A week after taking first place in every event against Davidson, the men's and women's swimming teams came away with a split decision against UNC-Wilmington. The women (6-4) downed the Seahawks 142-97, while the men (2-6) were not as fortunate, losing 130-101.

In their victory, the women captured nine of the 13 events. Freshman Nora Stupp and junior Amy Halligan were instrumental, playing a role in six of the first-place finishes. Stupp won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.45, while also posting a time of 5:10.39 in the 500 freestyle to place first. Halligan took first place in both the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:10.03 and the 200 butterfly, finishing in 2:07.58.

Stupp and Halligan also were components of victorious relay squads, as Stupp swam the second leg of the 400 freestyle relay, which posted a time of 3:38.19, while Halligan went third on the 400 medley relay, the meet's first race.

Lauren Cornet, Lauren Hancock and Katie Fay also placed first in races for Duke, while Jeanne Dewitt placed first in the three-meter dive.

"We've been training a lot the last month," said Katie Ness, who swam the third leg on Duke's winning 400 freestyle relay team. "So the meet was more of a mental challenge to get up and swim."

The men, however, were not as successful as their female counterparts, capturing only four of the 13 events. Andy Storm's time of 2:09.16 in the 200 breaststroke was nearly four seconds faster than that of teammate Ben Rowland, who placed second. Cooper Moore won the 500 freestyle by an even greater margin, beating teammate Teddy Helfers by 4.63 seconds.

Billy Pearce also posted a win in the 200 backstroke, while the 400 freestyle relay placed first with a time of 3:07.81.

"We swam against Wilmington at the George Mason Invitational, so we knew what we were coming into," Storm said. "But we were tired from training. There certainly weren't any individual best times."