Barnes Era Begins with Split at Virginia Tech on Saturday

Saturday, October 21

Blacksburg, Va.

2 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Barnes Era Begins with Split at Virginia Tech on Saturday

10/21/2023 8:45:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. - Duke swimming and diving split the first meet of the season on Saturday, as the No. 15-ranked women defeated No. 17 Virginia Tech, 183-117, while the men fell to the Hokies, 166-120. The Blue Devils' victory on the women's side is the first under head coach Brian Barnes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In the 400-yard IM relay, the team of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Aleyna Ozkan and Sarah Foley clocked a time of 3:38.31 to finish first.
Senior Sarah Foley finished second in the 200-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 1:49.26.
Freshman Ali Pfaff collected her first individual victory in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday, clocking in at 53.94. Fellow freshman Molly Donlan finished second in the event with a time of 56.80, while sophomore Madeline Meredith clocked in at third with a time of 56.85.
On the diving end, junior Margo O'Meara took home first place in the 1-meter event with a score of 345.38. Sophomore Josie Zillig finished third in the event, posting a score of 282.60.
Freshman diver Charles Berman and junior Will McCollum finished one and two in the men's 1-meter dive.
In the 3-meter dive, the Blue Devils' women swept the podium as Ali Watson, Emily Rakestraw and Josie Zillig completed the sweep.
The Duke men also swept the 3-meter diving event, as Berman, Seamus Harding Jr. and McCollum completed the sweep.

QUOTES
"It was a hard-fought effort on the men's side this afternoon, but we are trending in the right direction. Blake Johnson and Michael Jiang both had great days in the pool at Virginia Tech. We saw some shining moments from freshman Colton McGrady and that made us very excited for the future. On the women's side the victory came from everywhere. Freshman Ali Pfaff took home a first-place finish, as Catherine Purnell and Kaelyn Gridley also collected first-place finishes. Our relay team collected a win in the pool right out of the gate, and Audrey Portello was able to push through and get her first collegiate individual win. We were rock solid throughout the entire meet and handled the task at hand." – Head coach Brian Barnes on the first meet of the season against Virginia Tech.

"For the first meet of the season I thought we did really well. We won all the diving events and had all three finishers in the women's three-meter as well. Overall, it was a good start to the season, and we look forward to being back in the pool against UNCW next week." – Head diving coach Nunzio Esposito on the divers in the first meet of the year.

UP NEXT
Duke returns home to the Taishoff Aquatic Center for the first meet of the season, hosting UNCW on Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

For more information on Duke swimming and diving, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeSwimDive".

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