Duke Swimming & Diving Each Take Third At Gamecock Invitational

Saturday, November 22

Columbia, S.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Duke Swimming & Diving Each Take Third At Gamecock Invitational

11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving

By: Duke Sports Information

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The Duke swimming & diving teams each completed competition this evening at the Gamecock Invitational at the University of South Carolina with third-place team finishes in the seven-squad field. With 33 advancing performances in total from this morning's preliminaries, the teams wrapped up the three-day meet with one school record, two NCAA 'B' standards, and several of the season's top times across the board.

The women finished in third with 774.5 points behind North Carolina (1,360) and the host Gamecocks (801), while besting East Carolina (546.6), Syracuse (315), the College of Charleston (66), and Lenoir Rhyne (6).

The men were also third with their score of 697 ? also behind UNC (1,337.5) and USC (842.5). The Blue Devils defeated ECU (404.5), Syracuse (368.5), and Charleston (143).

“We came into this weekend looking at it as a dress rehearsal for the format we'd see at the ACC Championships, and it was probably three of the most consistent, exciting days I've seen from a program in quite some time,” said head coach Dan Colella. “Each day they seemed to get better and better, and the group did a great job this morning [in prelims] and coming back tonight. The goal all weekend was to move up spots and score more points, and that's exactly what they did.”

Ashley Twichell started the day off right for the Blue Devils as she won the women's 1,650 free in a Duke school record 16:06.76 ? improving her time four full seconds in the same event in which she recorded All-America and All-ACC honors a year ago. Twichell touched the wall 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from North Carolina in an NCAA 'B' cut, her second of the weekend as she also met the mark in the 500 freestyle. Jackie Fasano took fourth for Duke in the event, stopping the clock at 16:50.19 for a seven-second personal best.

Meghan Dwyer took second in the women's 200 backstroke with her season-best performance of 2:00.19 after clocking 2:00.70 in today's prelims. Spencer Booth was third on the men's side in the 200 back, stopping the clock at 1:48.78, the team's top time of the season thus far.

Nick Garvy was third in the 100 freestyle, touching in at 45.36 for a personal-best swim and the fastest mark of the season for Duke.

Meredith Bannon finished third in the 200 breast stroke with her time of 2:18.69, while Shannon Beall was second in the 200 butterfly in 2:01.71, a career-best. Elizabeth Bellew was close behind in fourth in the event, coming in at 2:03.92.

Both of Duke's 'A' squads turned in solid performances in the 400 freestyle relay events to close out the invitational, with the men's team of Andy Osterland, Ryan Packer, Booth, and Garvy taking third in 3:01.32 ? the fastest mark of the season so far. The women's team of Kirstie Jeffrey, Dywer, Twichell, and Beall came in fourth with their 3:28.06, also a season-best swim.

The Blue Devil divers will be in action Dec. 5-7 at the Ohio State Diving Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, while the swimmers will not compete again until Jan. 10 in a home dual meet vs. Davidson and South Carolina at 1 p.m. at the Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion.

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