Swimming's lack of depth costly against N.C. State

The men's and women's swimming and diving team took on N.C. State Saturday in front of a packed parents' weekend crowd at the Taishoff Natatorium. The swimmers put on an impressive performance for their families, taking first in eleven events.

Duke fell short of victory in the end, however, as the Wolfpack's depth of talent proved to be too overwhelming. The women's team was defeated 147-96, while the men fell 145.5-95.5. The losses drop the records of both teams to 0-2, while the squads from N.C. State each improved to 2-0.

"It was a nice, competitive meet," Duke coach Bob Thompson said. "We won a lot of events, but we didn't quite have the depth to come out with a win today."

The women's team was once again led by its talented sophomore class. Lauren Cornet, Amy Halligan, and Lauren Hancock each collected two wins on the day. Cornet touched first in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.24 early in the meet, and then later dominated in the 200-yard breaststroke to win by almost five seconds with her time of 2:21.79. Halligan was the winner in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:09.14, and finished first in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:07.25.

Hancock took the lead in 1,000-yard freestyle from the very beginning of the swim, looking to put away the competition early in the longest event of the meet. Her opponents refused to give up, however, closing through the second half of the swim and forcing her to fight it out through the last lap to win in 10:29.05. The 500-yard freestyle was an even tighter race, as N.C. State's Katie Sheridan held pace with Hancock through the entire swim. Hancock's strong finish gave her the win by 53 one-hundredths of a second with her time of 5:08.06.

"Lauren Hancock is by far one of the hardest workers on the team," senior Jen Gauger said. "She trains at a pace as fast as most of the guys and it is paying off. With her endurance and speed, she can step up on the blocks and win almost any race on any given day."

On the men's side, senior Captain Chris Fleizach won the 200-yard backstroke, fending off a late sprint from Kevin Barkley of N.C. State to win by three-tenths of a second with a time of 1:55.34. No stranger to close finishes, Fleizach was prepared to defend his lead from Barkley.

"He was trying to save himself for a sprint in the last 50 yards," Fleizach said. "I wasn't about to let him pull that sort of trick on me, even though I was getting tired near the end. I think he just underestimated the toughness that our training gives us at Duke."