William Carrico Downs 30-Year-Old Conference Record as UNC Wilmington Sweeps CAA Championships

Photo Courtesy: CAA Athletics

William Carrico Downs 30-Year-Old Conference Record as UNC Wilmington Sweeps CAA Championships

William Carrico took down a 30-year-old conference record in the men’s 400 individual medley, contributing to UNC Wilmington sweeping the men’s and women’s CAA Championships titles this weekend.

The men’s team held off a game effort from Delaware, scoring 885.5 points to the Blue Hens’ 753.5. It’s the third straight crown for the Seahawks and 16th overall. The women won their second straight and fifth overall with 1,409 points, again just edging out Delaware with 1,354. William & Mary, two years removed from surviving dissolution as a program, finished third with 1,107.

Team Scores

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 44                      
  1. Uncw                            885.5   2. Delaware                        753.5
  3. Towson University                 520   4. Drexel University               482.5
  5. William and Mary                390.5   6. Monmouth University               187

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 43                     
  1. Uncw                             1409   2. Delaware                         1354
  3. William and Mary                 1107   4. Northeastern University          1067
  5. Towson University                1024   6. Drexel University                 604
  7. Campbell University             527.5   8. Stony Brook University            308
  9. Monmouth University             290.5

Towson’s Brian Benzing and Drexel’s Chelsea Gravereaux were named the Most Outstanding Swimmers, Benzing for the third time in his career. Kiki Murphy of Northeastern and Ethan Badrian of UNC Wilmington were the top divers, Badrian for the second straight year. Bobby Guntoro swept the coach of the year awards, while Lauren Colby of Northeastern and Gavrilo Blijden of UNCW took home the diving coach awards.

Carrico created the highlight of the CAA Championships in prelims on Thursday, going 3:46.64 in the 400 IM. That time downed the conference record of 3:48.02 dating all the way back to 1994, in the hands of American’s Frederick Hviid. Carrico couldn’t quite match that speed at night, going 3:47.31. But he won the event by more than three seconds over teammate Aidan Duffy.

Carrico, a freshman, also won the 500 freestyle in 4:21.66, edging Delaware’s Kaloy Levterov by .03 seconds. He was denied a third gold medal on the final day, his time of 1:56.28 in the 200 breaststroke edged by Toni Sabev of Delaware by .36 seconds.

UNC Wilmington, 2024 CAA Championships men’s champion; Photo Courtesy: CAA Athletics

Benzing supplied the only NCAA A cut of the meet by going 51.30 to win the 100 breaststroke, .57 seconds ahead of Sabev. Benzing was .05 off his 2022 meet record and became just the second four-time event champ in conference history.

Benzing also won the 200 IM in 1:43.13, repeating as champion and slicing more than a second off his meet record. He trimmed a half-second off his conference record, set at NCAAs last year. He went 1:34.55 off the front of the Tigers’ winning 800 free relay, eight tenths quicker than the winning time in the event (by Levterov) and .49 quicker than the conference and meet record set in 2020 by William & Mary’s Colin Wright.

Benzing was denied a third gold in the front end of a Friday double, finishing third in 46.10 in the 100 butterfly. Kuba Kwasny of Drexel won that race in a meet record 45.61.

UNCW held off a charge by Delaware on the final day of the meet. Silas Crosby (15:23.43) and Logan Adley went 1-2 in the mile to start the final day, with Delaware taking spots three, four and five. The Blue Hens followed with Levterov (1:41.90) edging teammate and defending champ Gavin Currie for the 200 back title, though UNCW pushed four into the A final. Sabev won the 200 breast later in the night.

The men’s relays produced some sensational races, befitting the tight nature of the CAA Championships team competition. Friday’s 200 free relay featured five teams separated by .57 seconds, with UNC Wilmington leading the way in 1:19.23. Drexel was just .15 back, followed by Delaware, William & Mary and Towson. The 400 medley relay to cap Thursday’s session was similarly scintillating, with Delaware out front in 3:09.19, .09 ahead of Towson and .18 up on Drexel.

Delaware won both medley relays with the matching foursome of Currie, Toni Sabev, Simeon Sabev and Matvei Namakonov. The time in the 200 medley relay of 1:24.56 lowered the conference record that the Blue Hens had set in 2020.

UNC Wilmington won the 200 free and 400 free relays, with Mac Russell, Jacob Duracinsky and Kenneth Lowe on both squads. The 400 free went 2:53.65 to down the meet record set in 2020 by William & Mary.

UNCW got a boost in diving with two 1-2 results. The 2022 champion on 1-meter, Nicholas Newis, scored 319.20 to edge 2023 champ Badrian. Badrian repeated on 3-meter with a score of 350.25, ahead of Newis. In the 100 back, Will Golden reclaimed his title from 2021 as a senior, winning in 46.98, ahead of Currie. Currie was also third in the 500 free.

Drexel excelled in the sprints, with Sebastian Smith doing the 50/100 double. He went 19.57 to edge W&M’s William Bond and Russell in the 50, then was 43.08 to best Duracinsky and Bond in the 100. Kwasny won his second straight 200 fly by going 1:43.77.

The UNCW women’s team won just three events, but its depth was enough to get the team victory. The Seahawks started the CAA Championships by claiming the 200 medley relay in 1:38.89 (Quinn Bike, Gil Shaw, Cameron Snowden, Emily Waite). Snowden opened Friday with a win in the 100 fly in 52.72, the second time that day she’d downed the meet record and just .02 off the conference mark. After being denied a third straight 500 free championship with a silver medal on the opening night, Brooke Knisely gained a measure of revenge with her third 1,650 free title in 16:30.29 to start Saturday’s session. She bested Lauren Hartel of Delaware, the 500 free champ, and helped the Seahawks take firm control with a 1-3-4 result.

Snowden was second in the 100 free and third in the 50. Waite was the 200 free runner-up and the 100 free bronze medalist. Shaw finished third in both breaststroke events. Lauren Sharp finished second in the 400 IM, the Seahawks going 2-3-4-5-7 to take control (Knisely was fifth).

Gravereaux was the standout individual star. The Drexel senior blew away the field in the 50 free in 22.29 seconds, .08 off the meet record set in 2022 by Northeastern’s Jamie Koo, the defending champ who finished second. Her time of 1:47.22 claimed the 200, and she won the 100 free in 48.52.

Murphy, a junior at Northeastern, won her first conference titles with a score of 306.55 in the 3-meter and 285.30 in 1-meter. Delaware’s Julia Servas and Alex Pastris medaled in both.

Delaware was the only school to win multiple relays, taking the 800 free and 400 free. The latter saw it go 3:21.94 to beat William and Mary by a tenth and UNCW by .18. Erin Shema, Olivia Willemsen and Anthi Lyra were on both winning relays, Hartel on the victorious 800 free. Victoria Novinski got the Blue Hens a win in the 200 fly on Saturday in 1:59.11, with teammate Aislinn Mitchell (second in the 200 IM) in third.

William and Mary’s Ellie Scherer took a pair of titles, going 1:58.96 to win the 200 IM and 1:00.84 to repeat as the 100 breast champ. She was denied a third by Mania Tasakou of Delaware, the 100 breast runner-up, who won the 200 breast in 2:12.43.

Towson’s Ally Frame orchestrated a backstroke sweep. She won the 200 in 1:55.61, denying Northeastern’s Anna Verlander a second straight title. Frame repeated as the 100 back camp in 53.11 on Friday. That was a prosperous day for the Tigers, Maddie Frick winning the 400 IM in 4:19.63.

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