Nov. 16, 2000

Morning Results | Evening Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina men's and women's swimming and diving teams have bolted to first day leads at the Nike Cup Championships being held at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.

The event was highlighted by Tar Heel junior Kevin Erndl, who tied the school record in the 50-yard freestyle with a winning time of 20.06 seconds. Erndl tied the school record initially set by Tod Schroeder in 1990.

The ninth-ranked Tar Heel women won all five events Thursday night and bolted to the lead with 335 points. Virginia Tech is in second place with 123 points. Altogether 12 women's teams have scored points. The remainder of the field has LSU in third with 93, Duke in fourth with 87, Pittsburgh in fifth with 80, Syracuse in sixth with 65, Connecticut in seventh with 60, East Carolina in eighth with 37, Richmond in ninth with 32, James Madison and Toledo tied for 10th with 10 and Old Dominion in 12th with three.

The 23rd-ranked UNC men's team leads the field with 284 points. Pittsburgh is second with 207 points and LSU third with 136 points. The remainder of the field has James Madison in fourth with 52, Virginia Tech in fifth with 46, Duke in sixth with 43, Toledo and UNC-Wilmington tied for seventh with 33, Syracuse in ninth with 29, East Carolina in 10th with 26, George Washington in 11th with 18 and Connecticut and Old Dominion in 12th place with 14 points.

North Carolina's women won both relays Thursday. The team of Erika Acuff, Jessi Perruquet, Katie Hathaway and Christy Watkins won the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:33.92. The relay unit of Summer Mack, Katie Hathaway, Erika Acuff and Jessi Perruquet captured the 400-yard medley relay in a time of 3:45.00. That relay set a Nike Cup record in the event.

On the men's side, Pittsburgh won the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:21.23. The winning relay included Mike Demos, Patrick Shedlock, Miah Heath and Mike Grube. North Carolina captured the 400-yard medley relay in a time 3:18.94. The winning relay included Kert Johnson, Chris Helin, Sebastien Moity and Kevin Erndl.

Individually, a pair of Tar Heel freshmen captured titles in the 500-yard freestyle. Jessi Perruquet won the women's event in a career best time of 4:48.82 as the Tar Heels took places 1-4 in the event. On the men's side, Yuri Suguiyama swam to victory in a time of 4:26.46. Senior teammate Brad Kline took runnerup honors.

UNC senior Erika Acuff won the 200-yard individual medley for women with a time of 2:01.00. Tar Heel junior Chris Helin was the men's winner with a time of 1:48.79.

Carolina sophomore Christy Watkins won the women's 50-yard freestyle wiuth a time of 23.44 seconds.