University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs to Compete in Final Non-Conference Meet of the Season on Saturday
01.04.2019 | Women's Swimming & Diving
WILMINGTON, N.C. – In its final non-conference meet of the season, the UNC Asheville swimming & diving team travels to UNC Wilmington for a meet at the Seahawk Natatorium on Jan. 5.
BULLDOG BITES
Last Time Out - Florida Gulf Coast
In its final Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) road meet of the 2018-19 campaign, the Bulldogs fell to the Eagles, 171-91.
UNC Asheville had its first individual victory in the meet thanks to Catherine Allen. The junior won the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:40.97, which was nearly 19 seconds faster than the runner-up.
Two events later, Morgan Rulevich claimed the top spot in the 50 breaststroke. The senior swam a 29.73.
Emma Nelson and Jessica Woolfe finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 backstroke against FGCU. Nelson clocked a 1:01.72 time, while Woolfe posted a 1:02.51 time.
Rulevich won her second event of the dual meet, as she claimed first place in the 100 breaststroke. She posted a 1:05.71 time.
Skylar Rogan wrapped up the victories for Asheville, as the junior won the 200 freestyle with a 1:58.98.
The 91 points scored against FGCU were the most the Bulldogs have tallied against the league foe.
About the Meet
The road meet at UNC Wilmington will mark the final non-conference meet of the season. This will be the third road out-of-conference meet of the year for Asheville.
The dual meet will commence at 1 p.m. at the Seahawk Natatorium in Wilmington, N.C.
The head-to-head meet will be streamed on the Seahawk Digital Network, and the live stream link can be found by clicking HERE.
There are 16 total events, which includes two relays, 12 individual races and two diving events.
Order of Events
200 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
1m Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
3m Diving
200 Individual Medley
400 Freestyle Relay
BARKING ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
CONTE EARNS PRESTIGIOUS NCAA POSTGRADUATE INTERNSHIP: A senior swimming and diving student-athlete, Elizabeth Conte will get to live out her passion with her new opportunity as one of just 30 to receive a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Internship. The Chapel Hill, N.C. native will be working in NCAA Division I governance as part of her postgraduate internship. To learn more, please visit HERE.
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN: UNC Asheville athletics officially unveiled its newest strategic plan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The strategic plan entitled "Believe. Achieve. Thrive." is the road map for UNC Asheville athletics over the course of the next five years. The strategic plan outlines key areas of focus and growth in developing lifetime leaders from the most valuable resource that UNC Asheville athletics has in its student-athletes. To learn more about the strategic plan, please visit HERE (PDF).
NATIONAL CHAMPS: The nationally second-ranked UNC Asheville men's tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.
MORE THAN MAKING THE GRADE: For the 2017-18 athletic year, the UNC Asheville student-athletes showed their commitment to the classroom by finishing the academic year with a combined grade-point average of 3.142. Impressively, 72 percent (161 of 223) UNC Asheville student-athletes during the 2017-18 athletic year received Athletic Director Honor Roll recognition with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
TWO-TIME SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: For the second time in his career, UNC Asheville senior Blanton Gillespie was selected as a Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gillespie was chosen as the 2018 Big South Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the Big South Cross Country Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and UCS at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 26. The honor is just the latest for Gillespie, who was named the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May of 2018.
BIG SOUTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR: UNC Asheville graduate Kayli Nichols was selected as the 2017-18 Big South Conference Woman of the Year. With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Big South Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
BIG SOUTH MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: On the same day that he started his new full-time position in the Corporate Analyst Development Program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Columbus, Ohio on July 11, 2018, former UNC Asheville men's basketball standout Kevin Vannatta was chosen as the 2017-18 Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to winning the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the conference, Vannatta was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball and as the Big South Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native was also selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An Accounting major at UNC Asheville, Vannatta graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average.
What's Next?
UNC Asheville will wrap up the 2018-19 regular season with its annual Senior Meet. The meet will be held on Saturday, Jan. 19 inside the Justice Center Pool, and it will start at 11 a.m., as the Bulldogs will face off against CCSA rival Liberty.
