Comfort Nabs Career Wins No. 500, 501

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The 11th-ranked North Carolina women's and 20th-ranked men's swimming and diving teams swept Clemson in an ACC dual meet Saturday afternoon to give veteran coach Frank Comfort his 500th career victory.

Comfort, who is in his 26th season as both the men's and women's coach at UNC, saw his career record improve to 501-146-1 in his 35 seasons of college coaching on Saturday at the Spartanburg Middle Tyger YMCA Pool.

The Tar Heel women defeated the Tigers 214.5-85.5, while the UNC men whipped Clemson 193-108. The Clemson women fell to 6-5 overall on the season and 1-2 in the ACC while the Tigers' men's team fell to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC.

The Tar Heel men (6-3, 2-1) were led by senior Sean Quinn and sophomore Eddy Matkovich as they won 14 of the meet's 16 events.

Quinn won three individual events in a dual meet for the first time in his career and also swam on the winning 200-yard medley relay.

Matkovich won two individual events and also swam on both winning relays for the Tar Heels.

On the women's side, UNC (9-1, 3-0) won 15 of the 16 events, led by multiple event winners for Jessi Perruquet, Whitney Smith and Janna Turner.

UNC swept the diving as junior Lindsay Waddell took the three-meter event with 267.90 points and junior Jennifer Rehm took top honors in one-meter diving with 255.38 points.

Metzler, Janda Fall at ACC Indoors

WINSTON-SALEM -- The North Carolina men's tennis team finished the tournament phase of its 2002-03 season with Andy Metzler and Jonathan Janda in action at the 2003 ACC Indoor Championships, held at Wake Forest.

Playing in the consolation bracket Sunday, Metzler won his quarterfinal match, 6-2, 6-2, against Florida State's Rodrigo Laub. In the same round, Janda fell to Chris Gonyer of Virginia 7-6, 6-4.

Metzler was eliminated from the tournament by UVa.'s Rylan Rizza in the consolation semifinals 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

The defending ACC champion Tar Heels will begin the dual match phase of their 2003 season on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center against Princeton.

4 Tar Heels Win at Va. Tech Meet

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A pair of Carolina jumpers won events on the men's side, and two of the program's top performers on the women's side won events as the North Carolina track and field teams competed at the 18-team Virginia Tech Invitational on Friday and Saturday. There was no team scoring at the two-day event.

On the men's side, senior Adam Shunk won the high jump with a height of 7-1. Shunk topped a field that included five ACC representatives to win the event for the second time in as many meets. Junior transfer Daniel Harris also won his event for the second-straight week, taking first in the triple jump with a mark of 51-1.

For the Tar Heel women, junior Shalane Flanagan won the mile with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:42.59. Freshman Laura Gerraughty won the shot put for the second time in as many meets with a throw of 53-5 1/2.

With Flanagan's NCAA qualifying time, a total of four Tar Heels have qualified for NCAA Championships in five events after just two meets this season.

Aiken Grabs Attention at Senior Bowl

MOBILE, Ala. -- Former North Carolina wide receiver Sam Aiken capped an impressive week at the Senior Bowl on Saturday with a game-high nine catches for 69 yards. Although Aiken's South Team lost the game, 17-0, Aiken was one of the bright spots in a defensive struggle. No other player on either team caught more than three passes.

NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. praised Aiken's ability to catch difficult passes and said the Kenansville, N.C., native runs good routes. Kiper projects Aiken will be selected between the third and fifth rounds.