March 1, 2010
CHAPEL HILL - Tommy Wyher won two individual titles and led UNC to a relay win and second-place team finish at the ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships and is the Progress Energy Tar Heel of the Week for Feb. 22-28, 2010. The junior from New Port Richey, Fla., led the Tar Heels to a win in the 200-yard medley relay for the first time in 13 years and helped the UNC men record their highest point total at the ACC Championships in a decade with 656.5 points. Wyher won his second straight ACC title in the 100-yard butterfly in an ACC record 45.47 and took his third successive title in the 100-yard backstroke with another ACC record at 46.08. He swam the butterfly leg on the 200-yard medley relay which took the title, and also took second in the 200-yard backstroke and swam on 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relays to second place finishes. Overall, he was part of two ACC records, two ACC meet records, three pool records and four school records.
Other nominees:
CETERA DeGRAFFENREID
Women's Basketball
Junior, Guard
Cullowhee, N.C.
DeGraffenreid, a junior point guard from Cullowhee, N.C., scored a game-high 22 points to lead Carolina to a 64-54 win over No. 6 Duke Sunday afternoon in the ACC regular season finale. DeGraffenreid was 15 of 17 from the foul line and scored 20 of her 22 points in the decisive second half. In Friday night's loss at No. 22 Georgia Tech, she was one off her career high with 25 points.
MATEO SOSSAH
Men's Track & Field
Senior, Multis
Mons-en-Baroeul, France
Sossah took home Carolina's first ACC heptathlon title since 2005 with a new school record and personal best score of 5,779 points. That mark earns him an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships. Sossah also earned personal highs in four of the seven events, including a new pace in the 1000 to close out the heptathlon.
CLAYTON PARROS
Men's Track & Field
Freshman, Sprints
Bloomfield, N.J.
Parros became an ACC Champion in two events over the weekend, taking the individual title for the 400 meters and running the final leg of the 4x400
relay. He already earned an automatic mark to the NCAA National Championships in the 400 at the New Balance Invitational, but the conference championships saw the 4x400 earn a provisional mark with a time of 3:09.96 that breaks into the top-five times for the UNC school record.
KRISTEN TAYLOR
Women's Lacrosse
Senior, Attacker
Manlius, N.Y.
Taylor, a senior attacker from Manlius, N.Y., tallied seven goals and one assist for eight total points in a pair of blowout wins for the fourth-ranked Tar Heels over the weekend. In Friday's 22-5 win over Oregon, Taylor scored four goals and had an assist, along with two ground balls. In Sunday's 18-5 win over Florida, she had three goals and four ground balls. She went a perfect 4 for 4 in free position attempts for the weekend, going 2 for 2 in both games.
DILLON HAZLETT
JUNIOR
FIRST BASE
TOPEKA, KAN.
Junior college transfer Dillon Hazlett registered seven hits this week, including one home run. Hazlett was 7-for-15 with nine RBI leading Carolina to three wins in four games played this week. The junior has hit safely in six games this season, good for a six game hit-streak. Hazlett has also registered at least one RBI in the last five games. The Topeka, Kan., native leads the team in batting average (.438) and RBIs (10) on the year.
CHRIS MADALON
Men's Lacrosse
Junior Goalkeeper
Darien, Conn.
Chris Madalon continued his brilliant goalkeeping play in 2010 as he made a career-high 13 saves and allowed only four goals in Carolina's decisive 11-4 victory at No. 16 Navy. Madalon made six saves in the first half and allowed only one goal in the last minute before intermission, helping stake the Tar Heels to a 6-1 halftime lead. He went on to make seven more saves in the second half while allowing only three second half goals to the Mids. Madalon also had a career-high six ground balls in the game as the Tar Heels won in Annapolis for only the fourth time in history and the first time since 2001. Madalon has now limited each of UNC's first four opponents to five goals or less. Prior to this year, Carolina had never held opponents to five goals or less in four straight games in history, dating back to 1949.
JOSE HERNANDEZ
Men's Tennis
Freshman
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Hernandez played an important role in two wins for the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels this week. In UNC's first match of the week against Navy, the freshman moved up to the top singles spot, where he recorded a 6-3, 6-0 win that helped Carolina to a 6-1 team victory. Hernandez moved back down to the second singles flight for Sunday's match against No. 60 VCU, but got the same results with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Krisztian Krocsko. His singles win was one of three that gave UNC a victory over the Rams by a 4-3 margin.
Hernandez has now compiled an 8-2 overall record in singles this season. He broke into the ITA singles' rankings for the first time on Feb. 18, and remains No. 97 in the nation.
AMBER JOHNSON
Softball, Pitcher
Senior, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Amber Johnson, senior pitcher from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., threw a no-hitter and a complete game shutout this weekend for No. 23 North Carolina in the Tar Heel Invitational. The no-hitter against Pittsburgh is the second of Johnson's career, her first coming over four years ago during her freshman year against the Toledo Rockets. In Johnson's other start this weekend, she struck out 12 Fairfield batters in a two-hit shutout. Thanks in large part to Johnson, Carolina came away with four wins this weekend and a victory in the Tar Heel Invitational Championship Game.
KARA WRIGHT
Gymnastics
Senior
Virginia Beach, Va.
Senior Kara Wright placed second in the all-around competition in Carolina's quad-meet at No. 6 Stanford. Wright helped the Tar Heels to finish second in the four team field and take second on every event. Wright posted a 9.875 on floor exercise to tie for third place and finished in a tie for fourth place on vault with a 9.800. arolina in 2010 after red-shirting last year, with the two starts this weekend, she has now struck out at least ten batters in four consecutive starts.
LESLIE MCDONALD
Men's Basketball
Freshman, Guard
Memphis, Tenn.
Led Carolina with a season-high 16 points in the road win at Wake Forest (making UNC the first ACC team to win at Wake Forest this year). It was only the second time all year and first time in ACC game that he scored in double figures and the first time he led the Tar Heels in scoring. McDonald scored nine of his 16 in the first half as Carolina built a 32-28 lead at the break. After the Deacs cut an 11-point deficit to just three with less than a minute to play, McDonald scored on a driving layup that helped clinch the win.. He also took a key charge late in the game. McDonald had seven points and two steals earlier in the week against Florida State. He did not commit a turnover in either game.
